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We have an E150 and love it. Plenty of room and then some for growth/hauling, etc. One problem though is the freezing temperatures…
For the last 2 years, I used a space heater or 2 and they worked pretty well down to 10 degrees or so. However, just the other day, I made a discovery and thought I might share it…on the Ford…the four letter “f” word, has an interesting mechanical thing that it does that I never put to use until just recently.
It was difficult to keep the van warm, above freezing witha little space heater because I was trying to heat the outside.
The ventilation system on the Ford and I suspect other mgfs, has the vents open when the knob is turned to any configuration, other than “off”.
When I turn the knob to the OFF spot, you can hear the vent doors shut and no air can enter through the vents. Otherwise, they are open and allow air inside.
Has anyone ever noticed this in their attempts to heat the van?
With the outside temperature at about 19 degrees F, the inside temp was at 48 or so with a simple space heater. Shortly it will be in the lower teens here and I will check it out further to see if turning the vents to the OFF spot helps to hold the temp higher. I think it will.
Any other great ideas along thisline? I prefer to keep the equip where it is instead of bringing inside every evening.Especially when there is snow on the ground and it is late..much easier to plug the heater on and let it go.
Hey Dave,
I use a 4 foot base board type heater in my van. Here in North Carolina the temp. may go to about 25f. However, I noticed the manufacture of the heater mentioned that the ambient temp needs to be close to the setting on the thermostat to keep up with the falling tempretures. I actually use some thick blankets and form a insulating barrier around the cargo area. This has helped a lot. I am considering some type of curtain rod scenario since putting the blankets up is a pain. My van is a f150 with just the cab area having headliner and upholstery. You will never keep the van warm in your temps. with no insulation material in the cargo area.
Hope this helps.
MarkThe heaters are working. I am using a small box heater with a fan with 1500w and a larger (sizewise) oil filled heater, 1500w. I have the vent on the dashboard turned off and the van has stayed warm, above 35 degrees F, at 10 degrees outside temp…I have a digital thermometer inside the van which I can monitor with a flashlight without opening the door. Must use separate circuits though or will blow a breaker.
This helps prevent damage from taking equipment in and out of vehicle, condensation from building up on motor, freezing of chemical forgotten or missed, pads stay reasonably pliable and warm and it is a whole lot easier than unloading/loading every evening and morning. Neat seeing all of the other vehicles covered in snow and the van almost nothing….
I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP THAT IS GOING TOO SUPPLY THE NEW SAVANNAH AND HE SAID THE VAN PACKAGE INCLUDES REAR HEATING SYSTEM. AND I BELEIVE HE SAID A/C IN THE REAR ALSO. THIS WILL BE A HECK OF IMPROVEMENT.
If I remember correctly, this topic dealt with the heating of the van at night, or when not in use. Almost all of the chemicals must be kept above freezing to prevent their damage as well as the container from bursting if frozen.
Another real problem is the equipment…when it gets cold, the wires become really hard and difficult to deal with.
It is a pain to have to unload al of the equipment into the house each evening, and almost impossible for many to get the van into a heated environment..so we try to heat the vans with heaters…not that easy to accomplish.
But when wer are dealing with a foot or more of snow, ise and or freezing rain it is a pain to empty the van sometimes. On occasions, I have had the bonnetts freeze like totally solid just with their latent humidity. Kind of nasty to deal with and have had no great guidance on this topic as you can read.
Glad someone is reading this though..maybe you could give some ideas we could try.
Dave
I realize that this is an old topic, but I’m wondering if there are any newly found solutions for keeping the inside of your van warm in cold weather.
At first I carried the equipment and destructive freeze things in each night. That got old quick. Then I was using a heater I bought from Walmart. It worked fine but the electric bill increased a bunch. So I went to the “Sun Heat” unit. (Infer-red heat, or what ever they call it) It has worked great and the bill dropped to the point I hardly noticed. The portable unit cost me $230. The savings and the outcome made it more than worth it, even having to take the unit in and out. (In other words, I only used it at my place)
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