Sleeping inside the truck (Winter camping) heating needs

Hello team,
I may end up camping(where hotels are not available) for few nights in AK in Dec 2015. I plan on removing the passenger and rear seat and put a bed for the trip. Now, how about heating the cab with engine off? I have a 2000 Watt generator( Ryobi) and I was planing on buying a portable heater (1500W).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fan-Forced-...pace-Heater-/252099611733?hash=item3ab24ecc55

Questions:
A) Is it ok to leave the heater ON all night with windows closed?( except for the rear window where the power cable from the generator will be pulled from). The generator will be running atleast 20 feet from the camp site.

B) I will also have multiple propane tanks for cooking etc...what do you think about propane heaters? CO: risk of CO poisoning in running the propane?

 

Disclaimer - I am not an expert. Verify safety information for yourself.

There is no combustion with electric heaters so there is no CO and no water vapor. Propane generates less CO than other fuels but it is still a combustion byproduct so you need to be careful. And burning propane will create water vapor. For propane heat I really like the the idea of Zodi's products. http://zodi.com/tent-heaters. I used one of their shower units for a week this summer and it kicked ass.

 

A: this is bad ass

B: Get a good sleeping bag and maybe some blankets and stuff, and forget using heat at all. People winter camp in tents using only high quality camp gear, you should be able to do the same. The benefit of having no wind or drafts will make a sleeping bag work really well even if it's real cold out.

Note, i live in MN where it gets just as cold as AK so i know what it's like sleeping in cold weather... worst case if you wake up shivering you can just fire the truck up for a few minutes.

 

Long time ago I was training for the Appalachian trail run and I was sleeping on the back of my truck on December-January in and around Lake Tahoe Ca.
I had a small cast iron radiator and after installing a 4" deck plate on the wheel well of my truck I run two hot water hoses to a "boiler" made out a small propane bottle
which I added another 3/4" nipple on the lower part to bring back the return hose. The hole think siting on a propane burner set at a very low temperature setting. Maybe 120-140 degree Celsius. Enough to make me sweat inside the truck sleeping. If you keep the lines with proper slope and no restrictions, the naturally occurred syphoning
of the water circulate the hot water up and less hot water coming down. No need to have a circulating pump. One propane bottle will last me 4.5 nights time after I will come back to my cabin and replace the propane and take a shower, change clothing and go back to the same routine for training all winter long. BTW in March I started
the run in Georgia and finish it in Main just little over 5 months later. They call it hydronic heating, I did just what I thought was good for my situation.

 

I camp during hunting season and I usually go with no heat at night. I have a good sleeping bag, and I keep a couple blankets within arms reach just in case I get cold. I usually put the clothes I'll be wearing the next morning in the sleeping bag with me so they're warm in the morning when it's time to get up and get changed. If it's really cold, I'll sometimes change clothes inside the sleeping bag so I'm already wearing most of my gear by the time I get out of bed.

 

I would think in Alaska it will be cold enough so turning off engine would be a bad idea. Would not be easier to just carry extra fuel to run truck and stay warm? make sure your exhaust is all working.

 

how do you like your Ryobi genny? seen good reviews but how quiet is it compared to a Honda?

 

On that note, your generator might be better utilized running a block heater on the truck.

 

Wool longjohns and top, wool socks, sleeping bag. Crack the rear sliding window a bit to keep condensation down so the inside of your windows aren't all iced up in the morning.

 

What are your sleeping arrangements? Sleeping bag? What is it rated? Got a link to it? Clothing? Extra clothing? Expected low temps during your trip?

I'd hate for you to be relying on a heater to actually keep you warm, only to have it fail for some reason and you be left unprepared for your conditions.

 

I sleep in the cab when it's freezing outside. I pull the seat bottoms out and push front pass seat all the way forward and sleep diagonal. It's not for everybody, but I've got it down to a science and it works for me and is free. I don't run any heater of any type. I use a quality sleeping bag and put up some reflectix panels in the windows. But the panels in the windows are just for privacy really. The key to being comfortable is a quality sleeping pad and bag.

You can see part of my setup in this pic:

 

No idea on Honda Gens (except for the food truck that runs it around the corner of my office). My Ryobi is awesome to say the least and probably at the same sound levels. I got a brand new one for $449 shipped to my home from fleabay

 

Done. I have the block heater installed already (although I need to remove and put on some cool tape). The battery heater is on the way...

 

Well, this is getting shipped as we speak: http://www.ebay.com/itm/181694581553?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
I have a regular sleeping bag(plus blanket) but I need to purchase one that can withstand 0s and negative. Any links etc? I will have layers for clothing(inshirt, shirt, sweatshirt, NorthFace pullover and then aNorthFace waterproof jacket, one more layer will make me a hobo, so I will stop.) but no single heavy jacket. Wait, I have thermal as well...

 

What are the expected low temps?

 

Very interesting, so you do not remove the seat at all??? Let me try that when I get home...worst case, I will remove the front seat and raise the "cot" with bucket or storage box.

 

Well, no idea(the idea is to reach Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse), it all depends. If it gets below -20, the truck will run the entire night. Any thing about -10, I will start the generator to keep the battery and engine block warm. The truck will be shut off.

 

I slept in tents on frozen ground...get a good pad and sleeping bag and don't go cheap and there will be no need for heat

 

how tall are you?