The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway

Well, yes it does. That's why I did so much insulation.

Cost

Mini space heater - $18.48

Carbon monoxide Detector - $19.97

Thermometer- $9.99

Insulation (not including cost here because I include it in my other posts)

Insulation

I talked about the different types of insulation in the "she hit the floor" post about building the subfloor. But TL;DR - I went with rigid polyiso foam board because it was cheap, environmentally friendly, had a decent R value and did not take up much room.

I am taking my mummy sleeping bag with me. It can go down to 30 degrees F. I did a few nights tests in the van (mainly I was testing the bed) and it worked perfectly fine. I am not worried about the nights. I am worried about getting out the bed in the morning.

Methods of Heating

The main methods of heating in a van are propane/diesel heating, wood stove, and electric heaters.

Personally, I wanted a wood stove. I've lived in a house who's only source of heating was a wood stove, and they work great. Even when the fire is done, the cast iron retains and releases the heat through out the night.

This was the one thing that I was vetoed on. For safety reasons.

No open flame

That meant that the only way to heat the van would be with an electric heater. I talked about my battery's output capabilities, and the one drawback that I pointed out was that it can only expel 500W. Most normal space heaters range from 750-1000W, so I needed to find a smaller one. I did. For 18 bucks, I bought a "cubical" space heater. Only 350W.

Problem: It drains the battery real fast. Not surprising. This is not a viable way to heat my van.

A friend suggested that I boil a pot of water before I go to bed then leave it in the middle of the van. This would both keep the van warm and not as dry. I have not tested this method yet.

The most practical way of heating which will overrule my dad's veto is a propane heater. I will have a safety protocol though. No running it overnight, and only run with windows open. I also bought a carbon monoxide detector.

Verification

I bought an indoor outdoor thermometer to see how effective my insulating actually is. This is from a test trip to Boston. At least the the inside of the van was slightly warmer than the outside. But 22 degrees is still pretty fricking cold. Getting out of bed that morning was not pleasant.

Electronics

For anyone who had skiing, you know that your phone does not do well in the cold. Heck my phone will randomly shut off while I am working in the van outside in the cold. I'm sure it can't be good for the battery, so I need a plan for keeping my phone and laptop from not dying.

When you go winter camping, you sleep with your water bottle inside your sleeping bag to keep it from freezing over night. I could do this with my laptop and phone I guess, but then I risk kicking them in my sleep. My bed is already as short as possible, so there isn't much room by my feet for extra things.

I decided to use an insulating bag just for my electronics (and other important non-freezable things). I'll stick a hot water bottle in the bag just before bed. I'll let you know how this works out.