Under floor heating

[spookmaria]

Has anyone or anyone considered under floor heating for their bong for cold camping trips? I'm considering getting some 12v heat pads similar to those you would find in heated seats would this be a good idea or am i mad!!!

[Gasy]

Mad
There'd flatten your battery
Even on 240v hook up there'd only be good inside your bed / sleeping bag

[spookmaria]

you can get 12v heating pads at 5w was thinking of these for under the lino, carpet or laminate.

[Simon Jones]

I thought about it but to do it properly you'd need 240v elements like the ones you can fit under flooring tiles in the bathroom etc. It would need the floor to be insulated, then plywood to provide flat surfaces, then the element, then something like thin ply and finally a vinyl type covering. Obviously it would only work when on hookup but would provide a nice gentle heat.

I picked up a kit cheap from B&Q a while back and may look into creating a sort of heated over-carpet mat rather than trying to incorporate it into the floor.

If you were sticking to 12v you'd need a lot of 5W heating pads to make a difference. A car sidelight bulb draws 5W and you'll need a fair few to heat the inside of the van up.

[spookmaria]

Thanks simon, let me know how your install goes.

[dave_aber]

To put the 5W in perspective, I have a Webasto Airtop heater - 2Kw.

This is a lot of heat in a Bongo, and brings it up to temp in no time. 1Kw would be plenty.

But that's 200 pads if they are 5W each.

I've found that closing the ceiling panel at night makes a huge difference, as the heat isn't disappearing through the tent.