1. Sleep in a building with an actual foundation. (we refuse)
2. Sleep under 20-30 pounds of blankets. (considered it)
3. Sleep under two to three hundred pounds of snow bunnies. (too much drama)
4. Electrical heat and insulation. (we've submitted)
Initially upon setting up his tent Kyle Cordon Bleu created a platform out of some plywood and some 2x4s. This was continued in our winter setup, and although this does have it's advantage, it has it's disadvantage as well. So once we had our tents set up on individual platforms, we started to assess how to stay warm in sub-freezing temperatures. We concluded, as implied by the list, to use electrical heat as using our SUV's exhaust seemed undesirable just because my car runs on premium.(although the one night we did do it I slept like a baby.) So concluding on electrical heat we headed off to Lowe's, an imitation Home Depot that happens to have better proximity to us.
The Feature Comforts Electric Utility Heater with Thermostat was the perfect pick for us. With a forward facing fan we could attach a dryer exhaust tube and while keeping the heater outside of our tents, run the heat into our tents. Combine that with a light timer you'd use to make robbers think you're still in town and we could regulate our overnight heating without having to wake up whenever it got too hot or too cold. With this in place we thought we'd be fine. We were wrong.
See, with all the surface area of the tents, and the sub-zero temperatures at night (often below 15 degrees fahrenheit) we were losing heat at a rate that would require our heater to run all night long. Clearly not an ideal situation. So we began looking at insulation options. Because of the size of his tent, KCB just started throwing blankets over the top of his, in between the tent and the fly. In his case this was effective, but running out of blankets and realizing that to buy them would cost more than I wanted to spend I immediately knew the better solution: carpet.
That's right, I don't care if it's new carpet, and if you've ever been on craigslist you'll know people are always giving away free carpet, for free. So I found some lady getting rid of more carpet than I needed and went and shoved it in the back of the SUV. Then, like a seamstress I began making a pattern, I would cut the carpet first, and put that on the inside layer, and then the padding for the outside layer. Once in place the amount of heat to keep my tent warm was cut in half. But I realized something else was happening, but only to my tent.
See, KCB and I's tents are different shapes and configurations. I have a mattress inside of my tent while his tent is actually on top of a mattress wrapped in a tarp. So what I started noticing was that although I still was warmer than before the carpet, the area next to my mattress had a significant drop in temperature.
Remember how I mentioned that our tents were actually lifted off the ground on top of plywood? Well that plywood was primarily exposed to the air. Just had a few 2x4s that were keeping it off the ground. That's when I realized that what we had created was actually a heat sink, and my tent was on top of it.
Initially upon setting up his tent Kyle Cordon Bleu created a platform out of some plywood and some 2x4s. This was continued in our winter setup, and although this does have it's advantage, it has it's disadvantage as well. So once we had our tents set up on individual platforms, we started to assess how to stay warm in sub-freezing temperatures. We concluded, as implied by the list, to use electrical heat as using our SUV's exhaust seemed undesirable just because my car runs on premium.(although the one night we did do it I slept like a baby.) So concluding on electrical heat we headed off to Lowe's, an imitation Home Depot that happens to have better proximity to us.
See, with all the surface area of the tents, and the sub-zero temperatures at night (often below 15 degrees fahrenheit) we were losing heat at a rate that would require our heater to run all night long. Clearly not an ideal situation. So we began looking at insulation options. Because of the size of his tent, KCB just started throwing blankets over the top of his, in between the tent and the fly. In his case this was effective, but running out of blankets and realizing that to buy them would cost more than I wanted to spend I immediately knew the better solution: carpet.
A month or two in with the fly removed. The aluminum foil is used for light-sealing
That's right, I don't care if it's new carpet, and if you've ever been on craigslist you'll know people are always giving away free carpet, for free. So I found some lady getting rid of more carpet than I needed and went and shoved it in the back of the SUV. Then, like a seamstress I began making a pattern, I would cut the carpet first, and put that on the inside layer, and then the padding for the outside layer. Once in place the amount of heat to keep my tent warm was cut in half. But I realized something else was happening, but only to my tent.
See, KCB and I's tents are different shapes and configurations. I have a mattress inside of my tent while his tent is actually on top of a mattress wrapped in a tarp. So what I started noticing was that although I still was warmer than before the carpet, the area next to my mattress had a significant drop in temperature.
Remember how I mentioned that our tents were actually lifted off the ground on top of plywood? Well that plywood was primarily exposed to the air. Just had a few 2x4s that were keeping it off the ground. That's when I realized that what we had created was actually a heat sink, and my tent was on top of it.
The most common area for a heat sink to be used is in a computer. Basically by using a conductive material formed into a high surface area design this form can suck heat off of whatever you want to cool, in the case of a computer, most likely the processor chip. In the case of myself, the inside of my tent. Now KCB wasn't experiencing this because the entire footprint of his tent was in contact with a mattress that was in contact with the plywood, meaning he basically had an insulator. You're probably wondering why my mattress on the inside of the tent didn't act as an insulator, it did. But if I let my foot fall off the edge of that twin mattress I'd find it changing temperature from 65 degrees to 30 in the space of 8 inches. The obvious solution? More insulation. So cutting up the padding I had left over from my earlier project I filled garbage bags with it, then filled the space I had around my mattress with the garbage bags, and then layered blankets over the bags creating what has been described by many as:
ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENTS IMAGINABLE!
and
I WISH I COULD LIVE HERE!
and
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MARRY ME!!
That last one was a bit embarrassing, but this blog is about honesty, so I had to share it. I wish I could contest such claims, and I know it's killing you that you can't see it, so I've attached a link to a picture.
Just kidding. It's better. And Prince almost never sleeps there. Only when I get lonely. Which is every night never.
So now you know. Keeping a tent warm is easy. Truth is, with the insulation KCB and I don't even use the electric heater configurations (there's one per tent both controlled by the same timer) when the low is above 20. We do also have electric blankets but I rarely use that above 25. And if you get enough babes in the tent you can be artificial heat free at any temperature above -20. Although the babes on the outside are liable to get some minor to serious frostbite.
