For the next 8 weeks I will be living at my college inside my old Chrysler Pacfica. I have access to power, and the school has a recreation facility with a gym/pool/showers (lukewarm or cold ew, lol) I have removed the second and third row of seats. I built a platform out of pallets (and other scrap wood), and have put an air mattress on the platform. Seems easy enough right? except I live in Alberta and is gets below freezing at night for another few weeks. I arrived late on the first day, and the car was still very warm from the drive, I went to sleep covered in five heavy blankets, and woke up at 3 am with a frozen head. I put my head under the covers and it really wasn't too bad after that. I have a medium-ish crock pot that I am using as a heater, but I have found that without water inside of it, it does not generate as much heat as I was hoping for. I am going to fill the crock pot with rocks, to help hold onto some more of the heat. I have tinted windows, but I have hung sheets around the windows, so that people can't see me using my laptop at night, it seems to be working so far. I think my problems will come when it does get warm outside, currently I can go back to cozy bed any time I want to have a nice nap, but when summer hits I will have to go out and about all day long. do any of you have suggestions for living in a hot car? or any suggestions at all in general? I will post pics when I get a little more settled in.
There was a fellow who had a thread about how he basically has been living in his van for years. It was really fascinating - he loved it and chose that as his lifestyle. I wish I could remember where it was I'm sure there is some great info there.
What McFuddles said. It's in the communal living area. Check it out damn good read & lots of helpful tips
After posting this, I found the exact post to answer my questions haha, it was the first post in the this forum.
This weekend I will be removed the front passenger seat, then I think there will be just enough space for my cooler
UPDATE: we had a little heat wave which caused an internal seam of my air mattrress to detach,, giving me a big lump in the middle of the bed, I will be looking into a foam mattress.
I think that maintaining correct ventilation will be the key to success. With such a small area, oxygen will be consumed very quickly, so be careful to always maintain enough ventilation for yourself. Any form of incandescent heating that burns a fuel (electricity does not burn potential energy) will burn up oxygen and create carbon dioxide. When the oxygen level drops below about 18%, it is easy for incomplete combustion to produce carbon monoxide. Bad ventilation will also cause condensation to build up and everything will become damp. Damp interior and bedding will not insulate you from the cold and heating things up without letting the moist air out will just create a viscous circle that will make you even less comfortable.
I have been using a crock pot, just without the pot. Most nights it's too cold to have the windows open all night, I always end up waking up at 3am, all chilly, to close the windows. I have a smaller foam mattress and I decreased the size of my mattress platform, making the interior feel a little larger. I'm still feeling a bit squeezed. Only 5 more weeks to go!
I believe the thread about the guy who's lived in his van for years is a sticky here about TwoDogs. You can find it here: 21 Years in a 1973 Dodge Van
If you are still following thie thread here are a few suggestions. Do you really need pallets under your mattress? That adds 4 more inches less that you have for head space. Cracking a wind open a crack with help keep the moisture down. Wear a knit ski cap to sleep. You lose a lot of body heat thru your head. Try not to sleep in the same clothes that you wore all day. Your body sweats, even when it's cold out. And the dampness of the clothes will make you cold while your sleeping. Since you are using a crock pot for heat..you have electric power. So add a electric blanket for sleeping warm. To heat your van so you can change clothes use a hair dryer for heat . Running it for a half hour is okay running it longer might trip the internal thermal overload. Which will reset after it cools. Your biggest heat lost areas are the Windows. So covering them will help. If you can hang a blanket between you and the front seat that is less space that you have to heat. Good luck
