Heat exchangers and heaters for tents: features, types and choice

The tourist tent is a portable house in which, even for a short time, I want to create acceptable conditions. This is especially true in the realities of the Russian climate, when most of the country's territory for most of the year does not exceed 0 ° C, and to be precise, they are often much lower than this generally accepted level of extreme conditions.

It is not surprising that various kinds of tent heaters became popular in Russia.

Instrument Description

Varieties of modern devices for heating tents quite a lot. According to the method of heating they can be divided into heat exchangers and heaters. Heaters - a special type of heaters for the tent, using thermal energy generated during the burning of any fuel.

A common feature of such devices is the presence of an open flame. The operation of the heat exchanger is also based on the combustion of fuel, while the tent is heated by the heated structural elements of the device. There is no open fire directly outside.

Varieties

The tent itself can not warm anyone. In summertime, the people themselves inside become the main source of heat. However, with a decrease in air temperature to 0 ° C and below, additional heating is required, otherwise the entire effect of a portable house will be reduced to protection from wind and precipitation. Long years of searching led to the formation of several main lines of heaters for tents. They differ in a number of features:

type of fuel used;
materials used for the manufacture of structures;
heat transfer method.

Solid-fuel alcohol heater - the most budget, but also the most inefficient option. Due to the simplicity of the design, often such a heater is made by hand. However, to truly heat even a small tent in the winter with this heat source will be difficult. Although it is possible to warm frozen hands or feet.

This device will cope well with heated food, you can boil water and warm yourself with the help of a hot drink. However, the full heating of speech is still not going.

A universal heater can be a gas burner. Gas heater can be used for its intended purpose, and for cooking or heating food. The burner can be placed directly on the cylinder or connected to it with a hose. Recognized advantages of such equipment will be:

simplicity and reliability;
compactness and ease of use;
high efficiency and durability.

Natural disadvantage can be considered only the need to change cylinders. Often it is the balloon, due to its size and weight, that causes such equipment to be ignored by tourists - lovers of hiking. Special mention should be made of a portable gas heat exchanger that does not have an open flame - the so-called infrared heater. This is the safest way to heat a tourist tent.

The heating element does not involve not only the flame, but also the flow of hot air.

3 types of similar devices are made.

With a metal heat exchanger in the form of a thin mesh, which is heated by the combustion of gas. Among all the infrared heaters metal - the most uneconomical. One of the advantages may be high efficiency, as well as the possibility of using it for heating food.

With a ceramic infrared emitter. Such heat exchangers are very effective for heating, but they are completely unsuitable for cooking and heating food. Indisputable advantages can be considered a small weight and efficiency of the device.

Catalytic. This is the most modern and technically advanced means of heating. The design feature is a special surface made of a special alloy. Combustion in such a heater does not occur, which makes it the safest way to heat the tent during a hike. The gas supplied to the above-mentioned surface, enters into an oxidation reaction, which is why thermal energy is released.

In addition to the absence of flame, the catalytic apparatus also does not emit combustion products during operation, however, oxygen is consumed to carry out the reaction, therefore the tent must be periodically ventilated. It is necessary to be very careful with the catalytic surface, the ingress of moisture or other contaminants is extremely undesirable and can put the device out of operation, for this reason it can never be used for heating and cooking.

In addition to gas models, catalytic gasoline heaters are available. A common disadvantage of this type is the limited time of their operation. Substances used to maintain the reaction, gradually oxidize and become inactive.

As a heater, the so-called gas afterburner - convector. This compact device complements the gas stove or burner. Due to the complex inner surface, the device heats up even from a weakly burning, narrowly focused flame. Many tourists prefer just such a design, since in this case the marching gas stove becomes the heat source, which you still have to take with you for cooking, and the heater-convector does not require much more space in the backpack.

And, of course, in this case you will not have to take with you additional adapters and gas cylinders for the heater. The advantages of the convector for hiking enthusiasts are obvious.

A special line of heaters are heaters-lamps. This gas lamp is significantly different from most of the gas devices described above. Unlike all other heating devices, one of its most important functions is lighting. The light it gives is far from bright, however, it is sufficient for night-time lighting of a tent or even a small camp.

One of the side effects of the device is the heat it emits, which will be enough to heat a small room. Of course, in real cold, the effect of it will be small. However, in the warm season, such a compact device will help increase the comfort of a portable home.

In the tent, illuminated and heated with such a lantern, it is necessary to carry out ventilation, as when using any gas heating equipment.

A number of models use gasoline as fuel. Against the background of the growing popularity of gas heating units, petrol systems are currently used less frequently. But still they continue to produce, albeit in smaller quantities than, for example, a decade ago. Gasoline heater is usually lighter and cheaper than a similar gas. However, the safety of gas heaters is higher, and their operation is much easier.

A kind of the previous type can be considered kerosene infrared heaters. According to their design, such devices resemble kerosene lamps or primus stoves. The same fuel tank and wick block at the top.

By adjusting the wick, optimal heating of the mesh design - heat exchanger is achieved. The device can also be used for heating food. Due to the design and lightness the appliance remains flammable since it is fairly easy to tip over. At the same time, the lantern-heater is perhaps one of the least expensive options for a portable heating device for a tent.

For long car expeditions will be suitable and the most technologically advanced heater that uses diesel fuel. To carry it on a hike, of course, is unreal. Large size and weight (almost 40 kg) plus fuel tanks - all this together makes this type of heating equipment completely unsuitable for an autonomous hiking trip. The diesel unit has the form of an aluminum box, in which compactly located: a heater, a battery, a control unit, a silencer, a small tank.

The box is placed outside the tent. For convenience of management there is a remote control. Heat is supplied to the tent through special rubber hoses that withstand high temperatures.

The production of such equipment has been mastered by handicraft workshops, industrial models have recently appeared.

Popular models

There are many manufacturers of portable tent heaters. There are domestic models and foreign ones. Actively fills the market with a variety of aggregates China. We must remember that even the best units for heating tents, combining a number of advantages, are also not without drawbacks. The ideal heater just does not exist yet.

Every tourist, hunter or fisherman is free to choose a means of heating the tent in accordance with his abilities and ideas about comfort.

An overview of the most popular models will begin with an instance of Korean production - Electronpower PG7B. Despite the intriguing name, electricity for the heater is not required. The heater is equipped with a built-in ceramic plate, which is heated by a burning gas. For ignition, you can use a match or a lighter, but the device is equipped with a piezo igniter. There is a power regulator, you can choose the optimal heating and fuel consumption. Electronpower PG7B effectively heats up a tourist or fishing tent with low fuel consumption.

Another popular Korean brand Kovea Fire Ball KH-0710. It is also an infrared gas heater. The device is equipped with a reflector that allows directional heating, including turning it into a stove for cooking. Tungsten heating elements make it reliable and durable.

Small dimensions and weight are the undoubted advantages of the model.

Russian heater "Pathfinder Ion PF-GHP-S01" also a representative of gas heaters-reflectors. One of the indisputable advantages of the model is its compactness, which does not at all prevent the device from heating up the tents, including the rather large ones, and can be used to heat the dacha. Another advantage of this heater is its economy. One balloon may be enough for several nights. This is one of the best models for hiking enthusiasts.

Russian apparatus Neoklima also applies to the type of infrared gas heaters. Effectively heating even relatively large rooms, it maintains heat quite well. Feature is small weight and dimensions of the device. A variety of adapters are included with the heater, which allows the use of different types of gas cylinders.

Another Russian brand - "Pathfinder Outbreak" has established itself as an excellent option for winter fishing or hiking. The device heats with ease even large tents or wooden houses, it is reliable and relatively economical. True, quite overall dimensions can play against him, for example, on a hike. One of the advantages of this domestic model is the possibility of its use as a tile for cooking and heating food.

The heater is also supplied with a different diameter of the adapter, allowing it to be used with any standard cylinders.

A representative of gas heat exchangers for winter fishing is the Kuzma Standard Plus unit. Dimensions and design features of the unit do not allow to use it as a portable camping equipment. But for winter fishing or auto expedition, this model can be ideal. To operate the heater in normal mode, you will need a battery, since it is equipped with a fan that operates from the mains with a voltage of 12 volts.

This makes it very effective, dispersing the warm air inside the tent or tent, the heat exchanger can quickly heat the room, leaving no cold air in the corners and near the floor. By purchasing such a device, you must be prepared for the fact that will have to buy more aluminum pipes, necessary for removal of combustion products to the outside of the tent. They are not included in the set of heat exchanger "Kuzma".

How to choose?

The growing demand for portable camping heaters is pushing manufacturers to saturate the market with a variety of models. On sale there is equipment of any level of complexity and efficiency. The choice of model may be dictated by a number of factors:

degree of heating;
fuel availability;
security;
compactness;
profitability;
durability;
price.

For heating the tent during the winter fishing can be used efficient heater with gas cylinder. As a rule, there are no problems with the delivery of equipment in this case. Everything you need can be brought by car. Another thing is a winter hiking (ski) trip, when all equipment and equipment must be carried in backpacks. In this case, the choice of the heater is largely limited by its dimensions and weight.

The use of the same unit for a tourist tent as for a fishing tent is in fact justified, but in reality, it is often necessary to get by with less efficient, but lighter models. One of the most important selection criteria is safety. If the device is placed in a tent where people will sleep, it will be necessary to pay attention not only to him, but also to the tent itself.

Not all tents can be used in the cold season, in addition, it is important to ensure fire safety.

Important is the possibility of ventilation tents. Most heating devices somehow influence the composition of the air in the room, burning out oxygen and simultaneously emitting carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases in the process. In the case of overall heat exchangers, the problem is solved with the help of a vapor pipe, but the work of compact devices, as a rule, forces to periodically air the tent.

A fully autonomous hike will require special camping equipment. Buy a portable, for example, gas heater is not difficult. For him there is a light gas cylinder. But if there are several nights ahead, and cooking, the main problem will again be the need to allow enough space in backpacks even for compact gas cylinders.

Heating a tourist tent in the winter is an event requiring close attention and serious preparation, no less than the preparation of a camping set of products.

Heating organization

Heating tents at night is one of the conditions for a successful hike. This is especially true in winter, but in the so-called off-season a comfortable overnight stay in a tent without heating is very rare. Sometimes it is necessary to arrange heating only at the beginning of the night in order to warm up the tent. Acceptable temperature can stay in it for quite a long time, and then again have to carry out a controlled warm-up.

This method saves fuel and, through observation of the device, is quite safe. But a good rest, of course, will not provide, and in the winter cold will be completely ineffective.In this case, you will have to resort to heaters that can work for a long time in a completely autonomous mode, and then it should be a truly reliable unit.

One of the mandatory operating conditions for heating equipment is compliance with basic safety requirements. This is especially important when using heaters with an open flame. Models that work from burning fuel are very effective, however, in their operation, you should seriously consider their location in the confined space of a tent.

Heater with liquid fuel is better placed away from the entrance, so that no one accidentally pushed and knocked it over, climbing into the tent or climbing out of it. It is also important that parts of clothes or the edge of a sleeping bag do not fall on it during an overnight stay.

If a heat exchanger is placed in the tent, it will be necessary to consider diverting the gases generated during the combustion of the fuel. This requires a pipe, or rather, a set of pipes, the diameter of which must ensure precise coupling with the heat exchanger pipe.

Aluminum corrugated pipes are often used. They will have to be led out through a special valve, the device of which involves the use of non-combustible materials.

During operation of the heat exchanger, the pipe can also be heated significantly. It is important that it does not come into contact with the walls of the tent or combustible materials. Not all tents have facilities for bringing the heat exchanger pipe to the outside, so when planning winter hikes, it is necessary to carefully select not only heating equipment, but also take the selection of a tent very seriously.

In order to avoid the use of burning fuel and the discharge of products of its combustion, some craftsmen offer handicraft designs of heating devices on batteries that do not require the use of any fuel. However, without recharging, such elements quickly lose their effectiveness. If you take a generator with you, which will maintain the voltage, for example, at 12 volts, a reasonable question arises, why not to do it easier and just take a heater using the same fuel.