12v electric blankets

andromeda

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Has anyone any experience of using one of these in their vans? I'm just wondering about how they much of a drain they would be on the batteries if used for any length of time?
Thanks for reading.
 
andromeda said:
Has anyone any experience of using one of these in their vans? I'm just wondering about how they much of a drain they would be on the batteries if used for any length of time?
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
They are an excellent choice of warming a bed :)
I fitted one on my last conversion and got another when I changed to a Motorhome.

Obviously they are designed to be plugged in a mains socket so you would need an inverter running to use. They are pretty low power draw but in a van environment amps all add up! Say around 3-4Ah for each hour it is on taken out the battery. What you could do is turn on the inverter and blanket up to full when driving to pre-warm the bed to lessen the impact on the battery? I fitted mine between the original mattress and the topper, so the topper gets nicely warmed up and retains the heat to enjoy later on.

I'd recommend one - they are not very expensive and even if you only used on hookup if available you would get a nice benefit.
 
There ar usb 5v ones now on temu and ebay, talking to a chap who bought one for the wife, he said warmish but not roasting.blanket a.jpgblanket b.jpgblanket c.jpgblanket d.jpg
 
Yes it would be best to buy a 230v proper blanket and use an inverter, mind you a big battery bank would be the order of the day, truth is a hot water bottle would be the way to go, or a young man. ;)
 
Electrical calculations are dead easy!

Power = Voltage x Current
[Watts = Volts x Amps]

So 60W electric blanket working on 12V gives you
60 = 12 x Amps
So Amps = 5.

Use that for an hour and you are looking at 5Ah

Using an inverter to change 12V dc into 240V ac will still give you approximately the same current draw from your battery, although the inverter does introduce some losses, so it is a slightly higher way of doing it (perhaps 6Ah in my example).

Gordon
 
trevskoda said:
Like this lol.View attachment 71198
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Ooh. You've got the three candlepower heater! Showoff you. I've only got the one candle under my baked bean tin, but even so it does heat the whole house in seconds and saves me thousands of pounds in heating bills.
Well that's what the chap said on the Youtube Advert and we know how strict Youtube is, insisting that everything is correct, don't we?
 
Ann is asking about 12 volt blankets not 240 volts :unsure: I don't have any experience of them so I can't help.

Regards,
Del
 
Joking aside, I think a 12v blanket will have the combined effects of not producing much meaningful heat, and flattening your battery faster than you would like.
 
I got one before toddling off to Portugal a few years ago. Putting it on for an hour before bed didn't use much power from the battery - and anyway once I got to Spain the sun was beating down on the solar for at least 10 hours a day so it was inconsequential.

However, I gave up with it after a couple of nights because it's not like a mains blanket that you use under the bottom sheet at home - it has to go on top of you. I really don't like having anything between me and the duvet, it was uncomfortable, and putting it on top of the duvet meant I didn't really feel any benefit.

I still have it somewhere if you'd like it.
 
It was so cold in our last house after my g dad ripped the fire out and got a 1000 w electric fire my gran bought some lecy blankets, thanks to that i am here today, it was so cold even the mice moved out.
 
Well all of us here are old enough to remember waking up in the morning and playing noughts and crosses in the ice inside the window panes aren't we? But now we are older we are softer.
 
I bought one of the 5v ones. The pictures looked great. It has 8 heating elements. Each measures 5 inches by 3 inches. But overall this was only 6 % of the surface area of the blanket. The rest of the blankets was very thin. Sent it back and got a heated throw. Uses more power but worth every watt.
 
andromeda said:
Has anyone any experience of using one of these in their vans? I'm just wondering about how they much of a drain they would be on the batteries if used for any length of time?
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
A possible alternative for more specific heat is to get a heated vest/gilet?
I have one I use both outside and in the house when sitted down for a bit or extra warmth (the OH likes the room cooler than me, so this brings me up to a nice temp :) )
Works on a USB Power Pack, but wearing it in the camper, you could instead get yourself a long USB lead and plug yourself into a USB socket
This is the vest I have currently - https://amzn.to/3S9GGR4
for a cable, look for a USB Extension cable with Type A Plug and Type A Socket (Type A is the plug that goes into a socket)
 
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