help with race trailer heat

[the bus driver]

I need to heat my 30' car trailer that we race snowmobiles out of. It have power and is insulated. I have used a electric space heater in the past but would like to have a better heat source. Any ideas?

 

[Falcon67]

Here's what I used to use in my shop - 24K BTU Mr. Heater on top of a 30 gallon propane tank. $20 Walmart floor fan - makes good heat and spreads it around. Uses very little power.

 

[Improved700]

In my 24 footer, I use Mr Heater on a propane tank like what Falcon show's, but the smaller one. As with any unvented propane heater, it will give off a smell, create moisture in the air, and consume oxygen from inside the trailer, but you will be opening the side door, and the back drop down gate enough to help with that. I turn it on enough to take the chill out, which helps when working on the sleds. Anything else might be to costly to install or use. I've been in trailers' that use one of those ventless wall hanging heaters from Menards, and they get pretty warm in there, but I can also smell it too.

Switch to grass racing, and you wont have to worry about heat!
Where and what ya racin?

Good Luck,
Kev

 

[the bus driver]

We race quarter mile on asphalt and hill climb race in the northeast. I race the following curcuit www.nationalspeedassociation.com www.SHCRA.com and www.blackjackracingcircuit.com

 

[the bus driver]

Pro mod 800 hill climb sled

 

[OneTon]

It may be a bit of work, but all that empty roof space on your trailer is just begging for a solar heater install. A quick internet search will provide many ideas for home-made and store-bought units. Heck, just painting the roof black might help.

 

[the bus driver]

I really would like to have a electric heater that would do the job quickly. I do have 220 power.

 

[Improved700]

Nice asphalt sled. Turbo? Who's suspension and ski's?

Ever thought about one of these?

http://www.electricfireplacesdirect.com/duraflame-power-heat?gclid=CK_zm5GB7aUCFcbsKgodqUrLnw

 

[787B]

Nice asphalt sled. Turbo? Who's suspension and ski's?

Ever thought about one of these?

[Duraflame link deleted]

Those things are a ripoff, IMHO. They are just 1500 Watt electric space heaters with fancy cabinets and a ludicrous ($300!) price tag. That's crazy when what you are getting is a prettier version of this $15 heater that puts out exactly the same 1500 Watts of heat for $285 less:

Since you have 220 V available, there are several options depending on how permanent an installation you want and how many amps you can draw.
One option is this portable heater from Northern Tool that is $80 and puts out 4000 Watts.

(Not to scale!)

That should be plenty for your trailer if you have 20 Amp circuit.

You'll also hear about the Dayton "G73" heater from more than one person, I'm sure. It's highly-regarded on GJ. It's 5000 Watts so you would have to have a 30 Amp 220 Volt circuit. Apparently a lot of imitators out there as a google for Dayton G73 turned up lots of look-alikes. The "NewAir" imitator is about $280. Looks like over $350 for the Dayton.

 

[the bus driver]

I have a 50 amp sercive

 

[the bus driver]

The rear suspension and ski's are from www.PCSperformance.com

 

[NovaRacR]

I use the same thing Falcon uses in my 24 ft. trailer when we race in the late fall, early spring.

I've turned on the heat-strips once on the roof AC.....won't do that again.

Be interesting to see what you can find electric-wise that will heat up that fast.

What generator are you using?

WB

 

[Racecarl]

Just thinking outside the box a little, but lots of OTR trucks have little generators that keep the cab warm and generate electricity. They are water-cooled and circulate water though the big engine on the truck. If you could get one of those units and a rear heater from a bus, the hot water from the generator could be used as a heat source for the bus heater.

Perhaps you could devise some sort of heat exchanger on your existing generator that would use coolant or exhaust to heat water for the bus heater.