Camper Glamper?

[dkveuro]

Who's buying one?

BBC - Autos - Mercedes-Benz builds a glamper van



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[TwitchKitty]

It does look like a cool idea but a camper needs a generator and AC. Campers are not about the best driving experience. The fun really starts when you park it.

[spdrun]

You sleep at night when it's cooler out. Thing probably has a couple large batteries and an inverter. Less stanky and risk of CO-poisoning than a gashog generator.

[TwitchKitty]

I travel in a camper van without a generator. Trust me, you are limited without a generator.

When it is really cold out you drive all night and sleep in the day, solar heat. You suffer sleeping at night or burn propane. Solar heat. Less traffic too but sightseeing is out.

Modern generators are pretty tame. There's some really nice stuff out there.

[spdrun]

Originally Posted by TwitchKitty

When it is really cold out you drive all night and sleep in the day, solar heat. You suffer sleeping at night or burn propane.

Burning propane is a lot more efficient than running a generator to run a heating system. Or perhaps the camper can be ordered with a fuel-burning heater like old VW Microbuses had. A lot more efficient to burn the fuel directly vs using it to run a motor to spin a generator to run an electric heater.

EBERSPACHER - 12v D2 AIRTRONIC - FULL DIESEL HEATER KIT | eBay

[TwitchKitty]

I mixed up a couple ideas there, sorry.

The generator is for AC. The propane heater will run off of the house battery for days. Propane costs are not that bad with the temperature set really low but finding propane is a pain sometimes. Some places that sell propane don't have anyone that can run the fill station. My camper van carries about seven gallons of propane and it lasts a week or more running the heater on low temps.

I saw that tractor supply sells propane at one location locally. Good price too. I asked and was told that they can fill an RV.

For much of the year after you drive for hours the heat from the vehicle combined with the heat from weather and the heat from the parking lot makes for uncomfortable sleeping without ac.

I'll pull over and sleep through a traffic jam.

Some of the modern generators are dual fuel and will run off propane and gasoline.

[pawoSD]

The modern little inverter generators from Yamaha and Honda will run for half a day on a gallon of fuel with a light load....and several hours even with a fairly big load. They are very quiet, you could run them overnight without bothering anyone. Burning 1 gallon of fuel over the course of 12 hrs doesn't really generate much emissions either. Can always get heat with an electric blanket off one of those....it would cost even less than using propane.

Another option is to just not be a wimp that needs electricity all the time. I've rustic camped in 25-35F temps with nothing but a sleeping bag and blanket in a military lean-to tent on the ground. Makes you tougher.

Air conditioning when camping....psh. That's what a fan is for.

[Simpler=Better]

Originally Posted by pawoSD

The modern little inverter generators from Yamaha and Honda will run for half a day on a gallon of fuel with a light load....and several hours even with a fairly big load. They are very quiet, you could run them overnight without bothering anyone. Burning 1 gallon of fuel over the course of 12 hrs doesn't really generate much emissions either. Can always get heat with an electric blanket off one of those....it would cost even less than using propane.

Another option is to just not be a wimp that needs electricity all the time. I've rustic camped in 25-35F temps with nothing but a sleeping bag and blanket in a military lean-to tent on the ground. Makes you tougher.

Air conditioning when camping....psh. That's what a fan is for.

If it's hot enough for air conditioning, it's hot enough for tons of bugs, making it not the right weather for camping.

Needs to be cold enough to kill mosquitos before the ten comes out

[MTI]

My idea of "roughing it" is a hotel that doesn't have 24 hour room service.

[TwitchKitty]

My camper van really doesn't do much camping. It is more of a cross country hotel room on wheels. It's more likely to spend the night in the parking lot in the French Quarter than in the wilderness.

I admit too that I don't rough it as well as I did. I guess I could still tough it a little if I had to but I'll take the creature comforts when I can get them.

[jake12tech]

So it's going to have the same engine as the E250 BlueTec I bet. That engine is really adequate in the sedan, but I wonder how well it'd do in a mini camper?

[TwitchKitty]

That one also doesn't have a toilet or a shower. Mine does. That is another one to drive to bar and be seen.

[jake12tech]

Originally Posted by TwitchKitty

That one also doesn't have a toilet or a shower. Mine does. That is another one to drive to bar and be seen.

^^^^ Pretty much. If it had an AMG under the hood, I'd buy one. True sleeper fun..