Heating/Cooling the bed

[46mech]

I'm not sure where I'll get the most response for this so I posted this under the "Other Topics" also. I'm wondering if any of you have any feasible ideas for heating and/or cooling the bed area of the truck.

I have a shell and when we travel we always take the dogs, cats, etc. . On our recent trip to and from Cheyenne, WY, the temps outside were in the low 20's or lower. Obviously, summer is just the opposite and the wife is rightfully concerned. I don't know if cutting holes in the cab and the bed to jury-rig some sort of hose will look too good, but I'd like to hear all ideas.

I know I could always line the shell and bed with foam & lauan, and that may be my initial step, but I'm just wondering if it's possible to "install central air. " Thanks

 

[Doc Tinker]

Heating shouldn't be much of a problem. There are remote heaters available that you can hook your truck's heater hoses and they have some that are electric too. You can get one at a junk yard from a passenger van, if you don't want to buy new.



A/C is a little different matter. You can get a remote evaporator unit that could be plumbed into your existing A/C system, or maybe one of the swamp coolers would be a better and cheaper option.



Doc

 

[HC]

Lining with any insulating material is a good first step. You can buy auxilliary heaters that basically install a second heater core, and then plumb engine coolant to it, but I've chosen not to do that for several reasons, (complexity, new hoses that could leak, etc. ). But if your main concern is heat in the winter, this would be the best way to get serious heat to the back. http://www.jcwhitneyusa.com/catlevel1.jhtml?CATID=5013&BQ=jcw2 One simple solution is an inflatable boot, if you have a rear slider and a slider window on the cap, too. That would get some warm, or cool air back to the pets, but is also going to leak some when it is raining and is going to increase in-cab noise. If you typically have just one or two pets in the back, then I would suggest you fix a bed that includes a heating pad or electric blanket. Typical watt draws are 50 to 100 watts, which is within the range that an inexpensive inverter plugged into your cigarette lighter could handle. If you have multiple pets, you could even run a bigger inverter and more than one pad (or blanket), but might also require a direct connection to your batteries to avoid blowing fuses. With just a heating pad, your pets might not be toasty, but they wouldn't be miserable either. For summer, I'm thinking 12volt fan.

 

[drawson]

I don't know about heating the shell but in the summer I put a boot on and have two RV style elctric fan back in each front corner. This last summer on my way back from the Oregon coast my wife spent most of the return home back there with my youngest read him a Harry Potter book. She always too cold up front with the A/C on though.

 

[illflem]

Run duel stacks up though the bed, that ought to keep it warm back there.

 

[scott4glamis]

maybe a rear ac system from an astro van might work, toyota land cruisers had an available option for an under the seat heater that was plumbed in to the cooling system, or try consulting an automotive HVAC shop that can do a conversion for you.

 

[46mech]

I really want to thank everyone for their inputs. The dual stacks idea was cool