Heated Mattress pad

[nickbtubas]

Just wandering who has an electric heated mattress pad in your truck?? I was thinking about buying one and using it to lower my idle time down. what size of an inverter would i need (i can't have an inverter wired directly to my truck due to company policy)??

i cant find an A/C powered one at any of the truck stops yet.


What other methods do you use to keep yourself warm at night? I am going to buy more blankets but that won't go far enough i believe.


thanks

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

Just wandering who has an electric heated mattress pad in your truck?? I was thinking about buying one and using it to lower my idle time down. what size of an inverter would i need (i can't have an inverter wired directly to my truck due to company policy)??

i cant find an A/C powered one at any of the truck stops yet.


What other methods do you use to keep yourself warm at night? I am going to buy more blankets but that won't go far enough i believe.


thanks

If your not running the truck pretty much anything that runs off the battery like an electric blanket will drain your batteries . If your company doesn't put the equipment on your truck so you can stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer while in the truck with the truck off then the idle time is on them .

[chuck3507]

Gotta agree with jeep on that one. I idle the truck. If they were real concerned, I feel the equipment would be made availlable so you did not have to idle.

I don't know anything about them but I would guess they run off a cigarette lighter and do not need an inverter.

[kips41]

I used one that you plug into a 12 volt. I would only use when the temp was 30 or above. If you batteries that are in good shape you will not have any problems starting up the next morning. I would only have it on for about 6 hours at a time. They do have a thermostate and cut on and off by itself, so it does not run continuous.

Ideally these things are best when it is say 50-60 during the day and cools off at night....

One drawback: It really sucks to wake up in a freezing cold truck.

If I was in a company truck, I would idle and stay warm, unless it ia worth it to you to try and get some type of bonus.

[nickbtubas]

its not the matter of a bonus but a job. if my idle time is over 50% than bad things happen.


how big of inverter would i need? i have a 300 Watt Peak inverter, would this be enough?


the outfit i work for is a small one and $3.50/gallon diesel is a steep price to pay.

thanks for the help

[Uturn2001]

I tried running a twin sized pad off a 300 watt inverter and it was not large enough.

An option is to get a large heating pad, put it under a sheet or in a couple of pillow cases and it should provide you with enough extra heat to keep you warm. I know those will run off a 300 watt, and many of them have timers that you can set to turn off between 1 and 4 hours.

[BIG JEEP on 44's]

What are you going to do in the peak of summer when it is easily 100 outside and like an oven in the truck within minutes of turning the truck off...Screens are about useless , as it's hot outside ,and they offer little value in cooling the truck ,and very little air actually cirulates to the bunk from the front of the truck without a very strong breeze , but in the end it's still 100 out ,so what cool air is there to blow around ? Winter with exception to below 30 degress temps is actually easier to reduce idle time of the truck , as it falls into that old saying you can put more on to stay warm, but you can only take so much off to stay cool....

[special k]

I run a cheap $40 electric blanket from Wal-Mart. It's actually made for keeping kids warm in the back of cars. It's 12 volt and it warms up to about 70 degrees so I have it under my bottom sheets. I've never had a problem with it draining the batteries. I'll usually start to idle the truck if it gets below -15 C or so. The mornings are a bit cold though. Sometimes I wish the truck had a ignition button in the sleeper. LOL

[Uturn2001]

Sometimes I wish the truck had a ignition button in the sleeper.

I have wished that myself a few times.

One thing though I love about these companies with their idle time restrictions, even ones as high as 50%, it can be easy to do if they keep you moving decently, but then they end up having you sit on a load, take a 34 hour reset while you are out, or constantly send you to customers that like to take 6-8 hours to load or unload you and next thing you know you are getting chewed out for excessive idling.

I really wish all of these companies would get off their wallets and start outfitting their sleeper trucks with APU's. They would save a lot of money and the drivers would be better rested and a bit happier.

[nickbtubas]

i just bought a heated mattress pad at Walmart. it says it takes 125 Watts so ill see what happens.

in the summer i idle at night but when i deliver or pickup a load i try not to idle as much...


my company has a 50% idle policy and im at 57% currently. they dont run me that well (long wait time for loads) but i cant complain, Im home every week

[Part Time Dweller]

Why mess with inverters and such?

I had a 12 volt mattress pad that did quite well, and never drained the batteries. When i quit OTR, I gave it to a friend who is still using it.

http://www.electrowarmth.com/fleet.php