Do tents have higher internal temp vs external temp?

[burtonator]

I've read that tents can increase the internal temp by 5-10 degrees vs external temp.

I can't find any evidence of this online though.

I was thinking of this vs a tarp which wouldn't have that advantage.

I wanted to propose a new tarp design based on some thinking but I'd like to have some evidence that a wind break actually does boost internal temp.

Anyone have any links or experience on this?

[yooz85]

not sure about tents, but last winter while using my dangerbird with overcover it got down to about 20 degrees. it was 30 degrees in my hammock with cover deployed.

[burtonator]

not sure about tents, but last winter while using my dangerbird with overcover it got down to about 20 degrees. it was 30 degrees in my hammock with cover deployed.

do you have a pic? did it cover and block wind?

I guess my idea is that a hammock + tarp + bugnet could be the same weight as a hammock with full tarp enclosure (if done right).

And if the tarp completely encloses the hammock, then you can ditch the bug net for some weight savings, have a boosted temperature, protect against bugs. AND protect against win.

Right now it seems to be the wind that wakes me up...

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

The answer is always maybe.

A single person in a huge tent will not be able to heat it with body heat. I get about a 10 degree boost when sleeping in my 1.5 person 4 season tent with no mesh. A 3 season tent with lots of mesh may only get a 5 degree boost.

I can get a 15 to 20 degree boost from a hammock sock that weighs only 9.3 oz.

[nothermark]

Good backpacking tents do. The half mesh crap they try to pawn off on us these days does not.

Top covers work that way. Socks do it too.

I think you would be hard pressed to do the same thing with a tarp as there is too much surface area to lose heat through plus the big leak in the bottom.

[scryan]

do you have a pic? did it cover and block wind?

I guess my idea is that a hammock + tarp + bugnet could be the same weight as a hammock with full tarp enclosure (if done right).

And if the tarp completely encloses the hammock, then you can ditch the bug net for some weight savings, have a boosted temperature, protect against bugs. AND protect against win.

Right now it seems to be the wind that wakes me up...

This is all aready being done, via external socks/pods or through hammocks like the dangerbird/thunderbird that have the option to use an overcover that is basically a replacement for the.bugnet made of solid nylon.

[Teegs]

Your question has a several variables to consider.

Firstly, and likely most important, it will depend on whether the sun is up or down, and what the ambient temperature is. Tent volume? Wind speed? Ground temp? Ground type? These are also things to consider. Also whether you have your rainfly on, or whether your in stargazing mode.

For the sake of this discussion I'll assume the rainfly is on. This stagnates a good portion of the air in your tent.

Consider a cold ambient condition, because that's probably what people want to know the most about: When the sun hits the tent the radiative heat will make it through the tent wall and most likely heat the air on the inside. However, you will still have convective heat loss (wind), and conductive heat loss (ground). Will these losses equal or outweigh the radiative heat gain? That depends on other factors such as wind speed and ground temperatures, and ground type. Snow will reflect radiative heat almost perfectly, so essentially you'll be getting twice as much sun as you would otherwise. Snow will definitely increase your air temp inside your tent. Most likely on a clear, calm afternoon, your tent will be a higher temperature inside than it is outside. During a windy day, your tent will at a minimum be a little higher on the inside because the air will be mostly stagnant due to your rainfly & tent wall. However the thin material still presents the ability for convective heat loss. Your tent will never be colder on the inside than it is on the outside in these conditions, once you've set it up and allowed it to reach thermal equilibrium.

But lets consider when the sun is down. Now you have nothing adding to the temperature of the inside of your tent except your body heat. Essentially the heat provided by your body will need to outweigh the heat loss from conduction and convection. Again wind speeds and ambient temperatures have a DIRECT effect on this. The more wind and lower the temps, the more difficult it'll be for your body heat to make an impact on the temp inside your tent. If you have a small tent you will be able to heat it more than a large one. This is why hammocks with covers can experience actual temp boosts because there is less air for your body to heat up. Bivy sacks are the best because they have the least air to create a solid microclimate.

So the short answer is: During the day? Probably. During the night? Probably not.

[burtonator]

This is all aready being done, via external socks/pods or through hammocks like the dangerbird/thunderbird that have the option to use an overcover that is basically a replacement for the.bugnet made of solid nylon.

cool.. this is all news to me. This is exactly what I want. Any pointers?

Ideally it would be something of a regular hammock without bugnet with a sock/pod system that I can exit under if there is a lot of rain.

Seems like I could 1/2 the weight of my hammock setup this way.

[matthew2000tx]

I think this is true. Based on my simple wally world blue tarp over my hammock in my recent hang. When I removed it during the night I felt cooler....it's unscientific...

Write up here:
Wife's first hang

[yooz85]

Here are those pics you wanted to see and yes it does help block the wind. I also recently purchased the 2qZq underquilt protector which should help block more wind and retain a little more heat.