Vault Bed Heat Pump Build (Heating & Cooling) 🥵🥶

[Cybergirl]

Was waiting for this BUILT!
Careful running it in your garage overnight as there can be some funky things if your pumping heat into an enclosed space with a heat pump so maybe park outside or leave the garage door open a little.

LET US KNOW How it goes, especially the energy consumption overnight and temps outside/inside the vault!

I think I will still remove my window so I can crawl from the vault to the cab in an emergency or if I am in a bad area, but your setup looks great.

Nice looking build!

Thank you.

What funky things are you referring to? It's no different than running a refrigerator in the garage.

The rear window is very narrow, unfortunately. A young child might be able to squeeze through if the glass was removed.

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[Cybergirl]

I looked for the BougeRV 2900 for a short while but not easily sourceable (maybe out of Japan?). Looks like a very similar (knock off) is this one but it mainly indicates A/C cooling usage.

https://www.amazon.com/Treeligo-Portable-Conditioners-2900BTU-Conditioner/dp/B0C1ZK69R9

It looks to be made by the same manufacturer. I think it's made in Hong Kong.

 

[Gigahorse]

Thank you.

What funky things are you referring to? It's no different than running a refrigerator in the garage.

The rear window is very narrow, unfortunately. A young child might be able to squeeze through if the glass was removed.

This is the only post I have up that is somewhat time sensitive and would appreciate it getting published.

Yea the removal of the rear window is not for a family with small kids, but the CT I feel was designed as a work truck not a minivan, although some of the features turned out that way.

As far as the heat pump in an enclosed area be careful of CARBON MONOXIDE
Especially as small as the vault is, having the exhaust pumped into it you can run into issues. I would say at a MINIMUM use a carbon monoxide detector if your going to be piping that into the vault with you in there.
Tesla needs to make the HVAC go to the back, preferably through a midgate because people are going to camp and sleep back there and between space heaters and heat pumps could run into issues.

 

[swinefeaster]

Love this! But...how tall are you? I'm 6' ?

 

[Cybergirl]

Love this! But...how tall are you? I'm 6' ?

I'm a rather tall 5'-9" so I can stretch out in the vault. Side sleepers should have no problem even if they're over 6 foot.

 

[Cybertruck 1974]

All this done and said works, kinda but.....back window out and slider in solves everything. Looks awesome as well. Like it should have been done in the first place.

 

[Cyberman]

Cybergirl, allow me to thank you for your efforts on behalf of all members of the Justice League. [:{)
But seriously, what if you just put the BougeRV inside the vault, with just one duct hole to blow air out? This way the thermostat will be where you need it.

 

[Gigahorse]

All this done and said works, kinda but.....back window out and slider in solves everything. Looks awesome as well. Like it should have been done in the first place.

Yea, my guess is Tesla will bring in the midgate or rear window when sales slow down and people are looking for more utility and not willing to DIY solutions like they are now.

 

[Deleted member 4261]

Great work, came out looking very clean! The heat pump just needs a new enclosure to match the Cybertruck ?



Yeah I can't imagine putting a family member (let alone one of my children) at risk by putting them in a DIY'd seat. It's much safer to strap them to the roof rack instead.

And what’s wrong with the Frunk?

 

[WheresMyCybertruck]

And what’s wrong with the Frunk?

It's already got little Jimmy in there ?

 

[sylvius]

I absolutely love the lexan hinged insert idea. I am still waiting on my truck but unless there is an interior tailgate release that no one has mentioned, I’d be insanely nervous locking myself in the vault knowing that either phone or truck battery could die. A hinging panel that could be popped out in emergency would be awesome. Even if tight to climb out, one should be able to reach the tonneau and tailgate buttons from inside.

On a related note, I wonder if one could add an interior tailgate release pullcord or similar.

Finally, can your phone app connect to the truck via bluetooth or do truck and phone need wireless service to communicate? A lot of the places I camp have no or unreliable mobile service.

 

[Texarado]

On a related note, I wonder if one could add an interior tailgate release pullcord or similar.

 

[HaulingAss]

Instead removing the rear window of my Cybertruck, and relying on cabin HVAC Camp Mode to heat/cool the vault for sleeping, I designed and built separate means of heating and cooling the vault using a BougeRV 2900 BTU heat pump resting on a Lexan panel inserted in the CT's tonneau cover tracks. Air is drawn from the vault into the BougeRV where it is cooled (or heated) and pumped back into the vault.

The clear Lexan (polycarbonate) panel allows outside light to enter the vault to ease any feelings of claustrophobia (the rear window is blocked by the partially open tonneau).

The main parts are shown here. A hinged 3/8" thick Lexan panel (a hinge is needed in order to insert the panel into the tonneau guide tracks on the edges of the vault sails), and two aluminum support bars to stiffen the Lexan material to support the BougeRV heat pump (23 lbs).

I used a 12" piano hinge to join the two 31.25" x 12" x 3/8" Lexan panels. I used liquid Super Glue to bond a piece of Lexan to the ends of the panels to receive the 3/4" long screws to attach the hinge.

I cut the two 4-1/8" diameter holes in the Lexan with a hole saw (cutting in reverse to avoid it from grabbing).

The Lexan is too flexible to support even its own weight much less the weight of the heat pump. I used two 57" lengths of 1-1/4" aluminum angle to make the bars that stiffen the panel. The support bars are slipped onto the edges of the Lexan panels after the panels are inserted into the tonneau cover guide tracks. Brackets, shown here, are bolted to the angled support bars with space to receive the Lexan panels.

The vault air is drawn into the heat pump at the lower inlet and short flexible duct. The cooled/heated air is pushed into the vault from the upper outlet and duct that I'll extend to the head of the vault supported by wire hooks attached to the L-track (not shown).

The heat pump runs on 24VDC. It comes with a 360W 120VAC to 24VDC adapter which I plug into one of the 120V outlets in the vault.

The cost of materials came to about $250 plus any tools needed to fabricate the hinged panel and support bars.

I'm going to test it out soon by sleeping in the vault here at home. I will use the BougeRV in heating mode (flip the heat pump around). Unfortunately, the thermostat is only present on the cold air side, so I have no direct aair temperature control inside the vault.

It would depend upon how well you can sleep with noises cycling on and off during the night. It looks like putting a heat pump on a lexan cover like that would transmit a lot of noise inside the vault, and it might not have a pleasant quality to it. I know I would not sleep well with that sound all night.

As for heat, what's wrong with an electric blanket? In an enclosed space like that, with a comforter on top and insulating mattress below, I would probably have to turn it off once the bedding had warmed up, even if it was well below freezing outside.

One of the things I love about wilderness camping is how quiet it is. I love hearing the rustling of the wind, coyotes or wolves howling on the ridgetop, owls hooting, etc.

 

[Gigahorse]

I absolutely love the lexan hinged insert idea. I am still waiting on my truck but unless there is an interior tailgate release that no one has mentioned, I’d be insanely nervous locking myself in the vault knowing that either phone or truck battery could die. A hinging panel that could be popped out in emergency would be awesome. Even if tight to climb out, one should be able to reach the tonneau and tailgate buttons from inside.

On a related note, I wonder if one could add an interior tailgate release pullcord or similar.

Finally, can your phone app connect to the truck via bluetooth or do truck and phone need wireless service to communicate? A lot of the places I camp have no or unreliable mobile service.

Tesla has a factory answer to your interior talegate release.
There are a couple videos this is the only one I could readily find.

 

[sylvius]

Awesome, thanks for that. I had downloaded the manual but didn’t browse through it yet. Will definitely want to be familiar with how to get in there and pop it open before locking myself in there.

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