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

[Cybergirl]

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.

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[Gigahorse]

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.

View attachment 40578

View attachment 40579

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).

View attachment 40584

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.

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!

 

[batlag]

Yooooo…..you seem pretty ingenuitive. Any chance you can figure out how to rip out the center console and install a console seat like many trucks have, and like the CT was supposed to have? I have a family of 6.

 

[Cold.Truth]

Impressive! I can’t wait to hear how it works when you test it! Ti salute.

 

[Cybergirl]

I spoke too soon claiming my set up will work to heat the vault as well as cool it. Once the outside air temperature falls to 60 deg F, the heat pump turns off because that's the lowest thermostat setting it allows. It could be that the efficiency of the BougeRV is too low to extract heat from outside air below that temperature. A ceramic heater will be a better way to heat the vault.

 

[scottf200]

Yooooo…..you seem pretty ingenuitive. Any chance you can figure out how to rip out the center console and install a console seat like many trucks have, and like the CT was supposed to have? I have a family of 6.

Way off topic ... but ... anyone adding a seat needs to be aware of the legal ramifications and safety regulations of crash protection (seat belts, air bags, etc). Doubtful someone would take that reliability and financial risk on.

 

[WheresMyCybertruck]

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

Way off topic ... but ... anyone adding a seat needs to be aware of the legal ramifications and safety regulations of crash protection (seat belts, air bags, etc). Doubtful someone would take that reliability and financial risk on.

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.

 

[Crissa]

I spoke too soon claiming my set up will work to heat the vault as well as cool it. Once the outside air temperature falls to 60 deg F, the heat pump turns off because that's the lowest thermostat setting it allows. It could be that the efficiency of the BougeRV is too low to extract heat from outside air below that temperature. A ceramic heater will be a better way to heat the vault.

....that's a weird heat pump.

-Crissa

 

[TwiztOG43]

Way off topic ... but ... anyone adding a seat needs to be aware of the legal ramifications and safety regulations of crash protection (seat belts, air bags, etc). Doubtful someone would take that reliability and financial risk on.

They would get by like everyone else would. “Off-Road use only”

Same as all the aftermarket seats or steering wheels that are not OEM with airbags or “racing seats” that are not FIA certified.

Not to mention there are companies out there that already make aftermarket center jump seats for existing trucks.

 

[Cirrus SR22]

I spoke too soon claiming my set up will work to heat the vault as well as cool it. Once the outside air temperature falls to 60 deg F, the heat pump turns off because that's the lowest thermostat setting it allows. It could be that the efficiency of the BougeRV is too low to extract heat from outside air below that temperature. A ceramic heater will be a better way to heat the vault.

This works great for under $20 and will heat in 5 min no matter how cold it is outside.

 

[Crissa]

This works great for under $20 and will heat in 5 min no matter how cold it is outside.

Yeah, but a good heat pump will do it for less amps and would be a single device.

-Crissa

 

[scottf200]

I spoke too soon claiming my set up will work to heat the vault as well as cool it. Once the outside air temperature falls to 60 deg F, the heat pump turns off because that's the lowest thermostat setting it allows. It could be that the efficiency of the BougeRV is too low to extract heat from outside air below that temperature. A ceramic heater will be a better way to heat the vault.

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.

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

 

[Gigahorse]

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

A lot of it will come down to the thermostat options for the intake/output some are designed for one or the other but from a hardware standpoint can really do both. A lot of times they try to save cost as most people will only use them for one or the other so the thermostat controls are only set up for one.

 

[Cybergirl]

....that's a weird heat pump.

-Crissa

It's really not designed to work both ways. Of course, an air conditioner is technically a heat pump. This one could have been a heater if they had added a reversing valve.

 

[Cybergirl]

This works great for under $20 and will heat in 5 min no matter how cold it is outside.

Yes, and that (or more likely a thermostatically controlled one) is what I will use for heating the vault.

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