I have a couple Dietz lanterns and I wouldn't use them inside a vehicle. The globe gets hot and if tipped over they could become dangerous in a hurry!

Based on this thread I'm going to look into getting a UCO candle lantern with the beeswax candles. Seems like a good solution with reasonable safety. My wife says that beeswax candles generate less smoke, burn longer and produce somewhat less drippage than regular candles.

I thought about this the other day while I was sitting in my car in a parking lot with the heater on full blast just to keep the temperature at a stable level.

With the heater putting out a much smaller amount of heat, it got cold pretty darn quick. Not as cold as it was outside the car, but cold.

I suspect any kind of small heater like a can of Sterno or a small alcohol stove are not going to change the temperature very much inside the car. A few degrees one way or the other won't make any real difference.

Better to save the fuel to heat water to warm yourself up from the inside out IMO, and get some hand warmers to stuff in your boots and inside your clothing to warm you up from the outside.

Sternos, Yellow HEET and Denatured alc (depending on the brand of the Denatured Alc) Should never EVER be burned in a small space such as a car. They Put out toxic Fumes Due to the amount of methanol within them. Yellow Heet Being the worst of them if i recall correctly.

Is there a DIY modification of your vehicle that would create a reasonable venting system to allow safe and effective use of a fueled heater?

i recall something in the way of a plastic shield that allowed a window to be rolled down a few inches but still covered enough to keep rain out.that might work to allow venting without wind coming in.

Short of an RV or Roach Coach,Vehicles were/are Not Made to Have Fire in them!Buy a Bunch of Chemical Heat packs,They are Cheap,Effective,& Safe!Put em' into a .30 cal Ammo can,throw a few Clean Rags on top,to keep them from sliding around,& Short of their Expiration Dates,of which you can write on top of the can,You will have No Maintenance issue's!

I suspect that heat packs, which might be adequate for warming hands for a short time, just don't pack the sort of heat output or duration to be a primary heat source in a vehicle which is poorly insulated. They might be useful for hand warming and small jobs but not as space heaters.

There is also the issue of cost. 120 hour multi-wick candles can be had for less than 16, sometimes around $10. An ammo can full of chemical heat packs is going to be pricey. Even more so when you have to replace them as meet their expiration date.

I would probably use a zippo hand warmer before a heat pack because you can get more time and heat. Also, I have been experimenting with cold weather gear because it is always a good thing to have something to keep you warm if the car broke down. For the past week while traveling up north, I had bought a Canada Goose expedition parka (not a Chinese copy)which took me awhile to save up and buy one but I tested it out and wore it every day on the trip and even up to ski lodges with my friends. The jacket will keep you very warm to (tested) 18 degrees F with just a tee shirt on with no layering and 30 MPH wind as well. It has tons of pockets and built in hand warmers for the pockets if you have no gloves. (basically gloves in pockets sewn in)I was able to carry tons of gear in the pockets with plenty of extra to spare and was thinking if you had that jacket alone with a pair of wool long johns or equivalent in your vehicle when traveling, it could take you down to 0 degrees with no problem if you had to stay in the vehicle for extended amounts of time. Anyway I think the military parka may do the same for cheaper but have not tried it. The idea would be throw a jacket in the car, the jacket has a lot of gear already in the pockets, it stays with you and in emergency's deploy it. When you get home, take it in the house. Utilizes hardly any room. The jacket is packed with down and you get hot in it above 35 degrees with a tee shirt only.

The chemical warmers are localized warmth - but heavenly for cold hands and feet. Well worth having in the car all the time but for a road trip I'd pack them in conjunction with a 120-hour candle or candlelier (and Reflectix).

FWIW -- I recently opened up some chemical hand and feet warmers that I found in a box and whose sell-by date was 2008. They worked great and for quite a long time (I don't recall exactly how long)! (Grabber brand).

If you are at Costco soon, look for a deal on a box of them that they had going a couple weeks ago.

http://www.rei.com/product/405012