I've been drying my peppers since the summer. I so some whole, some in halves and others diced small. I made the mistake of putty different types of diced peppers into the dehydrater at the same time. It mixed the tastes and heat levels. Would probably do the same thing with halved peppers. Not sure about whole ones but not willing to take the risk.
Diced peppers at 130 degrees for 4.5 hours works great. I use these to cook with as is as they easily reanimate while cooking.
Halved peppers at 130 degrees took 6 hours. These I grind into powder.
Whole peppers at 130 degrees took 9 hours. These I have vacuum packed and set aside for the future for whatever purposes needed at that time.
I can do heat up to habanero/bonnet level inside with the door to that room closed without an issue. Hotter than that I do outside so as not to gas me out. I haven't had that happy to me but read about it online when researching dehydrating peppers.
I'm not a pro at this and have only done it for a short amount of time and still expect to learn more. But this is what has been working for me so far. Times may be a bit different for others bases on size of drying medium and humidity level (I live in a low humidity area).
Here's the model that I'm using. I wanted one that had adjustable temps because I also dry out herbs from my garden. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07G919C6V/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabt1_sFtXFbMBJTZVA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Not at all.
Ours is a Presto, similar to This
I bought some fruit leather trays which are fantastic for dehydrating chili and sauces (and fruit leather, of course). I have 6 trays for it which is pushing the upper limit. If I'm doing chili, I usually get up in the morning and rotate them (the bottom is virtually done at that point).
I typically dehydrate mostly vegetarian meals with canned chicken being the standard exception. Keeping it vegetarian means not worrying about cleaning anything greasy in the back country. Huge fan of TSP over ground beef, for instance. Cheaper and no fears in cooking it.