cold weather camping

[trell]

Ok here goes do any of yu'all go out camping in the winter? When temps get in the 30's what How you go about the cold and the freezing of waters? Our M/H has a artic pak on it supposed to keep basement warm. Wife love to go to the lake in the winter.

[Trempert]

As long as it stays above 32 degrees, no problem. If it's going to dip below 32 degrees then:

- Use your furnace, not an electric heater because your furnace has an outlet that blows into the water hook-up compartment and keeps it from freezing
- Either fill your fresh water tank during the day when it is not freezing and then drain and disconnect the hose, or buy a heated hose/heater element for your hose so you can run off the campground water
- You will also need to keep the deep valve water spigot warm if you're going to use a hose so consider how you're going to do that. (I just use my fresh water thank when it's freezing - easier!)
- Condensation and frost may be a problem - use your vent fans and wipe down the windows when the sun shines on them so the water doesn't drip on shades, etc.

[pmsherman]

Our 2011 327DS, as far as I can see, doesn't have any warm air from the furnace going into the plumbing compartment. Two of the insulated pipes run through the compartment containing the fresh water tank and water heater but I've never seen any venting into the compartment. The waste tanks are in a separate compartment and there's no heat there other than the arctic pack heaters.

I added a 300W home gutter heater strip to the plumbing compartment. I zip tied it to all of the water lines and have a double wrap around the water filter. It plugs into a thermostatic control that turns it on only when it's needed. I also have a cutoff switch inside the coach to completely shut it off. The outlet is connected to the inverter I had installed when I bought the unit which gives us 110VAC for the heater and fridge while we're driving. Overnights during cold weather are always done at a campground where we have shore power available. The only remaining problem I have is that there's no valves in the compartment for the low point drains, just plugs on the end of the pipes underneath the compartment. I'm expecting to install valves in the compartment before we start on our next winter trip.


Last Winter, I had no problems when we stayed at a campground when the overnight low hit 18F. My decision to run on internal water and refill before leaving was a wise choice. Another camper was using water from the hydrant late in the evening and the hydrant froze and burst a pipe underground. When things warmed up in the morning, the spray from the break made a great show. The campground owner stated that the camper would be responsible for the repairs - aorund $1000! I didn't believe this until last night when I researched frost free potable water hydrants on the web. It appears that they can cost over $650 apiece and that doesn't include the labor to install them.

Phil

[pwrstroke2012]

For the condensation on windows I have a portable dehumidifier. He is a link
Amazon.com: Eva-Dry Edv-2200 Mid-Size Dehumidifier: Health & Personal Care

It is small, quiet and does a good job of keeping windows dry. If I think it will get cold enough to freeze, I will run RV furnace and open storage spaces. If it stays above freezing, I use a ceramic heater that will save you a lot of propane.