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Old 04-12-2016, 04:39 PM   #1
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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Cody WY
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More than a weekend???

Is the FR3 suitable for extended use? We presently have a Coachmen Leperchaun 230CB. Just the two of us and a couple small dogs. But when we get to where ever we want more room to live in on rainy days and in the evening. We seldom if ever have guests stay over, we just need more room for extended living. Also, what about using the FR3 in cold weather? Any and all responses are appreciated.
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Old 04-12-2016, 08:30 PM   #2
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I have limited experience with the FR3 and ours is a 28ds. I can tell you we were in Lexington Ky for a half marathon April 2nd and the wing was blowing and the over night low was around 25. There were two of us and the two dogs. Since the weather was cold, I packed a 1500 watt ceramic heater and ran just that heater over night as I forgot to turn on the furnace.
The dogs ended up on or in the bed with us and in the morning it was intolerably cold in the unit. My opinion is these units are not well insulated and the windows and slides leak terribly. I did have vent pillows in the roof vents and they were needed.
I learned a valuable lesson not to rely on the small electric heater. Just to calibrate you the heater is 1.5 kilowatts or about 5,118 btu per hour. It undoubtedly was not nearly enough. I am not sure I could be comfortable camping in the cold weather with our unit. I think the propane cost would be very costly.
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Old 04-13-2016, 06:03 AM   #3
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Extended Travel

Hi Bob:

We've had our FR3 32DS for going on three years. We've taken 1500+ mile trips in weather that has been cold, wet, hot and dry. From my experience, the furnace handles cold weather just fine. I've never been cold and we've been in weather right at the freezing mark with strong winds. If there's an issue, it's with really hot weather. The older models' AC couldn't handle much over 90 or 95 degrees. The newer models have a more robust AC unit, so that's either been fixed or improved.

When traveling, we've had people over (not over night). We always have to use both the dinette and the couch, but it seems to work. We don't turn the captains (driving) chairs around, but that's always an option.

I've been on this site since the time we purchased the coach. Several people have taken extended trips (thousands of miles and months at at time) and seem to do well. I don't know if I'd want to be in it more than three or four weeks at a time, but that's me. Our conditions are like yours; two of us and two small dogs.

Good luck with your decision.
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Old 04-13-2016, 09:27 AM   #4
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We took a 2 week trip from Kansas to Cali with weather in AZ down in single digits with some wind. The heater handles it just fine. And the space on our 30DS is just right for the three of us and two 60lb dogs. Like Spicyrv said, you'll have more of an issue in hot weather when the single AC won't keep up when temps are above 85-90F. We like having the dinette AND sofa and can't imagine having an RV without one or the other. Nice to have options of places to sit.
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Old 04-13-2016, 11:45 AM   #5
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Early last spring we did experience some cold weather, 28 and windy was the lowest. We have a 2015 30 ds. The furnace kept up without any problem. Three adults and one 75 lb Lab. Now, we did wake up to condensation on the windows. No surprise there. In Hot weather the air conditioner worked fine but I did have a small circulating fan in the bedroom, on the vanity. It was rather noisy but we had no problem with being adequately cooled. I could tolerate a couple weeks at a time but I am a restless soul and need to be able to move about. Long term or full timing would not work for me in any unit. Good luck with your plans.
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Old 04-13-2016, 12:07 PM   #6
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Yes, but does anything freeze up?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celkalee View Post
Early last spring we did experience some cold weather, 28 and windy was the lowest. We have a 2015 30 ds. The furnace kept up without any problem. Three adults and one 75 lb Lab. Now, we did wake up to condensation on the windows. No surprise there. In Hot weather the air conditioner worked fine but I did have a small circulating fan in the bedroom, on the vanity. It was rather noisy but we had no problem with being adequately cooled. I could tolerate a couple weeks at a time but I am a restless soul and need to be able to move about. Long term or full timing would not work for me in any unit. Good luck with your plans.
Do you have tank heaters or are they an add on?
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Old 04-13-2016, 01:47 PM   #7
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Interesting thread. We have a Lexington 283GTS (28' 3 slides). We have spent up to 2 months in ours wintering in Florida with no issues. We have a 70lb dog. We have had our son and daughter in law and their dog overnight several times. Crowded but do-able. We have comfortably camped in some pretty cool weather here in Canada plus overnighted on the way home from Florida parked between the snow banks also with no trouble. I find the opposing slides give us lots of living space while the small overall length makes it easy to drive plus lets us access our beautiful Provincial Parks.
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Old 04-13-2016, 02:23 PM   #8
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Our tank heaters came standard with the unit.
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Old 04-14-2016, 10:46 PM   #9
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I have a 2013 30DS.
I lived in north Iowa for a year. ( 2 winters, 1 Summer.) I put a layer of plywood around the base to keep wind out and a small desk heater under me. This keep the under belly at least 30 degree F and allowed me to keep the inside with just the furnace, running at 70 degrees with temps outside down to (-) 20.
Also put plastic on the inside of all windows.
Have been living full time in it since I bought it!
Summer is the most difficult time. The A/C unit I have does not handle very well above 95! Only get 15 degrees below out side temps.
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