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Old 11-15-2017, 02:08 PM   #1
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Question Winter RV'ing, how cold can you go!

Hello Folks,

We bought a 2017 Rockwood Windjammer 3029w. Spent the last year all over the US. Didn't plan on any hard winter camping, but I find myself in Central Washington State for the winter, my wife is a travel nurse.

The temps here can go down to teens and single digits. I am getting conflicting information, people say we will be fine due to tank heaters and most plumbing is in the cabin so as long as we keep it heated inside it will be fine. Others say skirting with a heat lamp under is needed.

Has anyone experienced these temps? Any issue?

Lonny and Annette
2017 Rockwood WindJammer 3029W
2015 Chevy Silverado 1500 w/ rr air bags
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Old 11-15-2017, 02:25 PM   #2
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We have a Windjammer 3008W. We camped in PA in December as well as early March with very cold temps and a foot of snow. We made sure we ran propane heat along with tank heaters to keep bottom warm. We had heated hoses as well as insulated the water spicket. We left our bathroom and kitchen sink cabinets open at night (or during the day if it was below freezing) and ran space heaters pointing at them to add extra heat on water pipes and drains. I have seen some folks put insulating board around the bottom of their RVs so that's a thought as well. Don't think anyone ran heat underneath. Have seen a lot if fulltimers who winter in PA and they seems to make our fine. We didn't have water in our fresh tank and kept that empty. Sometimes you could shut water off at night if really cold.
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Old 11-15-2017, 02:40 PM   #3
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Let me start by saying that all of the following information is based off of my last travel trailer. It was my first camper and is not equipped like my current one which should be very close to yours since it is a Flagstaff Super Lite. My previous trailer was a 27' Salem hard side trailer. No slides, no heated tanks, and no ducted heat to the underbelly. We camped many weekends when the temperature was in single digits or low teens for lows and the highs didn't get above freezing. We never had any issues with not being able to drain our tanks or having water pipes freeze. I used the fresh tank for water if it was really cold or if I didn't have sewer hook ups. If I had sewer hook ups I would leave the bathroom sink dripping to keep the water hose from freezing and the grey valve open so as not to fill up my tank. I think I got lucky with the fresh tank because it was under the trailer and should have froze. I used a lot of propane during those weekend trips. I had two of the regular smaller size tanks on the trailer and I would go through both of them. I ended up getting a small electric heater but when it was cold I would have to run both of them. The trailer was very hard to keep warm. As soon as the heat went off you fill the temp drop in the trailer until the heat cycled again. The other problem I had besides heat was the condensation. My windows would have water at the base on the inside of the trailer. The metal strip around the door would have water there too. You could feel the humidity in the trailer. It was because of the extreme temp difference but also because the heating system puts moisture in the air. I solved some of this with a small dehumidifier and running the electric heater more. If I were going to stay for an extended period of time like you are, I would suggest some type of cover or wall to block the wind from going under the trailer. I would also get a small remote thermometer so that you could monitor the temp in the water hook-up area of your trailer if you have one. I would invest in several electric heaters so that you wouldn't have to use so much propane. I think a heated water hose would be nice and I would use my tank heaters if you have them. It will be much different living in one vs staying for a weekend in one.
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Old 12-12-2017, 11:54 PM   #4
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How's the winter living going so far? I'm in SW Montana and staying warm but it's still early.
What I did was put bales of straw around the camper two high. Where I have hatches, doors etc. I used foam board. I also got a big propane tank from a local place for the sake of ease and price.
Hope it's going well. Stay warm.
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Old 12-13-2017, 06:22 AM   #5
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I'm staying in my 3001W near St. Louis Missouri through the week. I'm so far from the water hydrant I decided to not use my heat tape rig and am just filling up the tank when I need to and running off it.

When the temp gets in the teens my furnace won't keep up, the other day it got down to 69 in the trailer when I had it set to 72.

Also if it gets in the teens and stays there the dump valves will freeze and you'll have to take a heat gun to them to dump your tanks. That happened to me up here last winter.
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2016 Sunset Trail Super Lite 250RB-For Sale
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Old 12-13-2017, 06:23 AM   #6
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Also I have 2 oil filled radiator heaters that help out. 30 amps won't let me run them at the same time, and I can't run one while using the microwave or coffee maker.
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Old 12-22-2017, 05:10 PM   #7
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Hey KingFisher,
We are headed to Idaho in early January and will live in our Windjammer 3029W for a few months until our house in Texas sells. When you say your furnace won't keep up with temps in the teens can you advise what winterization steps you have taken? Are you skirted and do you have your windows insulated? It gets in the teens pretty much every night in Idaho so I'm making all preps I can so we can stay warm and not freeze. I just posted a window insulation post in the Rockwood forum that worked pretty well for me. I'll advise all once we get to Idaho on how things are going and what worked for us and what didn't and if we are freezing our a$$es off or not.
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