Heat question?

[CL1981]

Hey all!

I’m a very new RV owner and learning every day.

First things first, we own a 2011 Georgetown 350TS.

I can’t seem to wrap my head around some aspects of heating in colder temperatures.

How do folks that are winter camping keep the heat going? Doesn’t it exhaust the propane supply pretty quickly? Where we live, the closest fuel station that can refill propane on a Class A is quite a hike. I couldn’t imagine having to constantly drive to refill the propane. Is there another option? Can you run the heat off the generator or shore power?

Thanks!

[kenandterry]

Aside from the propane which feeds the furnace, and you’re right it DOES consume a significant amount of propane, the only other heat source for your rig would be by using an electric heater. For that you need to be hooked up to electricity, or you need to run your generator. Unfortunately, you can only run so many electric heaters. Is your Georgetown a 30 or 50 amp rig?

[CL1981]

Hey thanks for the info

It’s a 50amp rig

[kenandterry]

Are you trying to do winter/skiing camping?

Plumbing that freezes can be a HUGE expense if you risk using it after temperatures drop below 0C.

Using an RV in sub-zero temps takes a lot of planning to do it right.

[captkidd]

Originally Posted by CL1981

Hey all!

I’m a very new RV owner and learning every day.

First things first, we own a 2011 Georgetown 350TS.

I can’t seem to wrap my head around some aspects of heating in colder temperatures.

How do folks that are winter camping keep the heat going? Doesn’t it exhaust the propane supply pretty quickly? Where we live, the closest fuel station that can refill propane on a Class A is quite a hike. I couldn’t imagine having to constantly drive to refill the propane. Is there another option? Can you run the heat off the generator or shore power?

Thanks!

You could install a "stay a while" kit. This kit allows you to use portable propane tanks.

[pilotalso]

We have a variety of ways to heat our coach based on available power sources and how cold it gets.


First choice is always ceramic heaters. If we are connected to power. We have two and find that running both keeps the rig warm into the teens. Unless it's really windy. We sometimes supplement electric with our furnace it it's really cold. We have an extend-a-stay hookup in the basement but haven't had to use it yet.


If no electric hookup we use a Little-Buddy portable propane heater as our choice. This method works pretty good but tends to build moisture in the rig even if you keep a vent cracked open. I wouldn't use it for extended stays. We still have the option of using our furnace to supplement the Buddy.


Just know that the furnace blower uses quite a bit of electricity when powered by the house batteries. Depending on cycle time, health and size of your batteries, etc., you might only get a day or two out of your electrical power without having to recharge the system.


We also carry two Honda 2000's. One of which we fire one up to run a light bulb in the water pump compartment and another in the wet bay area. Our rig has the winter heating packs on the tanks They are 12 volt and can be run via the converter if we have a Honda running or are plugged in. Or by house battery if you can get by with the resultant electric draw.