New to Seasonal Camping

[Okanes]

We are new to seasonal camping, but not new to RVing. We are in Ottawa, ON area. Parking the trailer (Crusader)for this year and got a seasonal site. We will be back and forth between the house( about 3 hours away) and the trailer several times during the season.
Questions: do you leave your rv fridge on when you are away at home?
Do you leave your rv AC on low when you are away at home?
Slides out for the full season?
Thanks in advance for the help.
Lisa

[Fun finders]

Last year was our first year to try seasonal camping, DW loves it I on the other hand miss traveling around. To answer your questions we left the fridge on when we went home for the week so that the adult beverages were cold when we got back on Friday. We did have to defrost it a couple of times during the summer. We never left the air conditioner on but there are some fellow campers who do with no problems. As for the slides we always close them up, my theory is just in case there may be heavy wind driven rain chances are less likely to have any leaks but again others do.

[Fun finders]

I forgot to add to make sure to turn off the water tap when leaving for any length of time there are many horror stories of leaking or burst water lines

[Okanes]

Yes thank you! Heard that…. And also heard horror stories if people forgot.

[camaro80]

Welcome to the wonderful world of seasonal camping, Lisa! We've been seasonal out west in SK since 2016 and we love it. Here's my own thoughts on your questions...


Leave the fridge on. Yes, there's some risk, and if you're paying for your own power, a little expense. But you'd hate to be starting it from warm every time you go back, so leave your beverages and condiments and such to stay cold so they're ready when you're back. I can't speak for Hydro One, but SaskPower is pretty reliable and we've not had a problem with power outages. Sure it goes out now and then due to storms but not for long.



We do not leave the A/C on. We pay for power on our site so this is one that would cost you quite a bit if you left it on. Our trailer has a couple of vent fans that are quite effective at cooling the trailer when we arrive, then turn the air on and cool it right down.


The slides stay out all summer, and out of hundreds of seasonal sites at our park, I do not see anyone ever put them in and Saskatchewan can get very windy. My thought is that for a trailer to get rolled by wind it would have to be a very violent storm that would likely roll it anyway. Slides get pulled in for the winter of course.


Here's our check list for departing in the summer:


1. AC or furnace off
2. Water off
3. Water heater off
4. Lock storage bins and doors.


Let me know if you have any more questions!

[Okanes]

Fabulous info! Thank you so much. It aligns with our thinking but we wanted the veterans to chime in! Appreciated!

[MCTroy]

Originally Posted by Fun finders

Last year was our first year to try seasonal camping, DW loves it I on the other hand miss traveling around. To answer your questions we left the fridge on when we went home for the week so that the adult beverages were cold when we got back on Friday. We did have to defrost it a couple of times during the summer. We never left the air conditioner on but there are some fellow campers who do with no problems. As for the slides we always close them up, my theory is just in case there may be heavy wind driven rain chances are less likely to have any leaks but again others do.

2x that. We no longer leave the AC on like we used to. We had a scare when something made the fan get off balance. Probably wasp nest. Fortunately we were there to shut the AC off before any damage was done to the AC or a short cause a fire.
Use a max fan to pull heat out of trailer when you get there. After that first beverage at the picnic table the trailer will be cooling off.

[Okanes]

Yikes! That would have been awful! I never thought of that possibility! Good to know and yes, the beverage sounds pretty perfect.
Thank you!

[HESN22]

Hello ... we live in Kingston, have a seasonal site near Huntsville ... been looking for a park closer to home, would you mind sharing the name?
We leave all 5 slides out, all season long ... leave fridge running also (have 3 way fridge - always set to auto - if electricity goes out auto changes to propane and back to electric when it comes back on) ... never do we leave AC on ... even when going just to town for groceries or quick errands ...
When you leave ... make sure tanks are flushed, water turned off at main tap, AC/furnace off, awning in, propane tanks are not close to empty, if you have 3 way fridge ...
We seasonal camp but sometimes take trips with our 5th wheel ...
Best of luck!

[Okanes]

Hello! We are at the new Rolling Hills Campground( formerly Rec-land) in Rockland. It’s under new ownership. Perfect location for us to visit our kids. Thank you for the advice! Setting to auto is a good idea. Good luck on the search.

[HESN22]

Hello ... whereabouts in Sask, if you don't mind me asking ... son lives in Estevan ... looking for a good campground when we visit this summer ... might be thinking of moving in that area also ...

[HESN22]

Thank you ... might just take a look ... ... hard finding a place that has lots with trees and large enough to accommodate our 5th ... it's 43' 6" from front of bump to bumper in back ...

[Okanes]

That is a big rig! Best to call the new manager. He will know site specs for sure. Good luck! If you need contact information let us know

[HESN22]

It is ... lol ... has its disadvantages and advantages ...
Have sent an email to the campground ... have you actually stayed there?

It's ironic ... you live in northern Ontario and your site is in eastern Ontario, we live in Eastern Ontario and our site is north-west ... lol

[Okanes]

No we have not stayed there. We figure we will try it for the year and see if we like it. Both of our kids are in Ottawa and my siblings are in Kingston and my hubby’s family is in ottawa valley so it seemed like a good place to start. Not many places in the area have availability for new seasonals; we found when we emailed. But not everyone has replied as they are taking holidays right now. We thought we better snag something.
We love Huntsville… we are from North Bay.
I hope everything works out for you.

[HESN22]

Have already received a response to my email ... there are sites available ...
We are at Almaguin Campground & Resort in katrine ... been there 10 summers ... used to be posted to CFB Borden ... thanks again...

[Okanes]

Wonderful. Good luck!

[Larry-NC]

We're in a similar situation. The trailer is on a permanent site about 150 miles (240 Km) away. Since you are writing from Canada, I'll try to include metric measurements.

We have two residential refrigerators, one in the trailer and one in an adjacent 12' x 15' (4m x 5m) cabin alongside. The one in the trailer operates all year. We de-stock the one in the cabin for the winter and shut it off. Be advised that this can be tricky. See below for discussion.

The propane is turned off whenever we leave.

The water is turned off when we leave. In the winter we uncouple the hose and winterize in the usual manner (Bypass and drain water heater, pump RV antifreeze through all the water lines.)

We leave a 30-pint (15L, smallest size made) dehumidifier running in the shower winter and summer. Since we don't want clear water collecting in the pipes leading to the gray water outlet, we connect a sewage tote to the outlet and leave the valve open. The tote is flexible HDPE and not damaged by freezing water. The dehumidifier and refrigerator together consume $US 15 of electricity each month. Most dehumidifiers include a thermostat and do not operate below about 40F (4C).

We occasionally use the trailer after it's been winterized. We use bottled water, individual bottles for drinking, gallon (4 L) jugs refilled at the campground for washing, etc.

The refrigerator part
Here is the tricky part about residential refrigerators. Residential refrigerators are designed to operate in habitable spaces, from say, 60F (15.5 C) to 120F (49C). Outside this range there are two unexpected behaviors. The first one is easy to understand. The second is rather subtle.

1. Residential refrigerators do not any means to heat the contents. If it gets down to freezing temperature (at or below 32F/0C) for a period, the contents will freeze. Don't leave anything in the refrigerator that will be damaged or anything with a vulnerable container. (That generally means nothing but water in the individual bottles.) Cleaning up ruptured soda or beer cans is a nuisance.
2. Temperature control in the refrigerated goods side of a refrigerator is critical. The temperature must be held between about 34F (1C) and 38F (3C). Any colder and lettuce wilts. Any warmer and milk goes bad quickly. But the freezer side has much looser requirements. You don't know or care whether it's 25F (-4C) or -10F (-23C). About the only thing you would notice is how easy it is to dip ice cream, or maybe how fast ice cubes are made. There's only one thermostat in a residential refrigerator. Naturally, the thermostat is in the refrigerator part, with the critical temperature range. The control that appears to adjust the freezer temperature is merely a damper that sets how much cold air is blown into the refrigerator side and how much is blown into the freezer side. (As I write this, I'm envisioning a side-by-side unit like ours. If yours is an over-and-under, make the appropriate adjustment.) So, finally, here's the problem. Suppose the ambient temperature is at 35F (2C) for an extended period of time. The refrigerator compressor and fan never run. The refrigerated goods are fine. But all the goods in the freezer side thaw. With days at 35F (2C) and overnight freezes, the frozen foods are subjected to repeated freeze/thaw cycles.

The lesson is "Empty the freezer. Be cautious about what you leave in the refrigerator." And one more thing: If you do turn off the refrigerator, be sure to prop the door(s) open to prevent a bad odor when spring arrives.

Sorry this was so long. Hope it's useful.

[Okanes]

So useful! Thank you for the details and info! We plan to leave only condiments and a few bevvies… but I can see the “soda” bursting to be a huge pain if that happens. Good thing to consider! I appreciate the specs in the fridge. New learning.

[MCTroy]

I forgot and am surprised the others did too: get a good surge Protector and one that has auto reset. These will help protect the electrical equipment in your trailer from high and low voltage.