Winter Camping

[Bob Fields]

Bill, thanks for the plug I think! :-)

[Bob Fields]

About 20 years ago, when our kids were small we started a tradition camping over Thanksgiving Weekend at Meridith Woods (Meridith, NH). The first year we were one of 4 or 5 units on Thanksgiving Day and maybe 8 for the rest of the weekend. By the end of year five our "secret getaway" was out and the campground was packed (which meant the pool & hot tub were also now crowded)!

My adult children still talk about those years. I highly recommend it!

[Traveler II]

The coldest we’ve RV’d in has been 0 degrees, that was with a motor home, and to be honest not a lot of fun. We do head out of Minnesota most winters and when we are trying to get someplace warm always find places that are in the teens to freezing in our travels. We do have the arctic package and when it falls below freezing we just fold up the water line, turn on the tank heaters, making sure we have water in all the tanks and we’re fine. Of course the next day we pack up and start heading to someplace warmer.

Sometimes when we first pull out of Minnesota we do not de-winterize, but just use jugs of water and RV antifreeze for the head until we get someplace warmer. Even in the teens the rig stays warm, just need to wear slippers because the floor is a bit cold.

It is fun to get out and play in the snow, but a couple days of that is enough for me. Of course I’m older and have lived in the cold country all my life. Now that I’m retired I prefer to stay out of the temperature extremes and head south in the winter and up north for the summer. It’s the great thing about being retired, that and not working.

[The_Stuff]

This morning was a balmy -33 windchill and we barely noticed it inside. The patio doors were nice and iced instead of condensated lol. I still have the dehumidifier going constantly and I have an infrared heater in the living room and a oil filled radiator in the bedroom and the furnace kicked on maybe 3 times over night.

[bill and theresa]

Well we finally got out of chesapeae va and are in SC at my mothers house.Furnace went out last night. It was 49 deg in the camp. Pulled the furnace and took it to an RV dealer (masters RV ) in greenwood SC and it had a bad limit switch. Easy fix. Need to pick it up at 5 and reinstall it.on to florida next week. Bob that was a compliment. Its still working

[mjones12]

Originally Posted by Offagain

We do the same and have never had a problem. No enclosed belly. Just keep the heat on in the camper and use the water once or twice a night from flushing and washing of hands and you won't even have to disconnect the fresh water hose. We do keep the excess water hose coiled up and under the camper. As long as it's above freezing during the day you should be fine. We have never had problems.

Exactly. It takes us about 10 minutes to winterize, so we end up doing it and undoing it all winter long. No problem.

[HoosierRV]

Without a doubt you'll need a tank heater, I strongly recommend you google UltraHeat. Or, visit UHI Worldwide Inc | Facebook

[kenn]

I just got done reading your posts about winter camping and it has been educational. I would like to share our experiences during Christmas camping/cross country and our experience.

We purchased a Stealth 2612 TH a week before Thanksgiving and took it out on a test run Thanksgiving weekend...not too bad a leak here and there - dealer fixed it right away. A couple of weeks before school was out for break, we decided to embark on a cross country trip from WA to FL and back - fun stuff! Let the experience begin.

We stayed in MT, WY, and MO Walmarts and our generator saved us. We emptied both propanes in about two days due to single digit weather and the furnace running all day long for about 5 days straight. Having the furnace running pretty much 24 hrs a day kept our lines thawed inside the coach. We stayed at two camp sites (CO, and GA) in between. We relied on our tanks (fresh, gray, and black) the whole trip down. Thank goodness GA was a little warmer that we were able to finally dump. On the way up, we only encountered one day of freezing weather and that was in NM. We had frozen tanks for a bit due to windchill, but we managed ok.

I was looking at the Ultraheat heaters and I only have one empty DC fuse left in my 55-Amp converter. Do I need to replace my converter or could I tap into other fuses within the system? How're these pads protected from the elements?

[The_Stuff]

A good insulation wrap around the pipes will work to.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by kenn

I was looking at the Ultraheat heaters and I only have one empty DC fuse left in my 55-Amp converter. Do I need to replace my converter or could I tap into other fuses within the system? How're these pads protected from the elements?

My converter has 3 fused pigtails from where the positive lead of the battery hooks up. There are two screw clamp hold downs there (one for the battery and the other where the manufacturer hooked up the positive leads from the fused pigtails). Check page 5 of the attached PDF for the locations.

The pads are sealed and do not need protecting, per se. However the pads on my camper are on the bottom of the tanks under the Corplast(tm) belly cover. Hope that helps.

[campnqueen]

Originally Posted by The_Stuff

HEAT TAPES ARE YOUR FRIEND!!! but not the "button" style. self regulating are the best. run them along your sewer lines and any exposed water lines, tape them to the lines with electricians black tape (not rubber) and then wrap the lines in insulation.


this stuff works on the water line for long sections. mine comes straight up from ground, does a 90 into my unit. I used this stuff for the long straight section.


Then used this on the sections and around that 90


no frozen lines!! even in -40 windchill outside!

Also since im in a permanent spot I have "skirted" my trailer. you probably dont need to go as over board being way down south lol



ohh and "Vent Pillows" work very well to keep the cold and moisture out and the heat in! (also do the opposite in the summer)

Hello.. I went to the HD and Ace hardware store today... they will not sell you heated electric tape unless you tell them the pipes have water in them and not to be used on a camper. I am curious where you got yours and how you are using it on a camper plumbing. The guy at Ace told me NOT to use it on a water hose. Got to be some way to keep the water hose from freezing and pipes from freezing. This looked like a good idea to me.

[The_Stuff]

went to Home Hardware and bought them? they never ask me what im doing with them lol. Tell them its to keep the water line under your house from freezing up. Also dont get the heat tape with the button style activator. they dont work worth a darn. Also do now let the heat tapes wrap around each other, they can melt and short out.

[kenn]

Is the blue foam insulation used for inside lines? The yellow insulation looks like fiberglass, is that correct?

[The_Stuff]

I didnt do anything to lines inside the trailer. and yes the yellow insulation is a fiberglass wrap.

[kenn]

Speaking of heating the coach, is a heat strip worth the investment for my a/c unit or would I be better off just continuing to use my two electric heaters (one for each side)?

[campnqueen]

Hey y'all...

UPDATE: Today is Tuesday Jan 11th, 2011. Its been a real eye opener for us, first time camping in cold weather.

We left north Atlanta area on Sunday Jan 9th, 2011...running away from the ice/snow storm. The temps were around 30 degrees when we left.

Made it to Ft White Florida, where we just so happen to have friends that have a great piece of property with a FULL RV hook up! We pulled in at dark, around 5:30pm and the temp was about 45 degrees when we arrive. So we just set up the basic camp, power and water. Rain was coming in the next day so did not deploy the awning, set out chairs or conx to the sewer.

Our trailer was cold soaked from the trip and from sitting prior to the trip. Fired up our furnace and surprise surprise... IT WORKED..and WELL too! Hadn't used it in a year. Warmed up the trailer quick, which was nice. Settled in, put stuff away that we had just "thrown" into trailer running away from the approaching storm.

We did discover that our air bed was pretty cool to sleep on. The first night was long and cold. So the next day we purchased a heated mattress pad. I must said worth EVERY dime from Wally mart!

When we returned our trailer, it was cool and the furnace blower was on but no warm air. Did some checking of fuses, turned the furnace off and then back on again. NO HEAT!
Then we discovered... we had NO PROPANE!! DUH!! Guess we had been running our tanks longer than we thought and did not have as much propane as we had originally figured. Luckily we did had a small ceramic space heater with a fan that filled the bill. So we slept so nice and toasty the second night!

So toady we filled the propane tanks and have heat again. However we have turned down the gas furnace to low..VERY low to conserve propane and running the space heater at about 65 degrees. Our little camper is sooooo comfy!

So lesson 1 - Make sure you have ENOUGH propane to run your stove, water heater and FURNACE!!

We will keep y'all posted on our continuing adventure. Tonight's temps are going down into the twenties. We will remove our water hose so it does not freeze.

Until our next post happy "winter" camping!

[Herk7769]

Winter Camping in Florida. Whooda Thunk?

[campnqueen]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Winter Camping in Florida. Whooda Thunk?

Hey Herk!

YES!!! We are in NORTH Florida. Have you ever been there?

Gets cold... r-e-a-l-l-y COLD!! It rained and so now its damp. Temp today's high temp was 45 (no sun today) but the humidity is 94 %. Tonight's temps will be in the upper twenties.

So Y-E-S..... winter camping in FLORIDA! hahahahahah
At least there is no snow or ice

[Herk7769]

This will be our second year snow birding to Key West. No, we have not left yet because the Yamaha is still in the shop. We camp at the FAMCAMP on the Navy Base and the generator is a "No Go" item. It went in because it was not charging the internal battery, but the tech must have shorted something out when he was testing it. He said the stator was smoking and they had to get one shipped in from Japan. Should be in any day now and we will leave a couple of days after I take delivery.

The last time we were at the Kennedy Space Center last year, (shuttle STS-130), the temps were so cold we wore everything we brought and were wrapped in double blankets. Key West was the coldest in 200 years.

The Motorcycle Spring break crowd from Daytona drove all the way down to Key West to get out of the cold and it was freezing rain in Miami.

It was just windy, rainy and cold in Key West, We could have sold our winter jackets for a fortune but then WE would have been freezing.

Propane use was unreal, since we were dry camping.

[The_Stuff]

Originally Posted by kenn

Speaking of heating the coach, is a heat strip worth the investment for my a/c unit or would I be better off just continuing to use my two electric heaters (one for each side)?

I dont know what this heat strip for the ac thing is?? lol


campnqueen: gotta love runing out of propane! nothing like waking up in the morning to a chilly trailer! I can tell by lighting the stove and seeing the burner flame is tiny lol. Good thing i got a 300 liter pig in line to get safetied and then installed finally!

partial shot, behind my mini truck in dad's shop trying to get the earth off the bottom of the tank so the guy can inspect it.