Winter Camping in RV/ Camper?

[sledskiing]

In the past years I've done a good amount of winter camping using a pop up truck camper. I never used the fresh water tank and it didn't have grey or black tanks. It was basically pretty bare to the bones with heat. I just bought a 93 travel trailer with hot water and a full bath.

Question:

Anybody have experience using all the amenities in a camper in extremely cold weather? There will be no hook ups and I have a honda 2000 generator.

Here is my plans?
The fresh water tank is under the sofa inside the camper. I am putting blue foam insulation on the exterior walls where ever there is a supply line or something that could freeze. Around the hotwater heater and freshwater tank i am putting fiberglass insulation. Water supply lines will be insulated also. I relocated the batteries inside under the sofa. I will purchase a cataytic heater to keep a more consistent temp.

For the Black and Grey tanks i was hoping to use RV antifreeze or windshield washer fluid. I've looked at "Ultra Heat" but that can get costly. What other althernatives are there? My tanks are not enclosed.

Dumping tanks is not an issue after the weekend back down where i live.

The sleds will be on a sled deck.

 

[Killerk]

I would say it depends on how much plumbing is exposed to the elements.
If all is contained inside for the most part and you run a heater, I would guess you will be OK.
But I would look into some plumbing heaters... Basically wire that runs around all your plumbing and heats it.

 

[POLZIN]

My trailer is not set up for cold weather so i just dont use the fresh water system and let the turds freeze! J/K put a little of the non toxic antifreze in the black water tank and it will be ok. I just pack my water in big Gott water coolers and jugs and boil for bathing!

 

[Highmarker]

use heat trace if you have a gen.

 

[Shawnmcgr]

I've camped to -10C in our trailer but with electrical plug in. I left the hot water heater going the whole time and dumped the tank when we were done. I dump non-toxic antifreeze into the black and grey with no problems.

My fresh water is outside but I've installed a heating pad; I'm going to get the tank spray foam insulated tomorrow. Make sure all of your water lines are heated; just ensure good air circulation or install a 40w bulb to keep an isolated area of the trailer warm - if needed.

Just let the furnace run 24/7 while your camping and until you have drained (or antifreezed) your water lines.

Dog sleeps out side in a kennel with a 40w bulb in it.

 

[Macattack]

I've done a little bit of winter camping but mostly late season hunting/camping. When we stay for longer periods of time, I've draped plastic from the base of the camper to the ground. One might think it doesn't help but it really does. Keeps the wind from cooling the floor and whatever hangs below. Just another thing to think about.

 

[CatPoo]

I camped in the Blues in Washington and Oregon in a 24 foot motor home pulling a 2 place open trailer. Here's what I found. If you dump a little anti-freeze in your holding tanks before you go and dump them when you get back you should have no problem. I used our propane furnace for heat and could keep the temp around 60 degrees when its around 0. 10 gallons of propane lasts about 3-4 days. We added an extra battery so lights and furnace fan and tv could run all night without using the generator. Otherwise no addtional wires or insulation was installed. 2 years and the only problem I've had is snowplows plowing me in at the sno parks.

 

[NWGooser]

We have an 8.5' Lance and use it more in the winter than the summer. One thing I've noticed is that the forced air furnace would eat up the battery quick. I bought a Mr. Buddy Heater (or something like that). It runs off a small disposable propane tank and really puts out the heat. The good thing is that it has a built in oxy sensor and will shut down if needed. The trailer is insulated & heated and we use that for changing, etc.
Don't forget to keep it heated when you get home too.

 

[sledskiing]

i guy that camps a lot where we go uses christmas lights around the water lines.. I'll look into heat tape. thanks for the suggestins.

 

[seth25]

Keep up the suggestions. I am new to the winter camping as well. My wife and I just bought a 22 class c that we will use to pull our sleds this season. Our fresh water tank is also inside and all the plumbing for the fresh water is inside. I just added a second battery so that we can hopefully run the heater all night without the generator. We mostly plan on camping for only one night...going up on Friday night to beat the Saturday morning ski traffic.

 

[rednytro]

yeah im planning on doing the same this winter but living in it all winter in one spot . so far ive learned the heat tape thing as metioned , skirting the trailer is a must too . also some plastic wrap on the inside of the windows is supose to help lots . there also boxes you can install over youre skylights so if it snows you can still open them . how long are you spending in the trailer at a time as well ? you may be better off just bringing watter jugs intead of filling youre water tanks , then having to re winterize them every trip . oh yeah a small electric heater goes a long ways in a trailer and saves huge on propane

 

[Fordman]

-16f caused me to freeze up.... Just some pipe underneath cracked....

 

[x-guy]

thats a nice rigg you got there, if you don't mind me asking, how do you find driving it on the winter roads pulling a trailer?

as for the OP, do you have storm windows? they really helped us hold the heat in during the colder months

 

[Fordman]

Driving it is pretty easy on that stuff. That picture was taken in Truckee... Stopping is the only issue. You have to put it neutral or the rear tires over drive the fronts.....

 

[Tackbtch]

Had a Yukon 5th wheel camper and worked lots in the winter here in Mont. The fresh water tank was under the sofa and the water lines were inside on the floor. As long as I had heat inside the water never froze. Rock salt for the black water tank along with some non toxic anti-freeze. Grey water hits the ground, u might not get away with that one if your in a park!!! leave your cabinet doors open for heat to get to your pipes. Two R.V. Batteries would run my furnace for three days before I needed the generator. Dino

 

[ArcticBoy]

Tested to -30. heat strip on bottom of insulated water tank it comes with 110 plug ran it inside and plug in. Did the same on black and grey tanks and even with antifreeze they froze at the dump valve. It thawed by the time we got back to west WA. But we ran the generator non-stop and kept furnace on at 65.

 

[throttle-junkie666]

Hanging a tarp around the outside of your trailer from the bottom to the ground helps tons, but even better we bought some small electric space heaters from Wal Mart and set them up under the trailer make the world of difference for us. Stopping that wind is a huge factor! If we know we are going to be there for a few days and its going to be cold, Buy the blue Styrofoam insulation and nail it to sheet wood so it fits snug from the bottom of your trailer to the ground around the trailer and set the heaters underneath works ever better.. Other than that everything has been mentioned I think Tank heaters always a good investment if you want to camp lots.

 

[4GR8X]

Greetings Sledskiing,
Good for you and yours sounds like a nice upgrade from your pop-up to the bumper pull!
Hard to beat a Honda generator we have one as well, remember your generator rating is based on sea level. Minus approximately 3% for every 1K foot increase in elevation. Whatever the combination of AC powered goodies you go with keep track of your total wattage.
Our camper is equipped with a modest basement with a height of 10" the camper furnace is advertised to heat the basement, but I suspect most manufacturers as a general rule don't design their RV's for extreme cold. We are uncomfortable with the risk of filling our domestic water tank so, we load our domestic water tank with approximately 50 gallons of -50 RV anti-freeze and pump the liquid throughout the camper plumbing, minus the water heater. (The domestic water tank is flushed in the spring with a series of Clorox and vinegar treatments) This allows us to use the camper sink, toilet & shower all season long. We drop toilet vitamins in the black tank just like summer time use. We pack water and use a Zodi Hot Water Shower Mate for comfortable showers. After the shower we dump a cup of RV anti-freeze down the drain to displace the water in the p-trap.
Our shower and toilet drain into the black tank. This is not scientific I but I've used my automotive anti-freeze test to check the -50F RV anti-freeze and sure enough it tests out at -50 F. I've then checked a 50/50 mix of RV anti-freeze and water and it check out at -25F. So I've felt comfortable adding a few gallons of shower water to the black tank.
Our coldest camp out so far is -25F and vehicle speed as we drove toward the trail head averaged 30 MPH. So don't forget the chill factor when traveling to your favorite snowpark. We were east of Cascade, ID at the Warm Lake trail head. With the temperature we experienced that night and the chill soak on the camper structure even with the AC heaters and generator running the camper furnace (30K BTU) ran non-stop for 5.5 hours.
Keep in mind that batteries as they charge and discharge give off a gas, that is why manufacturers mount their batteries outside or have an exterior door with grills to allow a path for the gases to exit. If you’re going to the expensive to add a battery consider going with two (2) six (6) V. DC. batteries wired in series.

Offered for your consideration -
An electric mattress pad or blanket with two temperature controls.
We have two AC heaters with tip-over and heat protection shut-offs securely mounted in the basement of our camper and set at 45F.
If you have an air conditioner don’t forget to check that potential heat loss source as well.
One AC heater in the camper set at 65F and the camper furnace set for 60F. To feed our electrical habit we run a Honda 3000 we can get 10 to 14 hours of run time on a tank of fuel depending on the ambient temperature.
Plug/cover every roof vent from the inside we purchased foam insulation and cut-out the sizes needed to press into the framing around the roof vents. Anything with a plastic cover on it is insufficient for winter time camping. A good example is the plastic door covering the port to add water to your domestic water tank. We place a piece of foam insulation behind the plastic door. Home depot sales a bubble packing wrap with aluminum skin on it and we cut pieces as needed to cover our windows. Using small pieces of velcro to secure the coverings. The down side is it sure makes the inside of your RV dark, so we remove the window covering from the table area in the mornings. We don't use our hot water heater so there is an exterior cover that is made from tin with grills cut in to, we plug that bad boy as well.

It was great to read your question about winter time camping. It was 100F in Boise, ID yesterday....winter can't get here quick enough!

Happy Winter Camping.



http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr101/4gr8x/Stanley2007062.jpg

 

[SnowAddiction2]

We winter camp in a 9 1/2' Lance with temperatures as low as 10 degrees. Heat loss through single pain windows is terrible. I cover all windows (except the small window by the stove for ventilation) with the 3M clear plastic film window covering. This gives a see through covering that significantly reduces heat loss. It also reduces the condesation build up on the glass windows. All roof vents are filled with bubble wrap, and sealed with the same clear plastic 3M film.

We use a small 600 watt space heater in conjuction with our built in forced air propane heater. The space heater evens out the peaks and valleys of the thermostatically controlled propane heater. Since it only draws 600 watts, our 1000 watt honda generater can handle it easily.

All plumbing and tanks are internal to the camper, so frozen lines are not a problem

When it is storming, snow on the roof also makes a huge difference for insulation. Leave the snow on the roof.

 

[bushy]

I bypassed the pipes and ran them up along the ceiling back to the toilet area. I also put a valve in near the kitchen sink so I can leave the water off back to the toilet/shower. I always have at least cold water that way and leave the cabinet doors open under the sink to let some heat in. I mostly heat water on the stove for dishes and stuff. If I want a shower I open the valve to the hot water heater/toilet area. The pipe to the toilet runs low and freezes up, but I usually just dump a few cups of water in it anyway. I just let the black water freeze and it thaws out back home where I deal with it. Graywater into a 5 gallon bucket then I usually toss the block of ice into the woods. Things start getting interesting below -10 F in a camper though