Cold weather suitable?

I think I'll head toward an Arctic Fox. Half ton towable since Andy has a Silverado 1500. If Andy wasn't married I'd drive over to Walmart and buy him a pup tent and an electric blanket.

Thanks again for all of your responses. Your expertise has helped us make a well informed choice.
God bless you guys!

Psalm 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Arkie77 wrote:
Thank you all for your comments and advise. I'm glad I asked.
Much appreciated!

Buddy of mine got low on money his junior year as an undergraduate. He has a camper van. He moved out of his apartment, bought a meal card at the dorms, and slept in his camper van on campus. He would shower in the morning in the rec hall, and meet me in the library to study. He got away with it, parked in the dorm parking lot. He saved a bunch of money. He is now 30 years into his career as an electrical engineer for one of the large computer companies. We have a good laugh once in a while about our college days and his camper van.

Thank you all for your comments and advise. I'm glad I asked.
Much appreciated!

Triple E (Canadian) units are well insulated. They used to make Class As primarily with some Cs and a few 5th wheels. All I see now on their web site is Class Bs and Cs But you just might find a good used unit.

Previous comments still hold though: He will go through a lot of propane, and water, both fresh and other wise, would likely be a pita. Heat pumps won't work much below 40 degrees F if that.

From a little research and experience, it appears on average that Siloam Springs, Ark and Charlotte, NC enjoy similar temps throughout the year. That said, winter RV life is quite doable in the Charlotte area. The average low runs around 31° at night, but warms up during the day. On occasion, temps can drop down into the teens during a hard freeze.

My camper is 4 season enclosed with heated tanks. During a Charlotte winter, I would typically use about 30#s of propane per month for all but my shower needs. The modern heated bath house had plenty of hot water that I didn't have to heat. Not to say I always enjoyed the stroll and on the coldest mornings, I showered in the rig. I used a ceramic heater to augment the furnace and of course a heated mattress pad for sleep. Some nights, I had to disconnect the water hose and run off the on-board water system. But, I spent several winters there due to work commitments and was very comfortable.

Interesting to note that an older couple camped there during the school year, as they both were school teachers. When school let out at the end of May, they and their MOHO were history until the end of August rolled around. The rate back then for seniors was $300/mo FHUs and free WiFi in the nice county park. The senior/non-county resident rate today is $26/nite.:( A monthly rate at a commercial park is far cheaper.

MOHO or Tag along is entirely up to you. But, a used Arctic Fox TT could be towed behind a 150/1500, a small comparable 4 season 5er behind a F-250/2500 without incurring the added expense of two drivetrains and subsequent maintenance. Good luck with your research and decision.

There was an article in Trailer Life magazine about five months ago on cold weather RVing. I think that a fifth wheel with the right equipment would work. Now that said, you will need one built from the ground up for cold weather. A lot of the trailers use the furnance to heat the holding and fresh water tanks. This is a consideration due to the use of propane to heat. If you have an electrical supply, you can use electrical heaters to heat the trailer and only use the fan on the furnanace to circulate the warm air.

As was said above, you will need a heated water hose to bring water to the trailer. Again, dumping the waste tanks can be a PIA in cold weather. Depending on how cold it is and the site you have (sewer provided I would hope) you can leave the sewer hose connected. You can run the grey water through it all of the time but would need to allow the black tank to fill up then dump or you run into problems.

Some RV's (Fifth and MH) have good insulation and some don't. Arctic Fox is made for cold climate use. There are a lot of others but that is the only one that I know of designed with cold weather in mind.

Check out everything before you make a decision.

The floors will be very cold. You have to keep the top vents open to get rid of the humidity caused by propane heating. You likely spend much more heating it because most motorhomes, and rv trailers, have a very low R-value insulation factor. You would need to find special heated fresh water hose and bails of hay to insulate the opening between the motorhome and the ground. Dumping the waste could be a pia!

All and all, I think a apartment would be much cheaper, and much less headache.

A Thor is not a top line RV. Insulation is something that has very little regard in many MH factories. Even having a cold weather package may only mean they installed a heat pad on the holding tanks or it may have extra insulation. Cold weather will mean the water line will freeze that comes into the RV. Due to construction there is always soething that needs to be done on an RV.

A fifth wheel would be my first choise

I don't have a place but the storage lot that I was using was $50 per month in NE Georgia