Winter RV camping
Winter RV camping: This information on winter RVing is provided courtesy of Tiger Run Resort, Breckenridge, CO. DianneOK, moderator -----------------------------------------------------------...
Forum Discussion
I really would recommend steering clear of a "total electric camper" setup for winter if you plan to use water at all. Electric heat doesn't seem to keep things from freezing up well at all while propane, being already more efficient for heating compared to electricity, and being quite a bit cheaper per BTU, does an excellent job. I use electric only as an auxiliary when needed to enhance the comfort level (i.e. on really cold nights when you can feel the cold seeping in).
For water hose, I always set up a hose with a simple heat tape and pipe insulation - takes 45 minutes to rig up and costs less than buying a pre-built. Even if I *was* made of money, I can't justify spending it on overpriced foolishness if I can do it myself ;)
As far as leaving your gray tank dump valve open, there is a chance of some ice build-up in your dump line but that's easily remedied with a piping hot shower every day or so, assuming you're not running more than 15 to 20 feet to the sewer connection. The other alternative is to put a bit of RV antifreeze down the drains occasionally to help stave off freeze-ups, especially important if you close the valves for more than 12 hours (don't use regular antifreeze - it's highly toxic). This might even be a good idea to use in the black water tank even if you keep that open, though I never bothered and hadn't had issues. If you close the blank tank dump valve, you need to use something in there to keep it from freezing up. I had a neighbor once who didn't heed the warnings and things backed up a bit...not fun.
The real issues come in when you have to run more than 20 feet to the sewer connection. I've run up to 30 feet one year without issues (sewer pipe was run mostly underneath the rig, inside skirting, and wrapped with fiberglass insulation and plastic), but when I ran 40 feet I froze solid. The angle must be right for things to run through fast enough...too slow and you'll freeze even hot shower water.
Lastly, for those simple solar window heaters, the concept is really so simple that you'd think it wouldn't work at first, but it does and it takes only about 10 minutes to set up. Paint one side of a cardboard sheet black (flat black spray paint, don't use glossy - $1/can wally world) and secure it over the inside of your window with a space at both the top and bottom of the cardboard. Make sure there's at least 1" of air space between the cardboard and the window itself. The black-painted side of the cardboard heats up as sunlight hits it, which in turn heats up the air between it and the window (think of a car in the sun with the windows up). Since hot air rises, the warmed air comes out the top space while colder air from inside your rig goes in the bottom space to replace it. You want as much direct sunlight hitting the black cardboard as you can get, so this works best when it's a south facing window (for the northern hemisphere). Needless to say, shadows from tree branches, etc, will reduce the efficiency, as will certain types of window glazing or even dirty window glass.
The spaces at the top and bottom should be large enough that the air doesn't get too hot - it's more efficient if the air gets to roughly 90-95*F before coming out the top during peak sun angle (noonish). If it's getting hotter than that, make the spaces on the top and bottom larger to increase the air flow.
Of course, the more collector surface you have in the sun, the more heat you generate. Good air flow is very important as it moves that heated air out of the collector to where you can use it, so make sure the temp isn't getting too high. You can use a cheapo clip-on type fan to circulate the heated air around your rig.
The only drawback to this overly-simple design is that at night or on especially cloudy days, the heater becomes an effective air conditioner, cooling your warmer inside air through reverse flow. Some people add flaps over the vent spaces to prevent it, but you can easily just cover the whole thing with a window quilt or a bath towel :)
There's lots more to designing a really effective system, but if you're looking to do it quick, cheap and simple, this would be my recommendation. It's something that you can even do in an area like Albuquerque where the campgrounds don't even allow skirting on your rig during the bitter cold months (really cheeses me off, btw)
For water hose, I always set up a hose with a simple heat tape and pipe insulation - takes 45 minutes to rig up and costs less than buying a pre-built. Even if I *was* made of money, I can't justify spending it on overpriced foolishness if I can do it myself ;)
As far as leaving your gray tank dump valve open, there is a chance of some ice build-up in your dump line but that's easily remedied with a piping hot shower every day or so, assuming you're not running more than 15 to 20 feet to the sewer connection. The other alternative is to put a bit of RV antifreeze down the drains occasionally to help stave off freeze-ups, especially important if you close the valves for more than 12 hours (don't use regular antifreeze - it's highly toxic). This might even be a good idea to use in the black water tank even if you keep that open, though I never bothered and hadn't had issues. If you close the blank tank dump valve, you need to use something in there to keep it from freezing up. I had a neighbor once who didn't heed the warnings and things backed up a bit...not fun.
The real issues come in when you have to run more than 20 feet to the sewer connection. I've run up to 30 feet one year without issues (sewer pipe was run mostly underneath the rig, inside skirting, and wrapped with fiberglass insulation and plastic), but when I ran 40 feet I froze solid. The angle must be right for things to run through fast enough...too slow and you'll freeze even hot shower water.
Lastly, for those simple solar window heaters, the concept is really so simple that you'd think it wouldn't work at first, but it does and it takes only about 10 minutes to set up. Paint one side of a cardboard sheet black (flat black spray paint, don't use glossy - $1/can wally world) and secure it over the inside of your window with a space at both the top and bottom of the cardboard. Make sure there's at least 1" of air space between the cardboard and the window itself. The black-painted side of the cardboard heats up as sunlight hits it, which in turn heats up the air between it and the window (think of a car in the sun with the windows up). Since hot air rises, the warmed air comes out the top space while colder air from inside your rig goes in the bottom space to replace it. You want as much direct sunlight hitting the black cardboard as you can get, so this works best when it's a south facing window (for the northern hemisphere). Needless to say, shadows from tree branches, etc, will reduce the efficiency, as will certain types of window glazing or even dirty window glass.
The spaces at the top and bottom should be large enough that the air doesn't get too hot - it's more efficient if the air gets to roughly 90-95*F before coming out the top during peak sun angle (noonish). If it's getting hotter than that, make the spaces on the top and bottom larger to increase the air flow.
Of course, the more collector surface you have in the sun, the more heat you generate. Good air flow is very important as it moves that heated air out of the collector to where you can use it, so make sure the temp isn't getting too high. You can use a cheapo clip-on type fan to circulate the heated air around your rig.
The only drawback to this overly-simple design is that at night or on especially cloudy days, the heater becomes an effective air conditioner, cooling your warmer inside air through reverse flow. Some people add flaps over the vent spaces to prevent it, but you can easily just cover the whole thing with a window quilt or a bath towel :)
There's lots more to designing a really effective system, but if you're looking to do it quick, cheap and simple, this would be my recommendation. It's something that you can even do in an area like Albuquerque where the campgrounds don't even allow skirting on your rig during the bitter cold months (really cheeses me off, btw)
