Becoming a Full Year-round Camper in Upstate NY-need advice?

Jayco.. Have YOU ever been a college student?

Yes, BJC now Boise state university and ISU. Lived in dorm/apartment/frat house (tke)/ Mobil home and rv.

The mobile home and rv gave me privacy that the dorm/frat house and apartments did not.

To each his own.

jaycocreek wrote:

That's all cheaper than the $800/month cost to buy a crappy trailer and try to make it work... Why is this such a great idea in your mind?

Because I've done it both ways and I'm not guessing.Owe, $800 doesn't always buy a crappy trailer. Got one in the driveway for less than that without ever having a leak.

Patients and knowing what you want has it's rewards.

Jayco.. Have YOU ever been a college student?

How about a college student in the last 2yrs of getting a degree?

It takes a lot of study time plus any "projects" assigned in pretty much any college course.

Camping in cold weather will add considerably MORE work/effort to stay at least "comfortable" even for WELL SEASONED cold weather campers. Toss in some of the EXTREME cold weather possibilities in NY state during the winter and I do feel it is a recipe for disaster and the OPs grades are going to suffer.

It is one thing for say "Oil Field workers" live in RVs during winters but they do not have to apply home work/study/projects time when they retire to the RV at the end of a shift.

The OP mentioned heating with a wood burner, heck, they will need to find trees they can cut down then stack.. So they would need to buy a saw, gas can for mix and bar oil and some protective PPE. At the cheapest they will be in that for $500 easy for the cheapest stuff.. Then they will have to convince a campground to allow them to stay in the winter and also allow them to cut down trees.

Even if they found a mobile home park they ARE going to have a lot of issues with water and sewage and mobile home parks DO NOT HAVE SHARED PUBLIC BATH HOUSES.

Not to mention buying a wood burner small enough to put in a RV, even small ones do not come cheap and in most places they will have to buy EPA cat type ones. They will easily be in that for $1500-$3000 plus triple wall stack, thimble and such.. Triple wall easily costs $100 per 36" section and you need to have at least 2ft-3ft above the roof to get a good draw..

The OP mentioned so many far fetched ideas in their first and ONLY POST in this thread I personally think we ALL have been duped by a lonely person who has a lot of time on their hands and posted a bunch of random BS ideas just so they can get their kicks and grins.

I do not feel the OP is in school, lives in NY or even cares about living in a RV..

For all I know it could even be.. Dare I say.. Darla?

Folks, perhaps this thread just needs to sink into the abyss (stop posting more nonsense to it)..

That's all cheaper than the $800/month cost to buy a crappy trailer and try to make it work... Why is this such a great idea in your mind?

Because I've done it both ways and I'm not guessing.Owe, $800 doesn't always buy a crappy trailer. Got one in the driveway for less than that without ever having a leak.

Patients and knowing what you want has it's rewards.

jaycocreek wrote:
Don't know rent prices in NY but in Idaho your hard pressed to rent anything, depending where your at,for less than $500 plus electricity a month. Mobile home sites go for $150-250 a month plus electricity, again depending where your at.

And it's yours!

A spiffy rv site with water/sewer/garbage/electricity/cable tv/showers/laundry and free internet is $405 a month for everything where I'm at on the river.

That's all cheaper than the $800/month cost to buy a crappy trailer and try to make it work... Why is this such a great idea in your mind?

Don't know rent prices in NY but in Idaho your hard pressed to rent anything, depending where your at,for less than $500 plus electricity a month. Mobile home sites go for $150-250 a month plus electricity, again depending where your at.

And it's yours!

A spiffy rv site with water/sewer/garbage/electricity/cable tv/showers/laundry and free internet is $405 a month for everything where I'm at on the river.

jaycocreek wrote:
Those that have lived in an rv below zero know what they have to do to stay comfortable and warm without frozen pipes, those that haven't, don't. It's really not something you can read about and conquer as every rv has its weak spots in cold temps.

Ok... the OP is trying to do this on a budget, to save money. I put forth a quick budget and came to $800/month before utilities. I can't even begin to imagine the cost of electricity and propane to heat the camper. I'm not 100% certain where the OP wants to stay, but I reckon they could find a decent apartment or basement to rent for about the same money and be much more comfortable.

If you disagree, lets see your budget for making this an affordable and comfortable experience.

Joyce in NY wrote:
jaycocreek - Sorry, but 20 above is a huge difference from 20 below with wind chills of negative 40. Here in upstate NY we can go a couple of weeks at a time with temperatures and wind chill this low!

That's in the banana belt here I was talking about. I've been in an rv when diesal was jelling in our equipment and we had to use #1 heating oil for them to run or a special additive.

MCall Idaho, where I spent most of my life, regularly gets to -20 degrees with 4-5 feet of snow. Seen it -40 below and the snow covered the windows. That's probably why they have the winter carnival there.

Rv's are still quite livable down to 5-10 below but more than that for a long period and it's time to move.. Lived in one in Elk City for a short time and it got to -20 and everything froze up for those that didn't already blow out the lines. My son in-law spent last winter in the oil fields of North Dakota in a fancy motorhome... Skirted with heat under and it froze solid while he was at work and stayed that way for quite a while.

Those that have lived in an rv below zero know what they have to do to stay comfortable and warm without frozen pipes, those that haven't, don't. It's really not something you can read about and conquer as every rv has its weak spots in cold temps.

I'm curious to see what the OP has to say at this point.

jaycocreek - Sorry, but 20 above is a huge difference from 20 below with wind chills of negative 40. Here in upstate NY we can go a couple of weeks at a time with temperatures and wind chill this low!

This place cracks me up sometimes. Tons of people winter in RVs in places like NY. Here in the central part of Idaho, there's a bunch of full time rvers. Most go to mobile home parks because it's a lot cheaper than an rv park and a whole lot cheaper than rent.

There are things you have to do to make it through very low temps, but it is doable. Loggers/construction workers/oil field workers and just plain old people live in rvs year around In cold climates. Just about every town in Idaho had someone living year around in a rv and Idaho isn't famous for mild winters.

I'm back to full timing and talked to the manager of a spiffy rv park yesterday and she said it never got above 20 degrees for a couple weeks and this is supposed to be the banana belt of Idaho. Lived here many times in an rv. No big deal.