Friends of ours have taken a job working 150 miles north of the Arctic circle in Sweden this winter. The temperature gets down to -35 Celcius.They will be living in their small truck camper. It is a Swedish-made camper so should be capable of reasonably cold conditions, but may not be designed for -35C.They will have electric hookup.It is on a diesel truck. Has fresh water and propane tanks as you would expect, plus a grey water tank and a cassette toilet. Hardside, not pop-up. No slide. No basement.I've seen various things written here about winterising campers, but I assume they are for people storing their campers unused over winter as opposed to living in them.Does anyone have any advice for coping with these temperatures - what can they put in place in the camper before they go? What do they need to be careful of?Thanks in advance,Steve.

That's just crazy. As a matter of fact, it's downright dangerous, IMHO. My advice is not to do it. Surely there are other accomodations available.

I added a water circulating system to prevent pipes freezing. I believe he may need something of this sort. Also tank heaters and double them up. www.ultraheat.com At -35 I would have a second method to provide at least half the BTU of the main furnace. Could go through a lot of propane so best to have an external connection to a large tank. Propane tank may also need electric heat as it will fail to vaporize fast enough as you get into this temperature zone.

I spent 2 winters working north of the Arctic Circle, north slope AK. I'm the guy that says you can tow 10klbs behind a half ton and it's ok to overload your tires, but I can't condone this. If they're smart people they won't die......but why??In fact it's one of, if not the worst idea I've ever heard. And just cause the camper is made in Sweden doesn't mean it's made for that. People die in car accidents in Volvos too!Some of the questions on this forum are what make me keep coming back, like watching a train wreck....can't look away!Is it April fools day already?

Oh and yes you'll need to heat the propane tanks too, or I take back the statement about not dying!

Camping well below freezing - Sweden over winter

Grit_dog
Navigator
Sep 19, 2016
dave17352 wrote:
I would build a well insulated heated garage. Then park the truck camper in it. :) At least with the heated garage their diesel won't be jelly.

Diesel gelling up is actually the least of the worries. Up there it's blended for the worst temps. Only place in the winter I've never seen a gelled up diesel or a single bottle of 911 is in the Arctic!
Grit_dog
Navigator
Sep 19, 2016
Oh yeah, forgot. You need more than just a block heater to start the rig up after sitting for just one night in around the clock -30 or colder. Add an oil pan heater, trans pan heater and an onboard charger and sometimes electric battery blankets.
Even then if it sits for extended periods or through one good blow you'll need to just drag it indoors and thaw it out.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Sep 19, 2016
eubank wrote:
-35C is about -31F. (The two systems are the same at -40.) It is doable with the right equipment. Ask among the ski crowd.

Lynn

Doable is debatable, but if you've worked in the Arctic, you know it's very questionable.
My question is what are they doing? Presume if there's a place to plug in but no camp provided then definitely working outdoors. Spend 12hrs outside in -30 weather with a -50 windchill and come back and tell me how easy it would be to live in a TC there.
Then wait for a bad day when it's -40/-70. What do you do then?
It'll be dark all the time as well by the way. No nice days for aleverything to thaw out.
Heck, the windows and doors would ice up so hard you might not get out!
Crack the vent and turn on the fantastic fan to get rid of the moisture from breathing, cooking 2gal of soup every night and drying all the snow caked clothes? I don't think so......after the wind ripped the vent cover off, if it wasn't too iced to open in the first place, you wouldn't even be able to keep the place warm.
sbryan
Explorer II
Sep 19, 2016
Yup, folks up here camp for weeks at a time in these temps in ski area parking lots. Granted that is not an entire winter but if they are properly supplied with food, water, power and propane they will survive. Also, the -30 is occasional (mostly in February), not continuous so in the other winter months expect more temperate temperatures.

It won't be easy but it is doable.
GordonThree
Explorer
Sep 19, 2016
Anything's possible given enough money or resources. Sounds like a fun challenge.

A truck camper is pretty small, which means a small volume to heat, but also means there's not much cargo room for resources. Can you carry two large propane bottles, someplace they can be wrapped with heating blankets?

You mention electric being available, are you talking 10 amps for a block warmer or 50 amps for a big RV (or whatever the European equivalent is?) Do you need to drive the truck to work, or just live in it? That is, will you be unplugged for most of the day?

Are no separate hygiene facilities available? Not having to use the on-board water system makes it less of a problem keeping the interior warm all the time.
dave17352
Explorer
Sep 19, 2016
I would build a well insulated heated garage. Then park the truck camper in it. :) At least with the heated garage their diesel won't be jelly.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Sep 19, 2016
they need a check up from the neck up.
bumpy
bgum
Explorer
Sep 19, 2016
Best advice "Don't do it."
eubank
Explorer
Sep 19, 2016
-35C is about -31F. (The two systems are the same at -40.) It is doable with the right equipment. Ask among the ski crowd.

Lynn
downtheroad
Explorer
Sep 19, 2016
You are joking....right?
If not, I hope the pay they are getting for this job is REALLY good.

Seriously, they will spend most of their time just trying to stay alive. They will have very little time left for to do their job.