High-altitude, no-hookup, winter RV heating
We own some property in Utah at a high elevation (8,200 ft) with no hookups whatsoever. We have a 15 foot StarCraft (RB15) parked up there right now. It gets very cold, and very snowy up there. We ...
Forum Discussion
OK, The basic problem has been addressed, can you run your heater with one battery for a coupleof nights. Plainly NO. YOu not only have heat to consider but lighting, and cooking and running the firdge, (the fridge uses propane but has a circuit board that pulls a bit of electricity).
Next, you haven't considered (or at least mentioned) what you are going to do about the water tanks, and waste tanks. You CANNOT leave any fluids in those. An RV that you leave up in the high country has (if properly stored) been totally drained, the pipes either blown out or filled with antifreeze, and all the tanks emptied (Including the water heater). I don't know if anyone else does this, but I also drop about a gallon of antifreeze into the waste tanks, so I can keep the last little dribs of water that are against the valves from freezing the drain valves.
so you have to undo all that winter prep work, use it for two days and then re-do it all. Don't expect a service person to go up to your place the following Monday and do all that with frozen tanks, and having to shovel snow away from the access points, unless you pay a really steep premium. I wouldn't do it for the usual 50 dollar winterizing fee. More like 2 or 3 hundred.
If you do all your own winterizing, consider how long it takes you. Now double it in the winter. Allow for freezing fingers, and breaking off frozen fittings.
Also you have to insure that although the cabin is worm, are the exposed pipes, (both water and drain) going to be protected from freezing with water in them. You haven't lived until you have a pipe split inside some inaccessible spot behind a wall or under a floor.
My RV has heated tanks. fine, but it doesn't keep the lines from freezing.
Good luck.
Please report back how it went with details on setting up and tearing down from the weekend.
Next, you haven't considered (or at least mentioned) what you are going to do about the water tanks, and waste tanks. You CANNOT leave any fluids in those. An RV that you leave up in the high country has (if properly stored) been totally drained, the pipes either blown out or filled with antifreeze, and all the tanks emptied (Including the water heater). I don't know if anyone else does this, but I also drop about a gallon of antifreeze into the waste tanks, so I can keep the last little dribs of water that are against the valves from freezing the drain valves.
so you have to undo all that winter prep work, use it for two days and then re-do it all. Don't expect a service person to go up to your place the following Monday and do all that with frozen tanks, and having to shovel snow away from the access points, unless you pay a really steep premium. I wouldn't do it for the usual 50 dollar winterizing fee. More like 2 or 3 hundred.
If you do all your own winterizing, consider how long it takes you. Now double it in the winter. Allow for freezing fingers, and breaking off frozen fittings.
Also you have to insure that although the cabin is worm, are the exposed pipes, (both water and drain) going to be protected from freezing with water in them. You haven't lived until you have a pipe split inside some inaccessible spot behind a wall or under a floor.
My RV has heated tanks. fine, but it doesn't keep the lines from freezing.
Good luck.
Please report back how it went with details on setting up and tearing down from the weekend.
