Pop Up Soft Side Campers in the Winter
Could anyone who has owned one of these tell me how well they stay warm in the wintertime.
Forum Discussion
- What I'm patently curious about is... Does the Wave Heater keep the interior warm. reason I ask is, it's not a convection heater but rather a radiant heater that warms objects via infra red radiation versus forced, heated air, so, I don't quite understand how it would heat say, the bunk area (without a fan to move the warm air around.
They look interesting and I could use the additional space that the furnace takes up, for storage. Power consumption is a minor issue with the forced air furnace, I've never had an issue with it.
I have also read that you must keep them covered when not in use the keep the 'working face' clean.
Would not a Coleman Buddy heater work just as well, especially one with a hose and quick attach fitting and just delete the furnace entirely?
Curious. Oldtymeflyr wrote:
We had an Outfitter Apex 8 for 9 years and over 400 nights. No modifications to the walls windows, stock 20,000 btu furnace, batteries (2x6volts). We did have covers for the ceiling vents.
We were in temperatures -10 degrees many times and down to -20 degrees every now and then. No problems. Our 30# propane tank would last 3 days keeping the temperature at 65 degrees during the day and lower 40 degree temps at night, we like it cooler. If the temperature was right around zero we could go 5-6 days with our propane. Note that we had full use of both the water and sewage system. We were comfortable.
I did carry an extra 5# propane tank and a small Honda generator for backup electricity.
There is no question that a good hardside can be warmer. The Outfitter had advantages that a HS could not match.
We no longer have the Outfitter but our Sprinter Four Winds also has a 20,000 BTU furnace. In retrospect that Outfitter had a big furnace for the size.
Ditto on the above experience when I lived in Fairbanks, AK. I have 2-12v 100AH batteries and I carried an additional 30lb propane tank. And a Honda EU2000i generator just in case. No ceiling vent covers.
I have since installed a Wave 3 heater which does not use battery power.- Added Wave 3 heater for this year's ski season.
- We had an Outfitter Apex 8 for 9 years and over 400 nights. No modifications to the walls windows, stock 20,000 btu furnace, batteries (2x6volts). We did have covers for the ceiling vents.
We were in temperatures -10 degrees many times and down to -20 degrees every now and then. No problems. Our 30# propane tank would last 3 days keeping the temperature at 65 degrees during the day and lower 40 degree temps at night, we like it cooler. If the temperature was right around zero we could go 5-6 days with our propane. Note that we had full use of both the water and sewage system. We were comfortable.
I did carry an extra 5# propane tank and a small Honda generator for backup electricity.
There is no question that a good hardside can be warmer. The Outfitter had advantages that a HS could not match.
We no longer have the Outfitter but our Sprinter Four Winds also has a 20,000 BTU furnace. In retrospect that Outfitter had a big furnace for the size. - Trying to add pics.
https://plus.google.com/collection/QYEDUE - We (me, wife, two daughters and two labs) spent 4 nights at Crested Butte in February in our Hallmark truck camper. We stayed warm with just running our furnace. Tons of snow last ski season. We did at extra insulated soft wall (warm window material) to the soft wall.
csh 2088 wrote:
I read that article to and it was very interesting. On the subject of the roof has it been known to freeze up so that you can't raise or lower it?
...I've lowered my roof with close to 3 feet of snow on it...the sidewalls are a bit stiff (LOL)....but I've never raised it with that much snow up top :D The rubber gaskets around the roof have never frozen to the camper shell lip, over my experience (13 years with the pop-up).
