New owner of a Nash 25C travel trailer. Planning trip to Lake Tahoe next week where we will see freezing temps. We will be at a park on shore power.Recently bought a space heater that i think will keep us warm inside and my preference is to use this heater as much as possible. The issue i have which i cant seem to find an easy solution to is if i want to have access to water and use the toilets, i need to keep the holding tanks warm, and the only way to do that is to run the heater constantly, albeit can be a low temp of 55 for example. However, if i am running the space heater inside to keep us at a comfortable 68 lets, say, there is no way to have the furnace running low to keep the holding tanks warm. The more i think about this, the more i think i only have two options: 1.) abandon my space heater idea and run propane exclusively, allowing me full use of water. or 2.) use space heater but have zero water access, requiring showering and toileting elsewhere.Am i missing anything? Any experienced RV'ers with a thought here would be much appreciated. Again, my ultimate goal is using electricity (as little propane as possible) to keep us warm, but still being able to shower and toilet.Thanks so much!

I owned a Nash 29V and heated it exclusively with electric space heaters. At 18 degrees, I had no frozen water problems. The heat loss through the floor seemed to keep the insulated belly warm enough to prevent freezing. The Nash units are very well insulated.

Hmmm. That is interesting. Did you have your water tank full, or were you connected to water line?Did you put anything in your grey / black tanks to prevent freezing?

Hi,Replace the return air grill with dual window fans. On my RV that move some air through the heating ducts.

Be sure to set up the fridge for cold weather. See the full time thread on winter camping.

Pianotuna is this a type of "hack" or will i be able to find equipment designed for this? The dealer has said that by keeping the trailer warm with space heater, the ambient heat will be enough to keep tanks warm in underbelly. Being a newbie i just get nervous about damage.

Winter Camping in Cold | Good Sam Community

pianotuna
Nomad III
Dec 15, 2015
Hi,

Yes, I heat 100% electrically down to -37 C (-34 f). The dual window fan was the key to being able to do so.

rbadger28 wrote:
Does anyone actually have experience using space heaters only in 20 degree temps?
rbadger28
Explorer
Dec 15, 2015
Everyone thanks for the feedback. Very helpful!

What are people's preference on water in freezing temps? At the CG i can either fill my holding tank (50 gallons) and have no access to site water, or if i use proper heating tape they will allow me too hook up to water.

Lastly, what about grey and black water. Do you hook these up to site and keep valve open or keep closed and empty as needed? i assume if you keep closed you put some antifreeze in which would be helpful but not sure if it is just better to have fluids moving...

Thanks again!
rbpru
Explorer II
Dec 15, 2015
Badger.

How cold a temp are you planning on camping in and for how long?

If it is a sustained cold and your TT is not designed for it, it is iffy. A few nights in the twenties not so much. It takes a while to freeze a water tank.

The few I have met that were true winter campers had a semi-permanent set up; they came out to on the weekend to fish. They went so far as to add a skirt the TT to trap the heat underneath.

You will read of others who add heaters to their tanks and heat tapes to their pipes and still had an issue or two.

I would try a few cold nights of camping before I jumped into a winterizing project.
rbadger28
Explorer
Dec 15, 2015
rbpru:

I am planning a tahoe trip for a week. temps will range from the 10 degrees upward.

i am not looking for a long term winterizing, just the best way to handle the cold weather. in researching this, like most things, there are different opinions.

as far as the travel trailer goes, it is a new Nash. true four season. it is made for the cold and i am not worried about being able to "handle" the expected temps.

my questions are really around how to handle the temps while using minimal propane (primarily because i dont want to run out and need to refill it during the cold), and protecting my holding tanks in the process. you see, i know if i usee the propane heat, all the tanks will be fine. they are in insulated underbelly. BUT, if i am not using the propane much and using electric to keep cabin in the 60s, will the underbelly be warm enough to keep fluids from freezing, and / or should i be using city water supply....

thanks for questions / comments.
canoe_on_top
Explorer
Dec 16, 2015
I am currently fulltiming outside of Denver in an Arctic Fox 29V. 30' with two slides. Night time temps run teens to single digits. Daytime 20's to low 40's. I am heating only with the propane furnace. I go through one 30 lb tank every four to five days. I keep it at 70 degrees during the day and mid 60's at night. I do have factory storm windows. I think you have 30 lb tanks on your Nash. I would guess two tanks would be adequate for a week.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Dec 16, 2015
Hi,

Use the on board fresh water tank and run a hose each time it needs filling.

Disconnect the waste hose and connect it only when the tanks need to be drained.

I have enclosed but unheated tanks (and valves) so I added a 600 watt fan based heater with a mechanical thermostat to keep things from freezing.

rbadger28 wrote:
Everyone thanks for the feedback. Very helpful!

What are people's preference on water in freezing temps? At the CG i can either fill my holding tank (50 gallons) and have no access to site water, or if i use proper heating tape they will allow me too hook up to water.

Lastly, what about grey and black water. Do you hook these up to site and keep valve open or keep closed and empty as needed? i assume if you keep closed you put some antifreeze in which would be helpful but not sure if it is just better to have fluids moving...

Thanks again!
eichacsj
Explorer
Dec 16, 2015
canoe on top wrote:
I am currently fulltiming outside of Denver in an Arctic Fox 29V. 30' with two slides. Night time temps run teens to single digits. Daytime 20's to low 40's. I am heating only with the propane furnace. I go through one 30 lb tank every four to five days. I keep it at 70 degrees during the day and mid 60's at night. I do have factory storm windows. I think you have 30 lb tanks on your Nash. I would guess two tanks would be adequate for a week.

We have seen the same when we travel to Denver and Seattle in winter. We have even been in below zero many times, we have never see the issues with propane that I hear about so often. Yes hte fridge may not get as cool but it is still colder then if our stuff was in a ice chest.

One thing we did to our AF was change the thermostat from the mechanical one to a digital. The heater cycles more often but does not run as long on each cycle. In a Northwood you need to run the heater to keep the tanks cool unless you get the tank heater option. But like I said we have never had a problem just running the heater in comfortable setting (74). In the zero range we go through a tank in 4 days.

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