winter capable travel trailers, older models
A young relative of my son-in-laws family has asked about a travel trailer he could buy and live in for two years while starting medical school. He has limited funds and has found a park where he can ...
Forum Discussion
This is doable, but will take some careful planning.
I brought my TT to Calgary Alberta November 12 last year. Aside from being home a few weeks for Christmas, I am still here and I have endured a nasty cold winter in my RV.
The coldest it got while I was here is minus 34C (-29F)
Yeah it was a tough go but I made it.
But not without some trials...
My TT in sig is NOT a 4 season unit. My waste tanks are fully exposed underneath and they did freeze up solid on me.
The water feed to my kitchen froze up numerous times.
I have access to a single 15A plugin. I ran a 1500W heater 24/7, full blast in the coldest weather. My furnace ran more than it rested. I was going through a 30 pound propane bottle about every 2 1/2 days, at a cost of $47.25 a fill.
Now when the weather wasn't so miserably cold, lets say only in the minus teens, a bottle would last me 4 to 5 days, with that electric heater still running full tilt.
I had to keep lower cabinets open and my kitchen drawers pulled right out and stored in a spare bed, just so I could get some heat in there to the plumbing.
Now I am fortunate, my water pump shares the same compartment as the furnace and HWT, both of which ran a lot. My fresh water is under the sofa, so it didn't freeze. The water feed to the pump runs beside the heat ducts and only froze up twice, when the furnace didn't run as often.
I tell you all this because you need to consider all factors too.
If he is going to do this, there are a few things that are mandatory for winter living. Many of which I don't have.
Enclosed heated underbelly is a must. If the tanks are not heated, there are aftermarket products to take care of this.
One consideration is the fridge. They don't like the super cold. Mine packed it in a few weeks ago when it was about -33C. Thats another story.
He will have to take steps to introduce heat to the back of the fridge compartment. Won't detail that here.
Then there is the condensation issue. Just living in there, breathing puts out a lot of moisture. All my vents and windows were frozen shut and caked with ice. Couldn't open them if I wanted to. Yeah it got moist and stale in here.
Double glazed windows will be a big help. There are ways to put on storm windows to a single glazed RV. Even covering the windows with some kind of insulative barrier is a possibility too. I stuck some foam sheeting inside some of mine. It helped a fair amount.
If he is going to be set up for 2 years in the same spot, then completely skirting the outside and insulating it well will be a big help.
He will still have to deal with dumping the tanks. A difficult task when everything is frozen. He may be able to keep his tanks from freezing but the hole he dumps in will be frozen, as will his dump hose.
It will be a big help if he has a 30A plugin to use. Then he can run 2 electric heaters, saving some on propane.
Whatever unit he gets, he NEEDS to look it over thoroughly and see where the fresh water tank is, and where the pump is, and the lines between. They must be in a heated area.
Speaking of fresh water, it is filled from the outside and chances are it will all be frozen when it is time to fill up. The filler cap and locks will be frozen too.
I have gone through all of this stuff.
As I mentioned, it is doable, but it will take a lot of effort to pull it off. Spring summer and fall? no problem.
I brought my TT to Calgary Alberta November 12 last year. Aside from being home a few weeks for Christmas, I am still here and I have endured a nasty cold winter in my RV.
The coldest it got while I was here is minus 34C (-29F)
Yeah it was a tough go but I made it.
But not without some trials...
My TT in sig is NOT a 4 season unit. My waste tanks are fully exposed underneath and they did freeze up solid on me.
The water feed to my kitchen froze up numerous times.
I have access to a single 15A plugin. I ran a 1500W heater 24/7, full blast in the coldest weather. My furnace ran more than it rested. I was going through a 30 pound propane bottle about every 2 1/2 days, at a cost of $47.25 a fill.
Now when the weather wasn't so miserably cold, lets say only in the minus teens, a bottle would last me 4 to 5 days, with that electric heater still running full tilt.
I had to keep lower cabinets open and my kitchen drawers pulled right out and stored in a spare bed, just so I could get some heat in there to the plumbing.
Now I am fortunate, my water pump shares the same compartment as the furnace and HWT, both of which ran a lot. My fresh water is under the sofa, so it didn't freeze. The water feed to the pump runs beside the heat ducts and only froze up twice, when the furnace didn't run as often.
I tell you all this because you need to consider all factors too.
If he is going to do this, there are a few things that are mandatory for winter living. Many of which I don't have.
Enclosed heated underbelly is a must. If the tanks are not heated, there are aftermarket products to take care of this.
One consideration is the fridge. They don't like the super cold. Mine packed it in a few weeks ago when it was about -33C. Thats another story.
He will have to take steps to introduce heat to the back of the fridge compartment. Won't detail that here.
Then there is the condensation issue. Just living in there, breathing puts out a lot of moisture. All my vents and windows were frozen shut and caked with ice. Couldn't open them if I wanted to. Yeah it got moist and stale in here.
Double glazed windows will be a big help. There are ways to put on storm windows to a single glazed RV. Even covering the windows with some kind of insulative barrier is a possibility too. I stuck some foam sheeting inside some of mine. It helped a fair amount.
If he is going to be set up for 2 years in the same spot, then completely skirting the outside and insulating it well will be a big help.
He will still have to deal with dumping the tanks. A difficult task when everything is frozen. He may be able to keep his tanks from freezing but the hole he dumps in will be frozen, as will his dump hose.
It will be a big help if he has a 30A plugin to use. Then he can run 2 electric heaters, saving some on propane.
Whatever unit he gets, he NEEDS to look it over thoroughly and see where the fresh water tank is, and where the pump is, and the lines between. They must be in a heated area.
Speaking of fresh water, it is filled from the outside and chances are it will all be frozen when it is time to fill up. The filler cap and locks will be frozen too.
I have gone through all of this stuff.
As I mentioned, it is doable, but it will take a lot of effort to pull it off. Spring summer and fall? no problem.
