How cold is too cold?

IN Wyo an old piece of anchor chain makes a good wind gauge.
Working out of pickups all the time, the one cardinal rule is never open both doors at the same time.

In Laramie the snow drifted all the time. Sometimes people came out of an upstairs window.

Once your hear the snow squeak at -25 degrees you never forget it.

In the winter, I used to play chess late at night with a guy that had a PhD in wildlife biology. We used to drink vodka and watch the ice form on the inside of the windows at 30 below.

gkainz wrote:

memtb wrote:

ppine wrote:
Too cold, starts around zero, and gets worse from there.
It has been -38 degrees F in my driveway.

I’m a newbie to Wyoming, @ only 35 years.....the coldest I’ve seen was -47 F. Thankfully, there was zero wind.....but, I had an outside job. And.....I’m darn glad we weren’t rving that night! memtb

When is there zero wind in Wyoming? Everyone fell down? :D (worked a lot in Wyoming back in the '70s).

Actually there are times, thought rare, we have little to no wind. It very rarely happens in the I-80 corridor.

That particular night, I was working about 30 miles east of Kemmerer.....Shute Creek Gas Plant.

We live near Worland, Wy......the lowest wind average in the state. In our hot summers, you often pray for a breeze! memtb

memtb wrote:

ppine wrote:
Too cold, starts around zero, and gets worse from there.
It has been -38 degrees F in my driveway.

I’m a newbie to Wyoming, @ only 35 years.....the coldest I’ve seen was -47 F. Thankfully, there was zero wind.....but, I had an outside job. And.....I’m darn glad we weren’t rving that night! memtb

When is there zero wind in Wyoming? Everyone fell down? :D (worked a lot in Wyoming back in the '70s).

Coolmom42,

I use one of these near my water pump:

http://www.moistureking.com/

I have it plugged into a mechanical thermostat.

steveh27 wrote:
My Class B has the same setup with the fresh water tank and pump under the bed. So it is inside, but because the space is sealed from the heater outlets it does not get direct heat. That did cause a problem when it was 8 degrees and the lines from the pump to the tank froze. I lifted the bed to allow air in and put a few chemical hand warmers on the affected areas. It was good after a few hours as the day warmed a bit.

But it is not a problem with the temps you expect.

Good place for a small pipe heater. (assuming you are plugged in)

https://www.ultraheat.com/ultraheat-am-ph513

steveh27 wrote:
My Class B has the same setup with the fresh water tank and pump under the bed. So it is inside, but because the space is sealed from the heater outlets it does not get direct heat. That did cause a problem when it was 8 degrees and the lines from the pump to the tank froze. I lifted the bed to allow air in and put a few chemical hand warmers on the affected areas. It was good after a few hours as the day warmed a bit.

But it is not a problem with the temps you expect.

Good to know that works!

I think if I am staying somewhere and temps drop, I could put an incandescent lamp in the basement space that it is under and adjacent to the tank and water pump. Not a heat lamp, those things are dangerous. But just a regular small lamp.

Of course that assumes a person could find a real incandescent bulb easily. A small space heater would work, too.

My Class B has the same setup with the fresh water tank and pump under the bed. So it is inside, but because the space is sealed from the heater outlets it does not get direct heat. That did cause a problem when it was 8 degrees and the lines from the pump to the tank froze. I lifted the bed to allow air in and put a few chemical hand warmers on the affected areas. It was good after a few hours as the day warmed a bit.

But it is not a problem with the temps you expect.

ppine wrote:
Too cold, starts around zero, and gets worse from there.
It has been -38 degrees F in my driveway.

I’m a newbie to Wyoming, @ only 35 years.....the coldest I’ve seen was -47 F. Thankfully, there was zero wind.....but, I had an outside job. And.....I’m darn glad we weren’t rving that night! memtb

ppine wrote:
Too cold, starts around zero, and gets worse from there.
It has been -38 degrees F in my driveway.

Now that is cold!!

Probably the only way to "RV camp" at those temperatures would be with plenty of propane heat, plenty of interior ducting to route that heat around, and plenty of electricity ... along with double pane windows and outside skirting around the rig.

I wonder how researchers in Antarctica outfit their living shelters for the ultra-extreme cold?

time2roll wrote:
-10 F is about the limit for me. Might go -20 but anything lower and I expect problems.

Same for us!

The simple response for the OP is, what brand of class c? Some are fully capable of zero F and well below, some have some minor winter usage capabilities, while others barely to 32 F. Those that are designed for cool weather usage, have the tanks, water lines, and dump valves all located inside an insulated, heat ducted part of the unit!

The OP needs to determine, if all of the water/waste system has an available heat source. If not, then determine what, if anything can be done to improve the system. Exposed lines/valves must be heat traced/insulated if the unit will be exposed to extended cool temps. If the tanks are exposed, they can have heat pads applied, then the tanks well insulated. While all of this can be a challenging endeavor, it can certainly give the RVer a great deal of peace of mind for those cold snaps that the weather person didn’t warn you of!

I’ve put our water system in service at single digit F temperatures for an outing. However, our unit was designed for cold weather use, and then some additional preparation was done to improve an already good unit! memtb