Making it thru the cold for the first time - doing well :)

[gsf35099]

Well, we have been in NW Virginia since Wednesday and this is the coldest we have ever stayed in the MH. "Columbus" is doing actually great keeping the inside warm along with keeping everything from freezing and working great.
We've not used anything other than the furnace, although I did bring electric heaters and even a thermo switch plug to place a heater in the basement, but haven't needed to.
It's not supposed to get above freezing in the area until next Wednesday, the day we start to head back home to Central Texas and I'm sure he will do fine.

We are very impressed with how "Columbus" has handled the extreme cold.
Hope all stay warm this New Year's Eve and have a wonderful and great new year.

[gsf35099]

blknomad wrote:
also the op mentioned a "Columbus" I give up??

Haha. Sorry, that is the name the DW gave the RV. "Columbus the Bus". 🙂
Brand is in my sig. Damon Astoria.

[Passin_Thru]

I lived in NM and spent most of my time In Co loading hay, feed and unloading trucks after I got there. -30 was normal but now I'm cold at +15. Right now it's 12 outside in Va. I asked a guy one morning what the temp in Antonito Co was and he said Its up, Clear up around 10 below, been -30 every morning.

[pianotuna]

blknomad wrote:
also the op mentioned a "Columbus" I give up??

A brand name for the RV.

[pianotuna]

Hi Pirate,

The fans "pressurize" the furnace duct work and keep a small amount of warmed "cabin" air flowing through them. It is enough to prevent freezing of the fresh water lines in my RV. YMMV.

Pirate wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
For truly cold weather when using electric heaters, consider replacing the return air grill for the furnace with twin window fans:

I've seen you post this a couple times. I just don't understand what is the purpose of the fans. Can you explain further? Tks.

[blknomad]

also the op mentioned a "Columbus" I give up??

[Pirate1]

pianotuna wrote:
For truly cold weather when using electric heaters, consider replacing the return air grill for the furnace with twin window fans:

I've seen you post this a couple times. I just don't understand what is the purpose of the fans. Can you explain further? Tks.

[gsf35099]

GordonThree wrote:
Only a small amount of offense intended... I really get a chuckle out of below freezing being considered extreme cold.

My personal scale puts extreme below the -20F mark. Above that through zero is very cold, 0 to 20 moderately cold...

Fare enough feedback. :). Guess it is all in the perspective of where one lives and what they are used to and we are from central Texas where we don't see freezing temps a lot.
That said, constant temps below freezing is still a pretty hard freeze and can quickly cause problems if one is not prepared properly. ;).

[gsf35099]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

gsf35099 wrote:
We really are doing great and I wasn't sure what to expect.

It's 16 degrees this morning and the furnace has been set at 64 and cuts off when it warms up. :). Furnace doesn't stay off long, seeing ~9-10min cycles off, & 4 min on. We had it on 68, but that was to warm for us. should have known since 62 is what we sleep in back home. Haha

I had engineered hardwood floors installed ~ 1 1/2 years ago and they stay pretty warm as well. Ducting is in the floor. I did bring 2 sleeping bags and used them to fill the gap under the large slide in the living room and appear to have no draft from under the slide. We have a few rugs, but again, the floor is not really cold. Coldest place seems to be back of RV passenger side floor where our small slide is, buts it's not freezing, just colder then most and I notice it since that's my side and where I place my bare feet in the morning getting up. :). Still not bad though.

Overall, I'm very happy with how the RV is handling the cold. We've already been through a low of 15, high of 28 last Thursday and I'm not concerned about the next 3-4 days of highs in the 20's & lows ~10. Got plenty of propane to make it until we head out Wednesday as I topped off last Friday heading into the long weekend.

Stay warm and Happy New Year!!

Just be sure to keep an eye on your propane level. You are toasty due to a very inefficient furnace when it comes to fuel usage. The propane will not last for weeks so just keep an eye on it and be prepared to go get more if necessary.

10-4 on that. I click the gauge every hour or so. LOL. We burned 14.8 gallons Monday thru Friday and have a 30.4 gallon (at 80% of 38 gallon tank). Not even below 2/3's yet here Sunday night and we will head out Wednesday. I'm really confident we have plenty to get us through until then, but if for some reason we need fuel Tuesday, Amerigas opens Tuesday morning and is 5.1 miles away. 🙂

[Bill_Satellite]

gsf35099 wrote:
We really are doing great and I wasn't sure what to expect.

It's 16 degrees this morning and the furnace has been set at 64 and cuts off when it warms up. :). Furnace doesn't stay off long, seeing ~9-10min cycles off, & 4 min on. We had it on 68, but that was to warm for us. should have known since 62 is what we sleep in back home. Haha

I had engineered hardwood floors installed ~ 1 1/2 years ago and they stay pretty warm as well. Ducting is in the floor. I did bring 2 sleeping bags and used them to fill the gap under the large slide in the living room and appear to have no draft from under the slide. We have a few rugs, but again, the floor is not really cold. Coldest place seems to be back of RV passenger side floor where our small slide is, buts it's not freezing, just colder then most and I notice it since that's my side and where I place my bare feet in the morning getting up. :). Still not bad though.

Overall, I'm very happy with how the RV is handling the cold. We've already been through a low of 15, high of 28 last Thursday and I'm not concerned about the next 3-4 days of highs in the 20's & lows ~10. Got plenty of propane to make it until we head out Wednesday as I topped off last Friday heading into the long weekend.

Stay warm and Happy New Year!!

Just be sure to keep an eye on your propane level. You are toasty due to a very inefficient furnace when it comes to fuel usage. The propane will not last for weeks so just keep an eye on it and be prepared to go get more if necessary.

[GordonThree]

Only a small amount of offense intended... I really get a chuckle out of below freezing being considered extreme cold.

My personal scale puts extreme below the -20F mark. Above that through zero is very cold, 0 to 20 moderately cold...

[Dutch_12078]

We saw -8℉ this morning here in upstate NY, and the two coach furnaces kept us warm and toasty. Since we're parked next to our vacation cottage, we're running from the 320 gallon bulk propane tank that feeds the cottage furnace, so the full onboard 24 gallon (100 lb) tank hasn't been touched. We'll be switching to that when we head south next Sunday though. We really would have preferred to be there by now for the weather, but spending the holidays with our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids is more than worth the discomfort when we step out the door.

[turbojimmy]

Sounds like you're doing well with the cold. I've never actually camped in the extreme cold (below freezing) for more than a day or so, but we use the RV as a guest house so sometimes the kids will stay out there when it's very cold. The 2 propane furnaces do quite well, but the ducts are not in the floor. The Pergo gets crrrraazzzy cold - that was the only advantage the carpet had over the laminate floor.

The furnaces really suck down the propane so I run the electric heater anyway, even though the furnaces keep up just fine. I don't have any scientific measurements but it has to help reduce propane consumption at least a little.

[pianotuna]

For truly cold weather when using electric heaters, consider replacing the return air grill for the furnace with twin window fans:

[rgatijnet1]

We've been to -5 in our coach. We use the electric heaters for most of our daily heat and also use a low voltage electric blanket at night. For us an interior temp in the 60's is comfortable.
We love the fact that most of the National Parks are almost deserted during the Winter and this gives us a chance to view the wild life and natural beauty at our pace without worrying about any crowds.