Camping in sub freezing weather

[clintbrooks1767]

Hello all,

I'm new to RVing. Just bought a 5th wheel. I'm going to take it to Angel Fire NM this January and go snow skiing. I've been skiing in NM for almost 20 years and the temperature routinely can get to 20 or 30 degrees BELOW freezing.

My unit has a fully enclosed ducted/heated underbelly, heated basement, and heated storage tanks. I know I need to protect my water hose (if the resort has their city water turned on). I will turn on my tank heaters and plan to run my furnace while driving if I we encounter sub freezing temps during our drive. I will only plan on placing my sewer hose out when dumping and return to heated basement after use.

Can anyone who's been camping in sub freezing temperatures provide me with any advice? I'm trying to avoid common rookie mistakes encountered while camping in very cold weather.

Thank you in advance.

[wing_zealot]

You three realize this post is a year old right? I pretty sure he’s figured it out by now.

[NamMedevac_70]

Jebby14 wrote:
dont underestimate the fuel needed to stay warm or the electricity

Very excellent advice and double that plus below freezing sleeping bags just in case of

[StirCrazy]

clintbrooks1767 wrote:
Hello all,

I'm new to RVing. Just bought a 5th wheel. I'm going to take it to Angel Fire NM this January and go snow skiing. I've been skiing in NM for almost 20 years and the temperature routinely can get to 20 or 30 degrees BELOW freezing.

My unit has a fully enclosed ducted/heated underbelly, heated basement, and heated storage tanks. I know I need to protect my water hose (if the resort has their city water turned on). I will turn on my tank heaters and plan to run my furnace while driving if I we encounter sub freezing temps during our drive. I will only plan on placing my sewer hose out when dumping and return to heated basement after use.

Can anyone who's been camping in sub freezing temperatures provide me with any advice? I'm trying to avoid common rookie mistakes encountered while camping in very cold weather.

Thank you in advance.

so by 20 to 30 degrees below freezing I am assuming you mean 0F(-17.8C) if this is the case depending what you are camping in you may be fine. My 5th wheel is good to go at -7.6F (-22C) as it has the polar package. of course our going to use a lot more propane at -18C I was only getting 2 to 3 nights off a 30lb propane bottle. depending how long your going to be there for there are several things you can do to make it warmer and decrease your propane usage. if you have power you can put a few heat lamps under the trailer and use something to insulate it all around, like an insulated skirt, straw bales, foam boards......you can also use electric heaters inside to help the furnace. I have a couple friends that full time in there rv's and they employ these kind of things and live pretty comfterably.

for a short stay if you have some sort of skirt or material that you can put on to stop the air from blowing under the unit that will help.

Steve

[anbebode]

You must take care to keep the RV piping from freezing. Empty your tank regularly, apply thermal tape to your pipes, or install a space heater, there are many ways to keep it from freezing.

[magicbus]

Dave

[memtb]

magicbus wrote:

memtb wrote:

free radical wrote:
Fwiw
Ive been down to minus 20 with no problems,..

This is another testimony, that all campers/rv’s are not created equal. While you will use considerably more propane, especially if the rv is large (ours is a 39 foot 5th wheel), the are several (some of the best are no longer in production) that can handle -20 F quite well.

Uh... when a Canadian poster mentions -20, my guess is they would mean -20C, not -20 F. A small but important difference.

Dave

Dave, after I made my post, and then saw his location.....I wondered if he was talking about -20 C. Yep....a fairly significant difference!

With our first really good 4 season unit, we enjoyed several minus 30 F mornings with no issues, with our newer unit, I’m not certain how well it would handle the -30’s F.... -20’s, we’re good! memtb

[magicbus]

memtb wrote:

free radical wrote:
Fwiw
Ive been down to minus 20 with no problems,..

This is another testimony, that all campers/rv’s are not created equal. While you will use considerably more propane, especially if the rv is large (ours is a 39 foot 5th wheel), the are several (some of the best are no longer in production) that can handle -20 F quite well.

Uh... when a Canadian poster mentions -20, my guess is they would mean -20C, not -20 F. A small but important difference.

Dave

[wopachop]

clintbrooks1767 wrote:
Can anyone who's been camping in sub freezing temperatures provide me with any advice? I'm trying to avoid common rookie mistakes encountered while camping in very cold weather.

Thank you in advance.

Sounds like you are adding work to a vacation. Been going 20 years you must be familiar with the local hotels. Are they so gross you are considering the new trailer? You might come to like free unlimited hot water and deal with the jizz stained carpet.

We hit hotels all the time and i wont walk barefoot. Shower in flip flops. If you got the cash for a hotel just rock that and spare your new trailer from cold weather abuse.

Im still dealing with 3 leaks my trailer developed when i was out of town during a cold streak. Popped my toilet valve. Popped my shower valve. Popped a 3rd i cant remember. My shower still leaks from it.

[memtb]

free radical wrote:
Fwiw
Ive been down to minus 20 with no problems,,but then
I have Espar diesel and R10 insulation in all walls and double pane windows.

Still the heater run continously all night on low seting,,surprisingly didnt use much electric either as I only have one AGM deep cycle batt.

This is another testimony, that all campers/rv’s are not created equal. While you will use considerably more propane, especially if the rv is large (ours is a 39 foot 5th wheel), the are several (some of the best are no longer in production) that can handle -20 F quite well. The “nay sayers”, simply have no experience with the few, true 4 season units....therefore, there opinions are biased against cold weather camping! memtb

[free_radical]

Fwiw
Ive been down to minus 20 with no problems,,but then
I have Espar diesel and R10 insulation in all walls and double pane windows.

Still the heater run continously all night on low seting,,surprisingly didnt use much electric either as I only have one AGM deep cycle batt.

[jeromep]

way2roll wrote:
Those are pretty demanding temps even for a sticks and bricks house. I am not sure I would risk un-winterizing my plumbing at all if temps would be consistently below 0. Sure you have heated tanks but how much LP? Trying to run your heat in those temps for extended periods of time will burn through a lot of LP. Not sure what FW you have but even with ducted air to the plumbing and tanks, there is still a lot of risk in a length of plumbing or a pump or trap to freeze. If I am staying in below freezing temps, I will winterize, take bottled water and use CG facilities for showers. I wouldn't risk it, but that's me. Most production RV's aren't built to withstand sub zero temps for very long. At or below freezing maybe, but you are talking 20-30 degrees below freezing.

Gosh, I couldn't agree more. I work with a local RV dealer a lot and we trade work war stories. We have a pretty large population of full-timers in the area (mostly down on their luck, not snowbirds) and winters are especially tough on them and their equipment. While we don't get many, if any, subzero temperatures in the winter, our nights can be cold, teens, and our days can stay cold, 20s, and the wear and tear on furnaces and other RV systems in those temperatures is tremendous. They spend their winters thawing out these rigs and retrofitting furnaces that have died, replacing frozen pipes, trying to make systems work. As my buddy says, on a cold night an RV furnace might run all night long with no stop just to try to keep the RV at a livable temperature. No telling if any of that heat is making its way to the tanks or some of the underbelly or basement plumbing. Even if a basement or underbelly is sealed and ducted, is the excess heat coming off the furnace enough to get to all the nooks and crannies and really keep things warm. The more financially fit full-timers in our area are located in established RV parks, rent large propane tanks from a local supplier, and put insulation and skirts underneath their rigs, often at great expense. In our temps this works and few of them have huge issues, but for the less financially stable, this is not realistic. I have this feeling that taking your rig out in subzero weather and trying to run its systems, especially your water and plumbing systems, will not be good for you in the long run.

[memtb]

spoon059 wrote:
No campground is going to have water turned on in those temps. I would suggest bottles of water for drinking and using campground facilities for everything else. I've camped in the teens before, we just didn't use our water system.

You will burn through a lot of propane... a LOT of propane in those temps. I would suggest a good efficient electric heater and heated sheets/blanket for sleeping. It won't be super comfortable, but you should be able to get by for a couple day ski trip.

Enjoy!

soon059, I guess that depends upon the campground.....I can think of several. They were designed for use in sub-zero temperatures. A couple were built as RV campgrounds, and at least one a mobile home park converted to an RV park! We have many campgrounds in our region, where people live in their RV’s all winter.....some for pleasure and some working construction or in the oil patch! memtb

[spoon059]

No campground is going to have water turned on in those temps. I would suggest bottles of water for drinking and using campground facilities for everything else. I've camped in the teens before, we just didn't use our water system.

You will burn through a lot of propane... a LOT of propane in those temps. I would suggest a good efficient electric heater and heated sheets/blanket for sleeping. It won't be super comfortable, but you should be able to get by for a couple day ski trip.

Enjoy!

[clintbrooks1767]

I'm still here. Thank you for all the information. I've just been at work so I haven't been able to post as often as I'd like. I'm going to reach out to a couple of you if you don't mind. After reading all the posts we're definitely going to do the trip. We ain't scared! All this information will help immensely. Thank you!!

[Grit_dog]

8400' elevation, middle of winter = no RV resorts.

Kinda funny actually. I know people around here take their campers up to the "warm" ski areas we have and ski/camp. And there's always a few hippies staying in vans at most any ski hill, but taking your 5ver to Angel Fire in the middle of winter is like lunching yourself in the nuts and expecting it to not hurt.