Camping at 27 degrees.

[shannon62]

We are new fulltimers,with 2007 bounder class a 38v. We are trying to stick around sw p.a. till thanksgiving, they are calling for low around 27 degrees. We have ducted heat,2 furnaces,with supposed basement heat so say's owners manual. I am going to disconnect from shore water and just use fresh tank,keep heat on 70,leave luggage lights on (1156) in wet storage,leave gray water open as always & empty black then shut and add antifreeze.Should that be good enough ?Thanks Shannon.

[Bobbo]

A propane furnace does not put moisture into the trailer. The oven and stove do, but not the refrigerator or furnace. Moisture is one of the products of the combustion of propane with oxygen. This combustion occurs outside of the trailer, otherwise there would be a very high risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, another product of combustion. There is a heat exchanger that takes the heat from the combustion, without letting any of the combustion components, including water, in. The heat from the heat exchanger then warms the trailer.

The moisture inside the trailer that you see comes primarily from your breath, which is FULL of moisture. If you cook inside the trailer, some moisture comes from that, but it is primarily your breath. Oh, and if you take a hot shower, but that one should be obvious.

[spoon059]

LOW of 27? I wouldn't worry about anything freezing overnight. If you are hooked up to power, I prefer to use electric heaters rather than burning propane. Propane is loud, expensive and puts out moisture.

Daytime temps should keep things from freezing.

[MFL]

While I've camped in temps down to the upper teens, I think I'd be fine down to temps near 0.

Like many, my FW was advertised as 4-season. I was impressed, with the thought that went into the design. First thing, everything is very well insulated, noticeably quiet inside, in a busy RV park.

The heat ducts, from the furnace, are next to the waterlines through the various cupboards, and exit above the floor. Other heat ducts run under the floor, still next to water lines, with one duct right next to water pump.

The entire basement, with all tanks enclosed, is heated and well insulated. Even the baggage doors are insulated. All flooring has Refectix insulation on the underside, even in the baggage area under the bed.

After tenting a number of years, this is my 4th RV. It is a Yellowstone brand, which at time I purchased new, was the high end division of Gulf Stream, and built in it's own separate factory. No complaints, most things about this unit were better than expected, when comparing to previous RVs I owned. 🙂

Jerry

[JRscooby]

I often spent the night in sleeper when well below 20* Heated mattress pad and blankets, I sleep fine. (when outside temp gets below 0 F would worry about the Cat cranking back up) But when it's below freezing in the sleeper it's a looong way from the covers to the starter button.
I had a small, (300 W?) inverter. I would plug a heat lamp into that, inverter into a switched 12 V lighter plug, then clamp the lamp where it would shine on me while I was getting dressed.

[handsome51]

I have a 35'11"long 2006 Carriage. I have camped in 15 degree weather at night. I use the furnace to warm the 5th wheel up quick when we get there. Then I have 3 electric heaters to keep the 5th wheel warm. I keep the cabinet doors under the kitchen sink and bathroom sink open so the heat can get in. In the front storage where the water tank and lines are. I mounted a 110 volt single bulb white fixture with a pull on and off chain. I have a good supply of the old type 60watt bulbs that put out heat. I turn on that single 60 watt bulb and it keeps the compartment above freezing. The first night I unhooked the water hose and rolled it up. But on the second night I said why not do it like at home. I didn't need to run the hot water because of being inclosed in the RV. I just ran the cold water in the kitchen sink at night. And did not have a problem at 15 degrees with the water hose freezing. This way with the electric heaters I am not burning up all the propane like the rest of the RVs were at the campground.

[Bobbo]

For me, furnace at 55 at night and lots of covers. In the morning, jump up, turn up the furnace, and get back in bed till the trailer is warm.

[JimK-NY]

I have found a procedure that works for me and keeps propane use to a minimum. At night I crank up the furnace to about 65-70 degrees. Most evenings I also take a hot shower. Then at bed time I turn the furnace off for the night. I warm the bed with one or two large hot water bottles. I have found really warm blankets. Pendelton sherpa fleece blankets are really warm and very light weight. Two blankets will handle about any temperature. (I believe these are still available from Costco at about $35 each. By morning the camper temp might be in the 40s. I crank up the heat, sit next to a vent and after breakfast I turn the heat off for the day. This procedure works well for daytime temps roughly in the 30s and night time temps roughly in the 20s. Colder than that and it is time to leave for warmer climes.

[blt2ski]

Jerry

Wolk up one morning in TT at 5AM, temps in 20's. NO LP! 4 kids under age 12 to deal with! That was somewhat easy. ANother was with 3 of 4, in Idaho, woke up under freezing with kids 3, 6 and 6,,,,,, in a tent!
I did my share of back packing, tent camping, climbing rocks and glaciers around here, I can say sub freezing in an RV is pretty simple.
THen again, 50+ mph winds, 20 temp, at TImberline, snow was getting into the TT at every hole it had. Went from lodge down a 6 mile 10% grade, chains on truck and trailer, road was compact snow, mostly ice.....no issues stopping, unlike everyone else with out chains. Stayed in Government camp the next two nights. got down the hill, only to realize a front drive shaft in my chebby had lost the bolts holding it in place. TOok off three from otherside, put them in drove home.....got pushed a lane to west with an 80+ gust going over columbia river on I205! Life goes on.....
I guess I'll get back to getting a new laptop running...old one was ten years old, not going really fast, stalling etc.

Marty

[pianotuna]

My personal best is -37 C (-34 f). Photo Mike and Moving Sue have boondocked at -40.

[MFL]

Marty...you and scoober are a couple tough old boys! 🙂

I camped at 7.000 ft in the national forest, next to a rest stop, in a tent once! I had a folding cot, and light duty sleeping bag. My camping buddy slept on tent floor, with a single blanket.

We were not prepared for temps in 20s. Lol, he did fine, slept great! Me...froze my a$$ off, didn't sleep well. Crawled out before daybreak, to relieve, and noticed a MH parked in rest area. Door opened, lady hollers, "would you like to come in for a hot coffee"? OMG a miracle has just happened.

When I left those nice folks, went back to tent, buddy still sound asleep, unaware of cold, and hard ground.

Jerry

[Rick_Jay]

BarabooBob wrote:
At night we turn our furnace down to the lowest setting. That is 52 degrees with an old school honeywell thermostat (non-digital). If you are camping with electric hookups, turn on a couple of electric heaters. Our 17' camper only needed one heater and it stayed nice and warm. Our furnace never turned on.

In my experience, THIS is where one has to be careful with electric heaters being used on the inside and wanting to use the propane furnace to keep the water from freezing.

Obviously, the thermostat for the furnace is inside the RV. If you keep the RV warm with the electric heaters, it most likely won't get cold enough inside to cause the propane heater to light. Not a problem if you're not counting on the furnace to help keep the water bays warm. But if you are, that heat won't be happening, and the water lines might freeze because of that.

There are a couple of solutions.

One is to fire up the furnace every once in a while by cranking its thermostat up to 75 or 80, or whatever it takes to get the furnace to kick in. That will get some heat down into the bays.

The second plan is my usual if I have electrical hookups. What I usually do is put a small 150W electric heater in the water pump bay and that's usually good for our rig down to the high teens, again, assuming it's over 32 during the day for several hours. If it is below freezing all day, then the heaters will get a workout. It also helps if the rig is in the sun and not in shade. IF the temps are forecast to drop mid-teens and below, I up the heater in the water pump bay to a 600W heater and put another 600W heater in the back bay next to our water tank to keep the water in the tank and the lines running to the front of the RV from freezing. This setup will keep things working down to about evening lows about 0. Yes...it uses a lot of electricity, but it does keep the rig usable. Plus, we always keep a couple of 2 liter bottles of water inside in case a water line does freeze, so we can flush the toilet and do some washing.

I guess the bottom line is that every rig IS different, so you have to figure out what one needs to do to keep their rigs functional in those cold temps.

I'm hoping that in the NEAR future, my THIRD solution will be to head south in November and not return until up north April! LOL Ahhhh....retirement! 🙂

~Rick

[blt2ski]

RVs are easy in sub freezing temps. Woke up in a tent, 5f, 11000' elevation, nearest road is 5 miles at 6000' elevation. Across 4 Mike's of glacier that is 1000-2000 feet thick!
It did get above freezing a few hrs later at the summit of Mt Rainier....

A little planing, proper clothing, bedding etc, one will survive, just fine!

Marty

[JRscooby]

MFL wrote:


JIMNLIN said: "What works for your rv may not work on others all depending how well its insulated...water lines protected/etc and the biggy around here is the wind when temps hit 32 degrees."

^^This is very true!!

The OP will do just fine, in the conditions he describes!

Yes the OP will be fine. Likely in conditions he describes, if he keeps inside warm enough to be comfortable no other action would be needed.

In the case of the poor fellow trying to make do, with a pop up, temps in the teens, daytime 30s, it is foolish to continue trying to use water supply. A tent, or canvas sided tent on wheels is not suited to well below freezing temp camping.

Jerry

First, if I was the type to be offended by what others think I would go into a rant behind the "poor fellow" snot. DW and I have spent many wonderful times in the camper when it is cold. When we where both working, she would take vacation the last 2 weeks and first week of year. That time, parking truck for 3 weeks cost us the least. If did not enjoy, would not do. We don't plan to go out in that cold, but we prepare for what might happen, weather rarely changes plans.
We only use the inside sink for washing and teeth before bed. All cooking and dishes are done outside. Most water we take out of tank, I put container under drain to fill.
I understand very few of you that take a house to campground would enjoy what we do. Strokes/Folks deal. But somebody might, when faced with unexpected cold think about reflecting heat back up on the water system. The bottom of your 5th wheel all enclosed? Just some tape to hold the emergency blanket tight might reduce heat going to ground.

Bell, I keep some in my sticks and bricks. Straight pins, pushed into door trim from top, where holes will never be seen will hold them up. And they work good to keep heat in the occupied rooms in case of power outage. I don't live in Texas where they seam to like that kind of thing, but it can happen here.

[d1h]

[ppine]

Skills worth learning.
In the western mountains in can be 27 F at night in August.