winter camping advice

[lpranger467]

Hello, We need to use a camper in northern Michigan over this winter while we build our home. We are trying to buy an "artic" version and likely wont use the water lines (I'll have jugs of water for flushing the toilet).

Will the onboard furnace be enough to warm the eunit in most cases in winter ? I'm very hesitant to leave my wife/cats alone in the trailer out of fear of a fire. I was wondering if electric baseboard heaters would work as well.

Any advice, experieces would be welcome

[bikendan]

lpranger467 wrote:
Hello, We need to use a camper in northern Michigan over this winter while we build our home. We are trying to buy an "artic" version and likely wont use the water lines (I'll have jugs of water for flushing the toilet).

Will the onboard furnace be enough to warm the eunit in most cases in winter ? I'm very hesitant to leave my wife/cats alone in the trailer out of fear of a fire. I was wondering if electric baseboard heaters would work as well.

Any advice, experieces would be welcome

Just realize that there are only a few manufacturers that make a true 4-season RV, such as Arctic Fox and Outdoors RV.
Having an "Arctic" package doesn't make it 4-season, only just 3-season at best. These packages are marketing gimmicks that usually only provide heat to the holding tanks. They rarely include increased insulation.
Unfortunately you are behind the 8-ball starting this so late.

[Grit_dog]

That's quite the conundrum for sure.
I'm from the upper midwest and spent a winter in NW WI, building a house, coincidentally. But I had it dried in by Halloween so that helped. We were living in my parents "summer cabin" (mobile home) during the summer and fall and ditched that for a rental house around Halloween.
If it's a mild winter, it will be a significant improvement over an average or cold winter up 'der near da UP, but will be a challenge.
Question is how much "power" do you have? You're not going to get much else powered with 1 - 30A campsite circuit and several space heaters running.

Here's something I would 100% consider (off the top of my head at least).
Since you're still camper shopping, get a toyhauler with an open garage, low ceiling model. Most "living space" per length of camper you can get. No slide outs preferably, or leave them closed.
Then install a pellet stove in the back end of it. Direct vent is easy, to fab up a cover that the vent can go through an existing opening, like an existing wall or ceiling vent. Worst case, you could cut in a vent into the wall and then repair it in the future with any number of vents or little access doors.
Easy to stand up some stone veneer or Durarock for a floor/surround. Buy 2 pallets of pellets. 1 to use, 1 for weight in the back of your truck until you run out of pellets at 8pm on a Sunday night, lol, and let it cook the place.
As a bonus, you have backup heat with the camper furnace then, and you can re-purpose the pellet stove into your new home.
And make sure you have a genny for backup if the power goes out.

You could mount a fan from the ceiling in the hallway in place of a ceiling light, to circulate air to the front bed/bath.
Skirt it well and make sure it's parked out of the wind.

[lpranger467]

Thanks for all the replies. We have a seasonal site that we have reserved. It has sewer and electric. My plans would be to use bottled water only and to flush the toilet using a antifreeze/water mix and not turn on the water at all.

I'd like to get a 100 lbs propane tank, but if I have to switch 20 lbs bottles every 2 days or so it wouldnt be the end of the world for me.

I would like the option of using space heaters set on low maybe (750 watts) to supplement the heat so the furnace doesnt run as often.

We really have no choice but to be local due to our jobs, we have tried many different angles to rent a house/mobile home with absolutely no luck as all.

I'm frustrated to say the least but our cats are like our kids and we have to keep them with us for this move.

[Skibane]

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Oil fill electric heaters (probably need at least 2) will be the most comfortable, but where are you going to get the electricity from.

Where is the gray and black water going to go ? It will likely freeze in the outlet hose.

Space heaters that plug into a wall outlet are limited to 1800 watts - that's all the power a 15 amp wall outlet is capable of supplying.

1800 watts is only 6100 btus of heat.

In order to equal the amount of heat produced by just one 25,000 btu propane RV furnace, you would need to run 4 electric space heaters.

You would need 7200 watts of electrical power, just to run your 4 space heaters.

Aside from problems keeping your sewer system from freezing, you would also have to store your water jugs indoors to keep them from freezing.

You're going to need a lot of jugs, unless you plan on refilling them every day.

[way2roll]

Another thing to consider - it's already mid December. You probably should have done research and purchased an RV at this point that meet your criteria. Set up camp, tested things, made mods, etc. Buying/finding one now - especially the right one - may take some time, let alone shaking it down. Lots of RV have issues in their first few months of ownership - not the least of which can be furnace, LP, electrical and plumbing. In the right conditions if any of these fail you could be looking at a life threatening scenario, forcing you to find shelter - and per your earlier comment about cats, could prove problematic. Nevermind getting someone to fix the issue in a timely manner. I think your Plan A is risky and without a solid Plan B even more so.

[theoldwizard1]

Oil filled electric heaters (probably need at least 2) will be the most comfortable, but where are you going to get the electricity from.

Where is the gray and black water going to go ? It will likely freeze in the outlet hose.

[way2roll]

lpranger467 wrote:
Sorry I guess the one thing I left out is because of the number of cats we cant find a rental anywhere that will even consider us

How many cats do you have? Have you looked at renting a house? Not sure about your area, but when we built here we had 3 cats and found quite a few houses to rent with a pet deposit.

Without some significant items to address, like a large on site LP tank and a way to keep tanks from freezing I think you'll find that an RV isn't a good solution - if not a life threatening one in bad conditions.

Is there an option to move South for the winter while your house is being built?

[Grit_dog]

lpranger467 wrote:
Sorry I guess the one thing I left out is because of the number of cats we cant find a rental anywhere that will even consider us

Didn't see this before I replied. Good luck in your venture.

[Grit_dog]

You're building a home in the winter in N MI. If you're outside framing all day, last thing you'll want to do is fart around with a frozen camper buried in the snow, after work.
But regardless, you haven't bought a camper yet, housing is cheap in N MI. Too cheap to bother with the expense of buying and prepping and heating a camper through a northern winter.

But if you do go forward with a camper, presume you'll have full power hookup, as inefficient as electric heaters are, they will be more efficient than running the camper furnace.

Not sure where your "fear of fire" comes from, but I'd expect, as a builder, you'd know enough about simple appliances to mitigate whatever risk is in your head.

[lpranger467]

Sorry I guess the one thing I left out is because of the number of cats we cant find a rental anywhere that will even consider us

[wanderingaimles]

Agree with the others on rental option being preferable, will mention one other item nobody addressed. Cats like to rub against things, leaving portable space heaters out, especially if the cats are long haired can pose additional fire hazards. Oil filled portable space heaters are slow to warm an area, but do provide as much heat as conventional heaters and are safer around children and pets.

[Lwiddis]

X2, IDman. Rent an apartment.

[rk911]

MFL wrote:
Living is most RVs, in Winter, in northern Michigan, is probably not the best plan. While you may keep warm, with a specialized edition RV, sweat/moisture will be a problem too. I'd consider an apartment, to be a better choice.

Jerry

THIS! ^^^^^^^^

[tomman58]

We have had to stay in sub zero because one of our slides would not come in so we were trapped until a repair crew came in days later. Bottom line.... we never were warm always the furnace would run constantly. Not a good plan for a few days much less months........ get a motel room on a deal in your touristy area in the winter you can get a deal.

[IDman]

There is a reason that RV parks and CGs close in the winter. The same reason is why RV owners winterize their rigs.

Be realistic and rent an apartment.