Camper and Skiing

bb_94401 wrote:
Turned into a long post ...

One of the things we like best about our camper is the dry bath, located near the entrance. All the wet clothes get hung up on spring loaded curtain rods, while suction cup hooks hold goggles, helmets, neck gaiters, gloves and hats in the shower. A plastic box with dry-dec tiles in the bottom holds the ski boots and let the snow and parking lot dirt/sand come off without messing up the bottom of the shower. Open the bathroom vent, shut the bathroom door and crankup the propane heater to dry everything and have all the moisture exit the TC. Place the boots in front of the heater outlet in the morning. Nothing like warm ski boots for ease of getting into and first runs on cold days.

The tray in the basement holds the active skis and poles, while additional skis are held against the wall in the shower using spring loaded curtain rods with pipe insulation around them.

We run with full utilities all winter with the 22,000 BTU furnance set at 70 F all the time, heat is ducted to the basement which stays at >45 F when it is -10 F outside. Road trips are 2-3 weeks. The rest of the time the TC sits in a heated garage.

Whatever TC you settle on, get one with a winter package (double pane windowns / skylights / vent covers, more wall insulation, insulated heated basement). Even then you will need to add insulation and plug up the holes in the TC like the Range vent, the AC and uninsulated cord and propane compartments. Then at night temporarily add insulation to the windows, skylights, ceiling vents and door. That way the furnace runs less, you conserve propane and you can get by with smaller battery banks. If I were looking I'd add a non slide 10-8 Citation to the TC suggestions above.

An issue with below zero winter camping is that even with a high output furnace the vaporization rate of propane depends on the outside temperature, the wetted surface area of the propane in the tank and the humidy of the air around the tank. Just going from a full tank to 1/2 full reduces the vaporiztion rate by 2x (3x at 1/4 full) even at 60 F, but it still is enough to supply the rated BTU output of the heater. However, drop the temperature to 0 F with a 1/4 full tank and the vaporization rate can only supply 1/3 of the BTUs. At -10 F it supplies <1/4 of the BTUs. At -20 F it supplies <1/10 of the furnace BTU rating. The equivalent of turning down the gas range from High to Simmer. The net result is that the furnace needs to run longer, meaning you need a larger battery bank to keep it running. I have 440 Ahr of AGM 6 VDC batteries in two banks inside the warm space of the camper. Higher recharge rates vs. flooded batteries. Less likely to suffer freeze damage if batteries are at a low state of charge.

Depending on how insulated your camper is and how cold it is going to get below 0 F, then your propane heater will not be able to keep up with the heat loss and things will start freezing in your camper. So you need backups whether electrical heat (with a big enough generator(s) output to power them) or a diesel forced air furnace (Webasto or Eperspraecher NA aka Espar). It is forcasted to be -26 F overnight this Saturday, at Castle Mountain Ski Resort outside of Pincher Creek, AB.

Having enough generating capacity also allows you to power space heaters, electric blankets to pre-warm the bed (closed cell latex foam mattress - warmer, no condensation or mold under it), block heaters, oil pan heaters and truck battery blankets, in addtion to recharging the battery bank with an 80A converter. Generators are stored under the table inside to make them easier to start outside, when it is really cold (<-10F). Synthetic oil helps as well.

Awesome...just the type of experience/advice I was looking for. Greatly appreciate you taking the time to write it out.

Good luck at Castle Mountain in -26F (if you are staying). We were at Fernie a couple weeks ago an hit -25C, that wasn't pleasant without a proper set-up. We just got up and left after crawling out of the sleeping bags (and hit some hot springs on the way home)