Occasional Winter Camping??

[edgerelease]

I'm newer to truck camping so bear with me. I have a Palomino HS-8801, certainly not designed for winter camping but WHAT IF...I wanted to take it up to the ski resort for a night (or wherever). I'm assuming I'd keep it winterized and simply run the propane to stay warm for the night. Just bring my own fresh water...no toilet/plumbing/water use. Agree?

Also, probably a stupid question but you would only turn on the heater when you are with the unit, you wouldn't want to keep it on low during the day. I'm thinking it is not safe, or even if it was I'd suck the tank dry on a super cold day.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[pianotuna]

Let me be more descriptive.

-25 day time high during a four day blizzard in the city of Calgary

Four burner stove with each burner turned down as far as possible.

nothing flammable within 2 feet of the stove

A Kipor 2800 generator was used for 5 hours (3 in the evening and 2 in the morning) and furnace run during that time.

A heating pad run by a MSW 200 watt inverter with copious blankets.

I was at a convention during the day from 8 am until 8 pm. The stove burners were not run when I was inside the RV. The furnace was set as low as possible when I was not "home".

I will not sleep with a generator running.

[opnspaces]

But leaving the stove burner is a great idea for helping the other skiers stay warm standing around your bonfire.

Sorry Pianotuna, I couldn't resist. 🙂

[mkirsch]

I would leave the furnace set to run 1000 times before I would ever consider leaving a stove burner lit unattended.

[Grit_dog]

I mean it’s possible. Run the furnace keep the camper toasty. As long as you have gas and electricity to keep it going.
It’s just not really needed or useful since a TC heats up in like 2 min

[Grit_dog]

pianotuna wrote:
If safe you might use the stove as a blue flame heater when you are not there. It would need to be done with no risks of spreading fire to the unit.

Of course, adequate propane would be needed, too.

Can you borrow a generator?

Editing my response to read….That is a horrible recommendation.

[LMHS]

If you can, plug in and get a couple electric space heaters. It's cheaper than running your LP. If you are going to be doing this fairly often on electric hookups, you may want to get some heat tape for plumbing and tape your water lines (straight line only, no "spiraling", use skinny strips of Gorilla to keep the tape against the plastic pipe and touching any metal fittings). It only turns on if the temps drop below a certain point. I heat taped my daughter's truck camper last winter. Left it plugged it all the time.

[pianotuna]

If safe you might use the stove as a blue flame heater when you are not there. It would need to be done with no risks of spreading fire to the unit.

Of course, adequate propane would be needed, too.

Can you borrow a generator?

[jimh406]

I suggest warming up, and then turn the temps down to 50 or so. In the AM, turn the heat back up to warm up. We lined our cabinets, windows, skylights/vents, and under our bed with Reflectix.

You can flush with RV antifreeze if needed.

I don’t think there is any reason to keep the heat running while you are out skiing. However, there are some ski areas that actually have RV hookups. In that case, buy a small electric heater.

[toedtoes]

A lot will depend on the actual temps when you go. I would not leave the furnace running when you are not there - you will run down your battery quickly due the the fan.

Lots of blankets for covers and picking your visits to nice winter weather and you should be fine.

[pianotuna]

There may be a fridge issue. Use it as an ice box instead of turning it on.

[Lwiddis]

Very doable with precautions such as antifreeze in the water lines. Condensation is the “main” enemy but with short stays and drying out at home, you’re ok.

[Joe417]

The tanks on a 8801 are inside so depending on how cold outside and how warm you keep the inside shouldn't be a problem. The windows and vent may drip condensation on you but for a night you could handle it. Make sure you have full propane to keep the heater going.

It shouldn't be a problem keeping the heater going. If it isn't safe I certainly wouldn't go to sleep with on. Not sure about what yours burns but you should have plenty of propane for a day or two and I would guess more.

If you don't want the hassle of worrying about freeze issues, go with it winterized. You will need to keep some heat inside to keep items in the cabinets from freezing.