Thanks for all the great comments!
jimh425 wrote:
[...]
I find the propane furnace fine, but I do a few things. 1)Turn down the thermostat at night. We usually have it at 60. 2)Put Reflectix in all of the compartments, under the bed, and in all windows and skylights. We remove the Reflectix from windows/skylights during the day. 3)Have a warm cover. We use down.
[...]
Thanks! If we decide to keep the propane furnace, which is becoming increasingly likely, this suggestions will be very useful.
Reality Check wrote:
Ear plugs...
[...]
To answer the question about forcing the heat into the basement, our AF (and others no doubt) use nothing more than a small fan that circulates a fraction of the room air.
The propane heater is extremely quiet and we leave it on all year.
[...]
Thanks! Ear plug looks like a cheap and easy option but it blocks all the sounds out there which is not always desirable in the wild nature. In addition, we have a 3 year old daughter and we need to keep our ears open and alert at nights.
Your comments about quiet propane heater is interesting. Is it a furnace? What brand? I think Suburban and Dometic/Atwood are two mostly used brands and there are several other brands that are not as much used. Maybe some of them are quieter than the others. If that happens to be the case, it's great to know which one is the quietest.
joerg68 wrote:
Don't Cirrus campers come with an Alde heater from the factory?
Grit dog wrote:
joerg68 wrote:
Don't Cirrus campers come with an Alde heater from the factory?
That was going to be my suggestion. Also fits the OPs size /use requirements as good as any, maybe better.
Thanks for your comments! Cirrus campers come with Alde which is good, but they come with many design flaws too. Looking at how their camper models evolved during the last few years, it appears to me that Cirrus is still experimenting with its designs and is still in the try and error stage of product development. Moreover, Cirrus models are currently limited to 620 (a very small camper without shower) and 820 (a relatively heavy camper which comes standard with a lot of features that I have to pay for and then omit.) I am waiting for Cirrus’ next model, hoping that it will be something worthy of consideration size-wise and quality-wise.
cewillis wrote:
Platinum cat is definitely my choice.
Have you personally tried, or saw somebody trying, Plat Cat in the extreme cold? I agree that Plat Cat is one of the best heating options for a camper. That being said, I am a bit skeptical about how efficient is the duct in venting CO. After all catalytic heaters do not one furnace or heating place from which one can vent out all the CO. Furthermore, venting out CO will inadvertently vent some heat too, hence my question about whether you tried it in the extreme cold.
Geewizard wrote:
You're going to experience temps WAY below 0 F where you want to go. And a whole lot of other issues will come up other than water. Even starting a generator could be an issue.
Where do you live now and what's your experience with winter camping of any type?
Definitely right! Those places can easily reach -60 F or lower at times but we will pan to avoid those temperatures or anything below -15 F. I have camped in subzero (F) temperatures in the mountains, but not with a family. I live in Appalachian area now, but lived and have family in ON, Canada.
time2roll wrote:
[...]Assuming you have power to plug in you can add heat pads to the water system to prevent freezing. www.ultraheat.com I added a water circulating pump to prevent freeze up.
I won't have power to plug in, but UltraHeat is something that I will consider. Thanks!
ndrorder wrote:
The water heater is easy. Just turn it off when sleeping and the burner will not be heard. If heating water via electricity, in time the element will make noise as it begins to corrode. Again, the solution is to turn it off at bedtime.
[...]electric options for a furnace [...] a 1500w portable electric oil radiator heaters and fans [...] I feel her pain.
Learning to sleep with low level music on all night [...].
A very helpful comment! Oil radiators sound like a good choice, though 1500W is though to provide without access to electricity. I bet my wife will find music much more appealing than earplug, so will I.
rtk2 wrote:
You will encounter temperature far below zero Fahrenheit. Right now, large portions of Canadian Prairies are below minus 40. Unless you have electric plugin power, you will not have enough propane or battery capacity. Solar power will also be almost zero with low sun angles, short days and snow cover. Even if you are able to keep the interior heated, your water system will freeze solid. Also, you will not find many places to refill your water tank or to dump the sewage. I live on the Prairies, it is extremely harsh during winter.
Having lived in Prairies and being in this forum, you must have a lot of knowledge about dealing with extreme cold weather in campers/RVs. I agree with what you said. We will plan to avoid any temperature below -15 F (although I understand that we should be prepared for that, because things will not always follow our plans). Technically it is possible to have a camper with working water system in extreme cold and there are a few trip reports of campers who used their water systems in weeks-long trips in such temperatures, but I agree and understand that it is very challenging, and things can easily go wrong.
ajriding wrote:
The little cheapo china diesel heaters [...]
a small inverter generator, a quiet one, located a few feet away and run an electric heater or two, the 2nd being for basement, and maybe an electric bed warmer.
The Buddy heaters do just put a lot of moisture into the air and at zero cracking windows is not as ideal as it is at 50.
Otherwise the propane furnace that does have a loud fan is a really good heater. [...] Eventually anyone will get used to normal sounds. [...]
Thanks for sharing several great points and suggestions. Diesel heaters are fantastic. I have a gas truck, and having a diesel heater means that I will need to carry a different type of fuel, but that's fine if I reach the conclusion that Diesel heater is the way to go.
As for the inverter generator, if I want to solely rely on it and the electric heaters, I will need three gallons per day to feed a Honda 2200 (which is the smallest generator that may be able to handle the needs). For 7 to 10 days I will need 20 to 30 gallons of gas, and I need to carry some more just in case. That will be a lot of gas to carry, but is possible for when I am close to a gas station which are not abundant in northern Canada.
You are so right about cracking windows not being a realistic option to do all the time in subzero (f) deg.
You are also so right about human being adapted to what happens around her, including the noise. I may give this a chance, and look at other (costly) solutions only if it fails.
Grit dog wrote:
[…]
Heck if buying brand new maybe you could get the propane furnace deleted?
I think some camper manufacturers will accept to do that. Even if they don’t, I can remove and sell the furnace. Thanks for your comment!
2oldman wrote:
Is this an ad for those heating systems?
That was not my intention.
kohldad wrote:
Look into the Cirrus or Bundatec camper with the alde heat. I would not want to try and rework those type systems into a camper that came with a standard furnace.
[…]
Great suggestions! Thanks! I explained a little bit about my stance on Cirrus campers. I had researched BunduTec campers am strongly considering the Roadrunner. I believe BunduTec does not use Alde, but Truma Combi which is great. There are a few things about BunduTec that I could not figure out. For example, what is the main material that they build the camper from? Is it wood like Northstar (given BunduTec connections to Northstar)? What is their business model? Do they only manufacture campers with pre-designed floor plans that they have in their websites? Or do they accept orders with customized floor plans and options? I know I can get the answers by contacting BunduTec, but did not do so yet. Maybe a reason that stopped me from contacting them was several negative stories or comments that I read from people who owned a BunduTec camper. Given that BunduTec is not a mainstream brand, it’s difficult to evaluate the quality of its make using limited reviews and experiences that are shared on the internet.
rexlion wrote:
Propex heaters are another quiet type.
I was not familiar with Propex heaters. It looks like a potentially good option. Thanks for sharing this!
free radical wrote:
I havent seen any TC rated for winter camping in Canada.
I sugest you build your own
See Everlanders chanel on YT
You are right. TCs are not readily rated for winter camping in Canada. That's why extensive modification, or building a new camper, is required. I hope to be able to build what I need by modifying an available model.
