Trip to freezing area for a month - concerns

Meant to say 100 gallons for 169.00, was 1.69 per gallon.
Brain disconnect, happens with age.

I don't think you meant to say that you bought the propane for $169.00 per gallon. Or, at least I hope not.

I did three winters in Ohio and northern Kentucky.
The first was in a travel trailer, no skirting. I did not use a heated hose, just filled the onboard tank as needed and drained and put away the water hose.
I did not have an extra propane tank, so every 5-6 days a trip to the Flying-J to fill a 7 gallon bottle, as soon as one emptied I filled it so that I always had propane, also kept another 4 gallon bottle as a reserve. I did use one ceramic cube heater to supplement the propane. No skirting, nothing froze but the floor was cold, did not have heated basement, just good insulation under the floor. No problems with frozen plumbing. Did have some nights down to -07 F.

Winter 2 was in the Jayco, a few things different. I knew that I was not moving so I skirted using 2x2 lumber for a frame between the bottom of the trailer and the ground and bought some bi-fold styrofoam backer board that is used behind vinyl siding and cut to size and skirted, taping the seams, also got a heat tape and pipe insulation and made a heated water hose and got a 100 gallon gas bottle filled prior to winter so that the propane was able to be bought for 169.00 per gallon. Floor was warm, did not have to worry with the water hose. I did use two ceramic heaters, one plugged in inside, the other I ran a heavy extension cord in through the opening with the shore power. I made it from the end of November until mid-February on the 100 gallons.

Winter 3 was the last, knew I would be moving before the end so no skirting. Did use the 100 gallon tank again. I bought one of the oil filled electric radiator heaters that I put on the heavy extension cord that I added the previous winter, this stayed on high all winter, also used two ceramic heaters, one on high and one on medium on the 30 amp side, these were on when I was in and off when I was gone. I made it through the winter without using up the 100 gallon bottle that time, at the end of winter it still had 50 gallons in it.

One thing to remember, if heating with electric, on super cold nights, back off on the electric and allow the furnace to run, on my Jayco the furnace heated the basement and while quite toasty I caught it in time that the plumbing was starting to freeze so I backed off on the electric when the temps went under 15 degrees to that the propane furnace would kick in and warm the water lines. On the travel trailer all of the lines ran along the street side wall behind furniture and cabinets, so just keeping the inside warm and the cabinet doors opened protected them, not sure how the water lines run in your unit, but something for you to check on. Also keep the water heater turned on when super cold, they will freeze and split the tank.
I did pitch the drain hose a good slope and never had to worry about a poopsicle, I kept the gray tank open and planned the black dump for the sunny part of the day.

I made it through just fine with lots of planning. Glad to be back south and hope to not have to do it again.

Replacing the return grill on the furnace with a window fan sounds like a good idea. Keeps the air circulated where it should.

Thanks Don

Hi,

I've boondocked in Calgary where the high was -27 and it was blizzard conditions for five days. I did use a generator as there was no sun--and no shore power.

I "broke out" the converter from the main wiring board and added two heavy duty outlets. I used the same idea for the water heater. So I have the OEM power cord and two auxiliary cords. I use male and female plugs so I can switch back to OEM wiring in seconds.

That allows me to run up to three 15 amp circuits.

The outlets in RV's are junk. Replace the ones where you intend to plug in heaters.

3000 watts will keep an rv warm down to about -11 C. 4500 watts will get you down to -27c. Below that the propane furnace needs to be added to the mix.

You are going to need to protect the fridge. I use a tc-3 thermocube and a 40 watt light bulb.

I replaced the return air grill on the furnace with a window fan. This allows me to heat 100% electrically while keeping the fresh water plumbing from freezing up.

I have a fifty amp adapter that breaks out to one 30 amp and two 20 amp outlets. That lets me use up to 8400 watts, if I am at a campground that has 50 amp service.

There are NOT a lot of campgrounds in Calgary and area. Dumping may be an issue.

There are host of other good ideas in the thread I linked to for you.

Winter Camping in full time

I'm currently plugged in at a local Church. I give them a discount on their piano tuning of $10 per night that I stay. I have access tonight to two 15 amp circuits, so I'll be warm as toast.

It is good to monitor the voltage, especially if you do not have access to the shore power breakers. Reduce the load if you see below 105 volts.

If you can afford it,get an electric blanket. Good luck.

For the drive there, I would drain everything and add lots of RV antifreeze. You can still use the tanks, the anti freeze should keep it all liquid.

Once there, you gotta set up, skirt your trailer (scrap plywood is good) and put an electric heater underneath. Use a bottle of expanding foam to fill all the seams/holes. If you can bank up the snow around the skirt that should help.

And those new MS/2's are supposed to be real good in the snow, even though they're not winter tires.

Good luck

loulou57 wrote:
Curious....How far north in Alberta are you heading or basically in Calgary?

Where are you planning on parking your trailer?


I don't envy your drive this time of year. Good luck! Hopefully you will be able to leave before the really bad weather sets in.

I will be in the Calgary area but not restricted to one location. First stop is Airdrie for a few days, then various other locations.

Ideally, I would like to find a CG close to each site, but at this time of year I doubt there are any open. I haven't looked yet.

So I am hoping to park the trailer close to each jobsite. Worst case scenario I have to find a place to park it and leave it there while I work the area, and commute back and forth.

At the present time I don't have a place to put it.

I will likely be there until some time in December. Going to be cool, I work outside and all the products I work with are made of aluminum. A tad cool on the fingers!

Curious....How far north in Alberta are you heading or basically in Calgary?

Where are you planning on parking your trailer?


I don't envy your drive this time of year. Good luck! Hopefully you will be able to leave before the really bad weather sets in.