bobndot wrote:
What does 4 season mean ? heated tanks, extra insulation ?
4 season in Seattle, Washington is not the same as 4 season in Caribou, Maine.
I used mine in extreme conditions. I used 3 RV's for snowmobiling to -30F for 3-4 weeks at a given time.
Had to drain the water system below low single digits. Then used the rv as a dry camp at a CG with heated bath house. This is what i found through my winter RV experience (2004-2015) you can weed thru it to pick n choose what might apply to you.
BTW, my non slide Lance blew away the slide model AF as far as interior warmth as well as propane use. AF used twice as much if not more, propane.
think about a second heat source. If the furnace takes a nose dive, you will not have too much time to act to winterize it.
I carried a spare digital control board as well as a spare regulator.
I also carried MR. Heater in the single 1 lb cylinder form, up to 9k btu's. For emergency use, crack a vent or window.
If you have a plastic cover on your gas tanks or a non insulated compartment. Protect and insulate your changeover gas valve (regulator) WRAP IT in insulation. The diaphragm inside can crack if it freezes, making it useless, stopping your gas flow. You can sometimes thaw them by using a hair dryer on the warm setting to defrost it prior to cracking, if you catch it in time . The hair dryer works to thaw the dump vales as well.
Some people used DOW boards as skirting under the TT's and 5th wheels. Also, keep your batteries as warm as possible. Boondockers use AGM's inside the RV where its warm .
Non slide RV's worked best. As i said, they were much warmer, used a ton less propane (30# tank lasted 2- sometimes 3 days to keep interior 60-65F slide model ...non slide model same size rv, used 30# in a week, sometimes more with the extra elec heater)) and i never had to climb on an ice covered roof to clear off a slide in order to pull it in. (strong gust of wind nearly blew me off the ice covered roof.... once)
Think twice if you think those roll up awning covers are going be work. The snow gets blown under them, then it begins to melt because there is limited roof insulation in slideouts. What you end up is a thick sheet of ice on the slideout roof which you have to remove in order to retract it. A tad difficult to accomplish if you have an awning topper. Everyone made plywood insulated covers for them.
If you plan to use your unit in very cold (below single digits F ) temps then plan to make some mods to protect yourself.
The furnace will be working almost non-stop and it still might not be enough. Depends on how cold it is and the wind direction. Most everyone installed a second thru the wall vented heater.
IT WILL HELP if you pull in a slide at night so you are heating less volume and NOT allowing cold air to penetrate around the seals, which it did on every RV in the CG. You notice it when the temps drop below zero and the wind blows on those seals.
Test it out at home without any rv water in the system, blow out the system. Then test the rv by using bottles of water and place them in areas prone to freezing.
Such as , basements , next to water lines that touch outside walls (put pipe insulation around them as well) under cabinets, other places where you think the heater doesn't reach. See if any of those bottles freeze then take measure to move warm air to those areas. Sometimes a small computer fan will work.
You might have to add insulation on baggage doors and use foam 24"x24" tiles on the floors as insulators and interior vent covers for the 14x14 roof vents.
As westend says, the windows are important, some people cover them with bubble wrap as well.
On top of my storm windows , I made my own addition thermal insulators out of heat shrink and 2 layers of DOW board with a cut out in the center to see the outside world.
Another very cold spot is the entrance door. I covered it using a heavy duty drape on a rod .
I also had to use an elec ceramic heater in the bathroom as a second heater.
Maybe they still make a vented cat ?
vented cat heater
If you find dampness under the mattress, there is a marine product that can be placed under the mattress that allows air flow to circulate.
Hypervent
Wow, a very nice post. Good job and thanks for sharing.
dewey02 wrote:coolmom42 wrote:
Olivers are very well insulated, with heated tanks. You can only buy them from Oliver, located in Hohenwald TN. You are about 200 miles away.
Where's the insulation? ๐
Under the metal seat, of course. ๐
What does 4 season mean ? heated tanks, extra insulation ?
4 season in Seattle, Washington is not the same as 4 season in Caribou, Maine.
I used mine in extreme conditions. I used 3 RV's for snowmobiling to -30F for 3-4 weeks at a given time.
Had to drain the water system below low single digits. Then used the rv as a dry camp at a CG with heated bath house. This is what i found through my winter RV experience (2004-2015) you can weed thru it to pick n choose what might apply to you.
BTW, my non slide Lance blew away the slide model AF as far as interior warmth as well as propane use. AF used twice as much if not more, propane.
think about a second heat source. If the furnace takes a nose dive, you will not have too much time to act to winterize it.
I carried a spare digital control board as well as a spare regulator.
I also carried MR. Heater in the single 1 lb cylinder form, up to 9k btu's. For emergency use, crack a vent or window.
If you have a plastic cover on your gas tanks or a non insulated compartment. Protect and insulate your changeover gas valve (regulator) WRAP IT in insulation. The diaphragm inside can crack if it freezes, making it useless, stopping your gas flow. You can sometimes thaw them by using a hair dryer on the warm setting to defrost it prior to cracking, if you catch it in time . The hair dryer works to thaw the dump vales as well.
Some people used DOW boards as skirting under the TT's and 5th wheels. Also, keep your batteries as warm as possible. Boondockers use AGM's inside the RV where its warm .
Non slide RV's worked best. As i said, they were much warmer, used a ton less propane (30# tank lasted 2- sometimes 3 days to keep interior 60-65F slide model ...non slide model same size rv, used 30# in a week, sometimes more with the extra elec heater)) and i never had to climb on an ice covered roof to clear off a slide in order to pull it in. (strong gust of wind nearly blew me off the ice covered roof.... once)
Think twice if you think those roll up awning covers are going be work. The snow gets blown under them, then it begins to melt because there is limited roof insulation in slideouts. What you end up is a thick sheet of ice on the slideout roof which you have to remove in order to retract it. A tad difficult to accomplish if you have an awning topper. Everyone made plywood insulated covers for them.
If you plan to use your unit in very cold (below single digits F ) temps then plan to make some mods to protect yourself.
The furnace will be working almost non-stop and it still might not be enough. Depends on how cold it is and the wind direction. Most everyone installed a second thru the wall vented heater.
IT WILL HELP if you pull in a slide at night so you are heating less volume and NOT allowing cold air to penetrate around the seals, which it did on every RV in the CG. You notice it when the temps drop below zero and the wind blows on those seals.
Test it out at home without any rv water in the system, blow out the system. Then test the rv by using bottles of water and place them in areas prone to freezing.
Such as , basements , next to water lines that touch outside walls (put pipe insulation around them as well) under cabinets, other places where you think the heater doesn't reach. See if any of those bottles freeze then take measure to move warm air to those areas. Sometimes a small computer fan will work.
You might have to add insulation on baggage doors and use foam 24"x24" tiles on the floors as insulators and interior vent covers for the 14x14 roof vents.
As westend says, the windows are important, some people cover them with bubble wrap as well.
On top of my storm windows , I made my own addition thermal insulators out of heat shrink and 2 layers of DOW board with a cut out in the center to see the outside world.
Another very cold spot is the entrance door. I covered it using a heavy duty drape on a rod .
I also had to use an elec ceramic heater in the bathroom as a second heater.
Maybe they still make a vented cat ?
vented cat heater
If you find dampness under the mattress, there is a marine product that can be placed under the mattress that allows air flow to circulate.
Hypervent
4 season in Seattle, Washington is not the same as 4 season in Caribou, Maine.
I used mine in extreme conditions. I used 3 RV's for snowmobiling to -30F for 3-4 weeks at a given time.
Had to drain the water system below low single digits. Then used the rv as a dry camp at a CG with heated bath house. This is what i found through my winter RV experience (2004-2015) you can weed thru it to pick n choose what might apply to you.
BTW, my non slide Lance blew away the slide model AF as far as interior warmth as well as propane use. AF used twice as much if not more, propane.
think about a second heat source. If the furnace takes a nose dive, you will not have too much time to act to winterize it.
I carried a spare digital control board as well as a spare regulator.
I also carried MR. Heater in the single 1 lb cylinder form, up to 9k btu's. For emergency use, crack a vent or window.
If you have a plastic cover on your gas tanks or a non insulated compartment. Protect and insulate your changeover gas valve (regulator) WRAP IT in insulation. The diaphragm inside can crack if it freezes, making it useless, stopping your gas flow. You can sometimes thaw them by using a hair dryer on the warm setting to defrost it prior to cracking, if you catch it in time . The hair dryer works to thaw the dump vales as well.
Some people used DOW boards as skirting under the TT's and 5th wheels. Also, keep your batteries as warm as possible. Boondockers use AGM's inside the RV where its warm .
Non slide RV's worked best. As i said, they were much warmer, used a ton less propane (30# tank lasted 2- sometimes 3 days to keep interior 60-65F slide model ...non slide model same size rv, used 30# in a week, sometimes more with the extra elec heater)) and i never had to climb on an ice covered roof to clear off a slide in order to pull it in. (strong gust of wind nearly blew me off the ice covered roof.... once)
Think twice if you think those roll up awning covers are going be work. The snow gets blown under them, then it begins to melt because there is limited roof insulation in slideouts. What you end up is a thick sheet of ice on the slideout roof which you have to remove in order to retract it. A tad difficult to accomplish if you have an awning topper. Everyone made plywood insulated covers for them.
If you plan to use your unit in very cold (below single digits F ) temps then plan to make some mods to protect yourself.
The furnace will be working almost non-stop and it still might not be enough. Depends on how cold it is and the wind direction. Most everyone installed a second thru the wall vented heater.
IT WILL HELP if you pull in a slide at night so you are heating less volume and NOT allowing cold air to penetrate around the seals, which it did on every RV in the CG. You notice it when the temps drop below zero and the wind blows on those seals.
Test it out at home without any rv water in the system, blow out the system. Then test the rv by using bottles of water and place them in areas prone to freezing.
Such as , basements , next to water lines that touch outside walls (put pipe insulation around them as well) under cabinets, other places where you think the heater doesn't reach. See if any of those bottles freeze then take measure to move warm air to those areas. Sometimes a small computer fan will work.
You might have to add insulation on baggage doors and use foam 24"x24" tiles on the floors as insulators and interior vent covers for the 14x14 roof vents.
As westend says, the windows are important, some people cover them with bubble wrap as well.
On top of my storm windows , I made my own addition thermal insulators out of heat shrink and 2 layers of DOW board with a cut out in the center to see the outside world.
Another very cold spot is the entrance door. I covered it using a heavy duty drape on a rod .
I also had to use an elec ceramic heater in the bathroom as a second heater.
Maybe they still make a vented cat ?
vented cat heater
If you find dampness under the mattress, there is a marine product that can be placed under the mattress that allows air flow to circulate.
Hypervent
