Camping the ENTIRE winter

[casaundra]

Any and all advice welcome! How do a prepare to survive in my 2005 5th wheel for the winter? It looks like I have "heated" holding tanks. It looks like the under-belly gets some heat. But I know absolutely nothing else about heat taping what lines or hoses and putting up skirting or sheathing with insulation or heat lamps or electric heaters under or ordering a larger propane tank vs the 2 -7lbs tanks that it came with.

[bikendan]

it would help knowing where you plan to camp and how cold it will get.

[waroland]

Here is a link for a food safe 25ft heated hose. Amazon.com: PIRIT PWL-02-25 Water Line 25-Foot x 5/8-Inch Heated Water Hose: Patio, Lawn & Garden
Use this for your fresh water. Your sewer should be okay if you only open your valves when you need to dump, do not leave your gray/black water valves open. If you are in a real cold area anything you do to impede air flow under the RV will help your heat.

[dsbike]

We spent last winter in Baltimore Maryland in a CG on the Bush River, which is a body of water that flows into the Cheapeake about 20 miles north of the city. We had temps from single digit to 40 on average, I would say 50% of the days were above freezing, the nights were usually just below 30'f. Here is how we handled the cold.

We installed a "extend -a-hose" for the propane tank, then purchased 100 lb bottles from the CG, $81 per bottle. My wife is very, did I say very, conservative on using the propane or electricity. She was here by herself 85% of the time. She would turn the heat down when she went to work to about 60'F, then back up when she came home to about 68'F. When she came home she would turn it down to 50'F. She & I would only turn on the hot water heater which is only propane, just prior to needing to use hot water for shower or dishes, usually done at the same time, then turn off after shower. We would leave the cabinet door open to remind us it was on. We do not have basement heat or heated storage tanks. We went thru a 100 lb tank every 10 days.
We purchased a heated potable water hose by Pirit Pirit Heated Hose-The Only Cold Weather Heated Hose. This hose gave us no trouble at all. However the water gets a slight rubber taste so we used bottled water for drinking. I insulated the faucet with foam pipe insulation & the cg insulated the other end of the faucet & water pipe with heat tape. I purchased a insulation blanket about 5-6ft long by 1 1/2 ft wide & stuffed it into the water service bay. This blanket helped but was not enough, I had to install a 60 watt incadesant trouble light in the bay also. we never had a frozen water line after that. If you do this be careful that it hangs without touching anything in the bay, even though it is in a cage type holder I worry that it could melt plastic or even cause a fire.

Our hot water heater is in a closed compartment under our bathroom vanity, I removed the panel that accesses the tank & plumbing & left it off. This did 2 things, 1 this area would be at room temp when the tank temp was nuetral & when the water was heated the heat would radiate into the bathroom area a little. we opened the cabinet under the kitchen sink at night also. When we left for extended times 2-3 days we would shut off the water outside at the faucet.

We found that the dash area & the slide area would be colder than the rest of the MH & even have some drafts. We placed 2 20'f sleeping bags over the dash to the floor covering the engine doghouse. On the side walls we placed our camping self inflating sleeping pads against the sidewalls. Now these didn't fit tightly but you could tell they made a difference. I would think some of the styrofoam 1" or 2" boards form Lowes would do the same.
Then we also used quilts just like as if we were in our stick built for this time of year. We made it, it wasn't the best of times, but you do what you have to do. I have seen some RV's with underpinning wrapped around to keep the wind from coming under the rv. We didn't go that far, thought about it , but decided against it, not sure the cg would allow it either.
By the way the CG staff told us we had the cheapest electric bill of the whole cg each month. They were surprised. We were happy.
__________________
Dan Sees
Concord, NC &
Where ever the DW is working

[Roll]

To dsbike,

Nothing to do with your post or the OP question but I see you have an FJ Cruiser. I had one, (yellow like yours) and loved it but had to get rid of it when we started to tow a car. Ended up with a Wrangler which isn't half what the FJ was. I miss my FJ.

So how do you do it? You can't tow them four wheels down I was told. (I didn't want to use a dolly.)

Roll

Moderator Edit: Instead of hijacking the thread you could sent dsbike a PM(Private Message) with your question and I'm sure he would be willing to have a discussion with you about it.

[edj]

We camp all Winter every year in Melbourne, FL.... Nothing special in preparedness....

[RJay]

When I know the temps are going to get to or below freezing I wrap the water hose with a heating type cord you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's and cover with 3/4" pipe insulation. I also make sure I have at least a half tank of fresh water that I can draw from in case the water lines in the park freeze.

[scar9783]

There are lots of things that can be done to reduce airflow and store heat. How much you need to do depends on where you are camping. How cold is it going to get? Are you exposed to winds? How much do you want to spend to increase the capability of the trailer. How cold are you willing to let it get inside the trailer? How often do you want to move your trailer through the winter?

With out knowing those questions I can tell you that I've spent many a night in below freezing temps with no major improvements other than running a space heater inside and filling my fresh water tank when I needed water and blowing out my hose after filling. To reduce air flow add a skirting around the base of the trailer. Cheepest and best for windy areas is a 2x4 frame with plywood. Fabric skirts will rip away from trailer in high winds damaging both skirting and your trailer. Downside of wood is it will take you a day or two to for initial set up depending on how indepth you want to get. I suggest adding a door for storing unneeded gear, stuff will also help hold heat. Place a heat lamp or small heater inside to help with warming tanks and pipes. Nothing big is needed. You can also get window sealer from your local hardware store to reduce draft at windows and over vents for your AC. Add vent pillows for insulation and seal your overhead vents as well. You can also hang blankets over your doors to reduce air flow. Add weather stripping to any storage doors that do not have pipes going through them.

Beyond that, if you see temps in the mid 20s and lower you should keep your bathroom door open along with any cabnets that have plumbing running through them to ensure they recieve heat.

[RV Roadie]

Casaundra,
Where are you spending the winter? Please answer that first so we can tell you whether you need to spend more than the normal Southern snowbird winter prep.

If you are going to be below freezing temps you will need the heat taped hose that was mentioned above by waroland. Here is the link again he gave above:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RODR1G

I made my own heated hose and it was always a risk for fire where that hose for a newbie is much safer than trying to save about 40 bucks and making your own up like I did.

Are you going to have electrical power and what is your trailer power set up? Is it a 50 amp or a 30 amp? If you are hooking up to a house's electric what amp and type of plug are you going to plug into? Do you have dual pane windows or single? Are you in a heavy snow area? By that I mean that snow stays on the ground for most of the winter or for a week or so instead of melting away the first day like here.

In any situation the furnace will use a lot more propane than you would think. It actually cost us more in propane to heat our rig than it cost to heat a small house with much thicker insulation here in the South. But a big tip for you. If you decide to use auxilliary heating and you have electric power, stick with a radiator looking oil filled electric or those small electric ceramic electric heaters. Make sure you do not have any gas powered heaters that are not vented as they produce large amounts of moisture and CO that can kill you at worst, and cause a lot of acid and mold problems from the moisture and acids they produce on the inside of your rig over time at best. For your first winter you would be far ahead to avoid unvented gas heaters of any kind regardless of what the folks who use them say. They all make CO and can be deadly with a slight malfunction.

Anyway welcome to the world of RVing year round! Let us know the answers to the questions we posted and we can guide you from there.

[ottffss]

Here's a thread of some thoughts to consider...

Essex and General info on Sub Zero temp coach use