Getting through a Canadian Winter

[lowemainlander]

OK although I am getting kind of scared- hubby and I are determined to get through a winter in BC's Kootenays.

We just bought some land.

Likely going generator/ batteries for power until we are able to utilize the creek for hydro.

BIG QUESTION

How bext to heat the underside of the trailer?

Insulated skirt and a light bulb (or four)?

Leave the skirt open to take whatever heat it can from the covered porch (with wood stove)?

ANY hints or suggestions on making it through are much appreciated!!
Shauna and Dean

(In a 29V Nash)......TT

[lowemainlander]

OK although I am getting kind of scared- hubby and I are determined to get through a winter in BC's Kootenays.

We just bought some land.

Likely going generator/ batteries for power until we are able to utilize the creek for hydro.

BIG QUESTION

How bext to heat the underside of the trailer?

Insulated skirt and a light bulb (or four)?

Leave the skirt open to take whatever heat it can from the covered porch (with wood stove)?

ANY hints or suggestions on making it through are much appreciated!!
Shauna and Dean

(In a 29V Nash)......TT

[brad03ca]

Hey lowemainlander, first of all Welcome to IRV2, glad to have you with us.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Insulated skirt and a light bulb (or four)?
</div></BLOCKQUOTE> I would definately go with the insulated skirt, and possibly an electric heater to warm the floors. Don't forget to insulate all "basement" plumbing with a heated wrap.
Good luck with what ever you choose.

P.S. I have created a short cut of your thread to the Canada Region Forum to get suggestions from other Canadians as well.

[Little Kopit]

What's the lowest temperature you are going to have there?

Can you give your windows a bit of extra insulation- plastic inside or outside. & reflectix or something is used when going through Alaska to keep the light out. I think it is also used for insulation. You could find a way to put it on your windows at night to keep the cold air more out than in.

You know I lived in the Sudbury, Ontario area for 5.5 years. & finally, I bought in the country. One chap had a little TT 10' - 12' long, which he set up on newly acquired land. He put a frame around the trailer, all the way around and estentially, built a structure of plastic, including plastic roof to surround it. I have no idea how heavy the plastic was, but it lasted the winter. I could see it from the road, but the area was wooded, thus didn't get high winds. Snow yes. Temperatures went down in to the -40's celius.

[Little Kopit]

Oh yes, Rockman, another member here, go camping in Northern, B.C. @ -37'C in winter with their Bigfoot.

He has rigged up a system of solar panels which he can set up to have the best angle to the sun. This is to help with their power consumption for heat......

[Groveite]

We lived in our 25 ft Citation in Nov-Dec while building a new house and had to survive some fairly cold weather (-18 C) and some snow storms as well. The wind was the culprit most times so some well planned and durable windbreak system would be extremely helpful. TT's are not very well sealed and can be drafty in the extreme during 40 mph winds and freezing temps I built an insulated (SM blue)skirt around the trailer and put a converted (220V to 110V) baseboard htr underneath and had no freezing problems there. The hose was wrapped with a heat strip and 2 layers of foam and froze once anyway! A full freshwater tank saved us until it thawed and I think also acted as a heat sink. You will likely be subject to more extremes in temp than we were as we are moderated by the lake (Huron). One problem we had was that the humidity level was too high inside, especially with cooking....I winterized at New Years and traded the unit in June as the interior was mouldy and the insulation had absorbed quite a bit of moisture I believe....a shame really as it was and still is the best unit we have ever had. Despite th apparent waste of heat I would have a roof vent cracked at all times in cold weather and run the exhaust fan during any cooking/ coffee making activities.
BTW bales of straw work very well for insulation however be aware that small rodents like it for the same reason.
Ian

PS
I can tell you how to convert the 220 baseboard to 110 as those htrs are small and safe. It will then produce 1/2 the rated output. I would not use a light bulb but many do

[Moder2]

We have done some pretty cold weather camping, and agree the worst part is the wind.

Our unit was double insulated, and had thermopanes. When it got below 20F we would need to use our propane furnace to keep the pipes from freezing, but we always suplimented with electric oil filled radiator heater (get them at Walmart for about 40 bucks.) which worked very well, and were silent.

In extream cold I would consider skirting somehow, but you also don't want to completely seal things up underneath for condensation reasons.

I did not install tank heaters, but eventuallly I did decide to heat tape all the pipes I could get at. Our CrossRoads had "Okay" access to the majority of them, and those I couldn't get to were above the floor line. This allowed us to use less propane heat.

I put a "remote" to our indoor/outdoor thermometer in the water section of the trailer. This allowerd me to determine when I needed to turn on heat tapes or run the furnace.

Ther biggest problem we had was what Ian & Lyn pointed out... Condensation! Even with thermopanes, we had a few spots in the trailer that would rreally collect water. Trust me, if you don't want a mold and mildew problem, get those fans running when your cooking, bathing, or making any kind of mositure. We were lucky, and didn't have any mildew problems, but I have seen some major damage done.

The other isuse of wind was a problem too. We did what we could as far as stuffing blankets and towels around the slide. If it was really cold out we snuggled into bed a bit earlier...

It wasn't too bad, but when the crappy weather sticks around it does get a bit clousterfobic.

John

[Little Kopit]

Well, 20'F isn't even -7'C. Warm, IMO.

I'm sure you'll get a lot lower than that.

Dehumidifier maybe.

Interesting thread, thanks for starting it.