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Old 12-17-2017, 04:57 AM   #1
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cold weather travel

Some questions about cold weather travel in a 2007 Itasca Navion. Over the Christmas weekend we will be traveling from central Georgia to northern KY and then on to northern Indiana. This will be our very first trip in this RV. We will be staying at night at my dad's place the first night so we won't need to carry water in any of the tanks. So we have winterized the RV. The overnight temperature there will be in the low 20s. The next night we will be in northern Indiana and the overnight lows will be in the low teens.

My question is does anyone know how much propane I can expect to use for the 4 day trip? I can use shore power so I don't have to run the propane generator for the first night and we won't be doing any cooking on the stove. Our only use of propane will be to keep the coach warm. I think the RV has an 18 gallon propane tank. Will that be enough for the 4 days?

I have learned the furnace blower runs off the coach batteries. If I am not able to use shore power the second night will the coach batteries be able to supply power for the blower for an all night stay? They seem to be in good shape but of course I won't really know that until I have a chance to use them for an extended period.

Thanks for any advice you can give.
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Old 12-17-2017, 06:12 AM   #2
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I didn't see a way to edit the above post but wanted to add this for clarity. We will be staying in the RV at night so we need to keep the temperature warm enough to be comfortable for us and our two granddaughters aged 8 and 10.
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:11 AM   #3
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the good news is your RV is smaller meaning less space to heat. if it has slide outs and you don't need them open to sleep then keep them closed further reducing the space needing to be heated.

the bad news is your LP furnace will likely be running a lot. your batteries may not be able to handle that unless they are in very good condition. the blower motor on the furnace draws a lot of power. LP tanks can be filled only to 80% of capacity so an 18-gal tank really equates to 15.5-gals. with temps that low i would expect to not have enough LP for the trip up and back and without hookups i'd expect the batteries to be depleted before dawn.

must you sleep in the RV? would traveling in the RV but sleeping in motels be an option? if not then i'd sleep dressed with lots of blankets with the heat dialed back. how 'bout an electric blanket for any nights where you'd have an electric hookup? i'd make sure all of the windows were covered (including the windshield) to help retain heat.

good luck.
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Old 12-17-2017, 10:38 AM   #4
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Set your temp at 60 and use lots of covers, I know a bit chilly but not real cold. 4 in that small rig will help with warming. Propane should not be a problem. Keeping the batteries full and delay bed time as much as reasonable for shorter heated night, keeping coach warm before bed time.

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Old 12-17-2017, 12:10 PM   #5
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Good advice above.

You should be able to make 4 days on a full propane tank.

Your furnace will run a lot and it may run the batteries down over night. You will want to start each night with completely charged batteries. If that means running the generator until you are ready to hit the sack then you should run the generator before going to bed.

Consider a 1500 watt electric heater or two in the living space while you are running the generator. This will put a little load on the generator and you will get some heat benefit out of running the generator.

Make sure all your ceiling vents are completely closed and consider some bubble type insulation tucked nicely into the opening of the ceiling vent. Tape can seal the edges and prevent lots of heat loss.

Pull all the blinds/curtains completely closed. These will help hold in the heat.

If the coach batteries run down by morning then no big deal. Start the engine after you wake up and recharge all batteries

You will be fine. We camp for 4-5 days in much colder temps. I do use a Honda EU2000 for winter camping though.
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Old 12-18-2017, 03:37 AM   #6
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Thanks to everyone for the replies. The voice of experience is certainly appreciated. It looks like now it will only be my wife and myself sleeping in the Navion so we should be fine. We will be traveling each day so the coach batteries will get recharged then. My main concern was the propane holding out but from your posts it seems that should be OK. I did find in the coach a very heavy curtain that snaps onto the edge of the overhead bed to block off the cab from the rest of the RV so that should also help to keep the coach part warm. We are still learning where everything is. Also with only the two of us we can keep the dinette slide in to conserve heat. The dealer went over all the major stuff. It is the little things we still need to learn about.

Thanks again.
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Old 12-18-2017, 04:06 AM   #7
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a couple of electric space heaters to use when at a rv park.
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Old 12-18-2017, 11:56 AM   #8
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Another thing we do to ensure we stay warm all night is to close all the heat registers in the front living area of the coach. I just pull the throw rugs over them and set a shoe on top of the rug. This forces all the heat towards the rear bedroom of the coach. We then close the door to the bedroom. Almost all the heat from the furnace goes directly into the bedroom. We set the thermostat to 60 so it isn't working overtime to warm that part of the coach when all the registers are closed.

This only works when you don't have kids or grand kids sleeping on the couch. LOL

There are a lot of little things that you can do to ensure winter camping goes without a hitch. Don't be surprised if your coach batteries are nearly dead after 8-10 hrs of running the furnace. On my Itasca the first clue that the batteries are nearly dead is the heater fan will barely be spinning. The second clue is the propane detector will start to sound.

Starting the chassis engine is the quickest way to recharge all your batteries. All the amperage (up to 150amps in many cases) from the alternator is directed to the coach and chassis batteries. If your coach batteries are absolutely completely dead the solenoid that connects them may not energize so in that rare instance the coach batteries would not charge when the engine is running.
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Old 12-18-2017, 12:31 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OLYLEN View Post
Set your temp at 60 and use lots of covers, I know a bit chilly but not real cold. 4 in that small rig will help with warming. Propane should not be a problem. Keeping the batteries full and delay bed time as much as reasonable for shorter heated night, keeping coach warm before bed time.

LEN
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