Winter Climate-Mods to Stay Warm

[larryb484]

Wife and I are going to Durango,CO. to perform a job for a year. Currently we are in Washington State and have had to use H/P and furnace occasionally. Has anyone done some adjustments when parked to live in MH in order to make a better and warmer home? We have a 2000 HR Imperial w/1 slide.All underside is sealed from outdoors. I use a ceramic heater in tank bay for insurance.Any other tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
Larry

[RickO]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You might be better off taking that ceramic heater inside the coach and using a 75w bulb in a trouble light in your storage bay instead. I'm not sure if this would be enough to ward off the Durango cold but it often is.

We found that using a portable electric heater placed in the back of the coach really helped us stay warm on cold nights. Electric blankets work great too.

Rick

[PDR John]

Keep a close eye on the weather. When their predicting super cold fill your fresh water tank, then disconnect all hoses. Use your pump for all water needs, drain the tanks and refill during midday (as possible).

You can insulate and use heat tape on your water hose as well.

We put a ceramic heater in the basement (old coach) run by a separate cord to the pedestal. Then 2 heaters inside, one at the front on high and one in the back on low. But we never got lower then the 20's. We never even used the propane furnaces.

[cutrell01]

Originally Posted by larryb484

Wife and I are going to Durango,CO. to perform a job for a year. Currently we are in Washington State and have had to use H/P and furnace occasionally. Has anyone done some adjustments when parked to live in MH in order to make a better and warmer home? We have a 2000 HR Imperial w/1 slide.All underside is sealed from outdoors. I use a ceramic heater in tank bay for insurance.Any other tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
Larry

If you are going to be in one location for a year, you might want to put some skirting all around the RV to help keep cold from going under the RV. We use a Pirit heated water hose that plugs into 110v and has a built in thermostat. Also need to insulate the water pedestal if you leave water line hooked up.

[Jaycky]

In minus 30 right now and it's gong to get worse for me.
Silver foil bubble wrap rolls I skirted my class a in the stuff and use x2 chicken heat lamps underneath it works great!
I then added it to the outside windows little later to get rid of the moisture and it works amazing!
larger Lp tank hookup make sure you have a spare furnace motor in my case the only thing I should have had!
I use rv antifreeze in grey and black tanks just keep adding it so the water doesn't dilute it!
Still a learning experience for me but I'm cozy in -30 right now
Oh and water line in needs heat tape I went through a couple diff types and the silver braided style works best IMO
I silver foil bubble wrapped it as well!
Tuck tape is a must only tape that seems to stick in sub zero temps.

Extra fuses and light bulbs a must

[Jaycky]

Fridge is a big issue with me right now…

[harris155]

Hot air rises and heat escapes.
Roof vents, they sell squares of insulation for them, we stuff cushions up them.
The big skylight in the bathroom must shed a lot of heat. Not sure what you can do there. You could fabricate some kind of cover for it.
You must lose a lot of heat through the roof A/C grills. You can see the outer shell of the unit when the filters are removed. Again you could fabricate some kind of insulated blanket.

[chief02]

Foil bubble insulation cut to fit and double stick tape for the shower sky light. Pull down your ac grill and fill with insulation in a plastic wrapper and stuff it up there, slide your ac grill in a small plastic garbage bag, reinstall and trim excess. Cut the power to the AC.

55 degrees in Durango lately!

[Jim_HiTek]

You might consider leasing a large propane tank from your local propane supplier. 200 gallons or so. They will, usually, plumb it in for you. If your power goes out at night, with your propane furnace set to run at 55°F or so, you should be able to keep reasonably warm until power is restored.

Normally, I'd want to keep the rig warm with electric heaters rather then the propane furnace (not very efficient). Oil filled radiator types work well. Then the foil covered bubble wrap for the windows is a must have. Some people use the blue foam sheets to block off the drivers area too. I also carry a Lil Buddy catalytic heater for emergencies. They can be used inside if a window and vent are opened a bit.

[MarkofSJC]

There's a blog somewhere that went into great detail. I remember them buying insulating wood for the underside of the slides, and insulating the front windows. I think they used a 33 gal trash can upside down over their water source with a trouble light inside and a heat trace on the hose.

This video may help, too

RV Buried in 2 Feet of Snow - YouTube

Mark

[Jaycky]

I have 2 feet of snow on my rv at all times If not more and it acts as a great insulation!

My roof is not flat though it can handle the weight!

[Tony Lee]

Fridge is a big issue with me right now…

Assuming it runs on propane - Try covering up nearly the whole of the lower vent so the heater can get the "boiler" hot enough to get the process working.

You might even have to put a 60W lamp in the back at the bottom as well

[Jim_HiTek]

Originally Posted by Jaycky

I have 2 feet of snow on my rv at all times If not more and it acts as a great insulation!

My roof is not flat though it can handle the weight!

I agree, it is a great insulator. But when you calculate the weight (depends on how dry the snow is), it can add several thousand pounds. Not to good for the tires. Or the roof. I too let snow get up to around 2' on the roof before worrying about it. Then I shovel off around a foot.

I also shovel snow up around the bottom of the RV to block off the underside. And position a blue tarp over the front and rear of the RV. Held in place with bungee cords and snow. Can't tell if that really helps, but I think it does block wind a bit so the rigs less drafty feeling.