How I’m surviving winter full time

[TheDantee]

This is going to be a thread mainly focused around upgrades I have done to my RV to make it easier to live out of full time up here in Canadian Winters. The coldest night I’ve slept in the RV at the time of writing was at -27C or -16F. The RV Propane heater really struggled to keep up maintaining the temperature in the RV. I constantly live in an area between -10 to -20C and I don’t do too bad but I’m not super warm. I would love see what you have done to survive in your RV in the winter months so that maybe I ca implement something similar.

[sibe]

Originally Posted by TheDantee

This is going to be a thread mainly focused around upgrades I have done to my RV to make it easier to live out of full time up here in Canadian Winters. The coldest night I’ve slept in the RV at the time of writing was at -27C or -16F. The RV Propane heater really struggled to keep up maintaining the temperature in the RV. I constantly live in an area between -10 to -20C and I don’t do too bad but I’m not super warm. I would love see what you have done to survive in your RV in the winter months so that maybe I ca implement something similar.

Bless you....

I never had an issue "roughing it" when younger for a week or two even in a custom van, small heater .. etc back in the 80's Stayed at Lake in camper a few nights back then but Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Windows, air exchange(moisture) seem big items.. skirting of sorts.. I have seen some position RV to be beneficial to grab any sun thru one side and shield the side that gets hammered by winds..

[TheDantee]

By far the largest improvement for insulating my RV was buying some reflectix and putting it on all the windows. I ordered some 1” Velcro strips and struck them to the walls around the window and on the Reflectix itself making it easy to keep them in place full time and remove them for the summer months. I also ordered some front windshield covers and while they did also help they didn’t help me I found as much as the reflectix for the RV portion of the vehicle.

I do still have frost build up on the inside of the windows from the propane heater as well as the condensation in my breath. The windows do have drains on the outside so I’m hoping that helps, I don’t have any moisture on my walls and hope the frame and insulation in the RV will not have any mold. So far no issues like that 2 months in 🤞. I am also using 2 dollar store damp traps they capture some moisture but not a lot. I don’t sleep at a campground mostly boondocking so I don’t have the power to run a dehumidifier all night.

A solution to that issue that I can think of is to switch to a diesel heater which I want to do but it’s just expensive. If there are any other ideas you guys are using I’d love to hear it!

[TheDantee]

The second biggest improvement for me was my Fan vent covers and a skylight cover for my shower. When it snows it sits on these and the cold will flood into your vehicle. With the fans the vents are not sealed the greatest and you can feel a cold air draft come right inside if it’s windy. Cracking one of these windows open overnight can help with the condensation issues mentioned on the windows earlier but will cause more cold air to enter so kind of a lose lose situation. I am using the Camco vent covers for the fans and some random skylight cover from Amazon.

[TheDantee]

I want to try skirting but I daily drive my RV so setting it up all the time could be a pain, but so is setting up the front window covers haha.

[TheDantee]

The next major point of cold air coming into the RV is the floor in the cab area. That thing is absolutely freezing. I started to take it apart and noticed some type of thinner insulation already under it looked kind of like rockwool. I may coat the floor in sound deadner anyways just to see if it helps any… In the mean time I am using the stock privacy sheet attached to the 10 or so Velcro circles over the seats and then I also am using just a random thicker blanket hanging over the seats for now and sitting on mostly on the floor and the cab to try to add another layer to block the cold. It’s helping a decent amount but it’s not perfect.

I’m also thinking maybe getting a thicker wool blanket and then removing the small Velcro circles with the 1 inch strip I have all the way around to help hold the weight. Then I wouldn’t need 2 sheets either.

[TheDantee]

The side door is the next biggest issue in my RV for letting in a cold air draft. This could be because of the seal on the door but the battery box is also inside the stairs which is the most likely culprit. I picked up a 2 inch thick sheet of foam board insulation and just cut it to size to fit inside the staircase with a lip to hold it on top.

I have seen some others online where they put foam board around the outside of the battery box and storage boxes on the bottom outside and use a rubberized coating to protect it from the elements under the vehicle while driving. I may look more into this at some point.

[Sam 3]

Empty out your cupboards and put refletic against the back wall. Load back up.Camco makes a thick cushion for the skylight hole above the shower. Get a sleeping bag that is rated for negative temperatures. I have seen tops and bottoms that keep you warm. They run off batteries. Best of luck keeping warm. Spring is in sight!!

[TheDantee]

Sound deadner not only deadens sound but is also a thicker piece of foam and will act as an insulator. I picked up some 394mil (10mm) thick foam on Amazon and I also got a reflective backing. The reflective backing will make sure once heat hits the surface it should reflect and stay inside the RV.

As @Sam 3 has already mentioned Reflectix is another option to this and will be cheaper but will not give you any sound deadning which my RV desperately needs. The sound deadner especially at this thickness is not cheap I applied it liberally but it’s not everywhere I would like it just yet… slowly but surely. This solution is also more permanent than just putting reflectix inside your cabinets. So I only added the sound deadner inside the upper cabinets above the bed, I may add the to the back of the other cabinets. If a new owner does want to remove it in the future residue and foam will likely be left behind or it could rip off the vinyl on the wall.

[TheDantee]

I don’t use any skirting at the moment on my RV as I am mostly boondocking. This makes my floor extra cold. To combat this I added some 1 inch thick foam tiles over the whole RV. I went with a wood vinyl foam tile to kind of blend in with the interior design. These tiles are not glued in place or held with Velcro. They connect together through an interlocking system and I have cut them out to be a near perfect fit so when driving they don’t move at all. They work pretty well and are a lot warmer than the original floor, but once you reach -10 or -15C you’re going to be better off wearing slippers anyway. The tiles are completely removable this way and can be stored during the summer in one of the storage boxes and reinstalled later. This allows me to make sure there is no mold growing under them from water spills or something.

[TheDantee]

My couch and raised floor has literally nothing under it on on storage drawer opening on the one side. So I filled the whole thing with Rockwool batting and added made the storage cubby a little smaller for the added insulation. I didn’t have a picture of the raised floor filled with insulation so I just added a pic of the empty space to give you guys an idea of the space filled.

Overall the couch feels way warmer sitting down now. It’s still a bit cold because of the massive window beside it but it’s a huge improvement and you can actually watch TV on the couch at -20C in a sweater without freezing! I may add some sound deadner under the cushions as well, then I will just put Velcro on the sound deadner to hold the cushions in place. We will see.

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by TheDantee

The next major point of cold air coming into the RV is the floor in the cab area. That thing is absolutely freezing. I started to take it apart and noticed some type of thinner insulation already under it looked kind of like rockwool. I may coat the floor in sound deadner anyways just to see if it helps any… In the mean time I am using the stock privacy sheet attached to the 10 or so Velcro circles over the seats and then I also am using just a random thicker blanket hanging over the seats for now and sitting on mostly on the floor and the cab to try to add another layer to block the cold. It’s helping a decent amount but it’s not perfect.

I’m also thinking maybe getting a thicker wool blanket and then removing the small Velcro circles with the 1 inch strip I have all the way around to help hold the weight. Then I wouldn’t need 2 sheets either.

I admire your modifications so far. We know the exact layout of your cab…..we have the same Ford E450 cab, and notice the temperature from it.
Aside from your insulation, how about a mod like I did in our Georgetown. I installed a heavy weight curtain on a curtain rod I bought at Home Depot. The curtain pulled aside when not needed, but it was a quick pull when moving into the living space. We don’t use the cab once we’re parked.

[TheDantee]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

I admire your modifications so far. We know the exact layout of your cab…..we have the same Ford E450 cab, and notice the temperature from it.
Aside from your insulation, how about a mod like I did in our Georgetown. I installed a heavy weight curtain on a curtain rod I bought at Home Depot. The curtain pulled aside when not needed, but it was a quick pull when moving into the living space. We don’t use the cab once we’re parked.

A curtain rod is a good idea to I’ll look into that

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by TheDantee

A curtain rod is a good idea to I’ll look into that

1. Because your profile says you call Cambridge home, we can suggest stores you could easily find.
2. My wife suggests you look into Giant Tiger for the heavy weight curtain from my photo.