Do's & Dont's For Living In Camper During Winter?

MPLEEMAN

Member
I am living in my camper year round. It is Hot in the summer, which is no big deal. But I have never lived in my camper during the winter.
I was wondering what are the DO's & DON'Ts for the winter months, where it gets cold, snows?
Should I leave the Slideouts pushed out during the Winter?
I have a North Trail 31BHD
 

rick_debbie_gallant

Well-known member
guess it depends on if it snows where you are at. I am in texas for the winter, michigan in the summer. the little bit of snow we are getting on the gulf coast of texas dont matter. The tons I would have gotten in the winter?????????????
 

Rickhansen

Well-known member
DO buy lots of propane.

Seriously. Pulling your slides in will minimize heat loss because you have less outside surfaces and less inside space to heat, but is not practical for space and mobility issues.

You'd be better (not cheaper) to insulate and heat tape your water lines, close supply and dump valves and disconnect when possible, supplement your furnace with electric heaters as practical, control condensation by dehumidification as much as possible.

With a little common sense, experience, and seeking answers to more specific questions from your friends here on the forum, you'll get along just fine.
 

jvblade

Canadian Member
We are planning on living year round in our 5th wheel. Right now the temperature outside is minus 4 F. Yikes. We installed a skirting around the trailer - a must. The furnace runs about half the time as without the skirting.

As for the water line - we bought a potable water line and taped heat trace to it and then covered it with wrap around insulation. I did this last year for some winter camping and it worked great. In fact the temperature got down to minus 40 degrees one night and it never froze.

As for propane, we have a 400 gallon tank installed on site from a local distributor. Much cheaper then running to the Flying J's to get your tanks filled.

______________________

John and Ellyisha VanderWiel
Calgary AB Canada
BigHorn 3610RE
2006 Ford F350 6.0 Powerstroke
 

Boca_Shuffles

Well-known member
Close your blinds (Day/Night) to retain heat. You can also use the tinfoil bubble wrap to cover your window on the inside when you have a frigid cold spell occurring. This can be rolled up and stored when the warmer weather returns.

Don't put your tongue on frozen cast iron pipes outside! :D:D:D
 

MPLEEMAN

Member
I thank all of you for your advice. I realy apprechiate it. I have taped & wraped my house I have not had it freeze yet. I have not closed in the bottom of the camper. tonight it is snowing here in Central PA, I will see how things work out.

I was told Hay was the best thing to use?
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
Tom & Judy are correct. Rats and mice love straw or prairie hay. Best way to get them inside. A good tight windbreak of some type will do about as much good. Air infiltration is going to be the culprit creating the drafts.
 

Draco Dog

Well-known member
WOW Really great advice above. Both my hubby and I are now fully retired and enjoying every minute of it. We just purchased a 2010 Big Horn 3670. We love it.

(In fact, we had a Big Horn 3670 2008. Went to our dealership for some warranty work and was informed that the 2010 BH's were "in". This was about 5 months ago. Well, hubby and I know to never go into a pet store, because we will walk out with a pet. Same way with a trailer. There were just enough changes in the 2 years, that we decided to purchase the newer trailer. We love it.

We have been staying for 3 weeks at a time in each location b4 we move on. We live in the Pacific Northwest and love this part of the country. But, now we are ready for some warmer weather.

Before we get to the warmer weather, we have some colder weather to confront.

We never thought about putting skirting around our trailer. Not even thinking that it might save around half of the propane heating cost. Do you think it would be cost-effective to use the skirting even though we will only be staying for 3 weeks at a time? What cost are we talking about on the skirting. Thanks for your help.
 

Draco Dog

Well-known member
Thanks to you all and to htneighbors. As always, lots of good advice. We are full-timers now, but still have so much to learn. Thanks again.
 
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