I am looking to get a 2011 Bighorn 3585RL but have been duped by salespeople in the past about wheather a coach is a four seasons or not. I am currently living in a Cedar Creek that does not do the job-uses to much electricity in the summer with the a/c on and does not heat well in winter. I am set in south east Iowa and will be here a while. I have wood skirting all around this coach but walls sweat in winter and a/c runs countinously in dead of summer. I am looking for input from people who are living in same conditions and how well the Bighorn does? Thanks for the help, Joel.
Bighorn survivability in various weather
- Thread starter jpiniowa
- Start date
jimtoo
Moderator
Hi jpiniowa,
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.
I can't say I have heard of any of the Big Horns wall sweating, but the windows will for sure unless you have the dual-pane windows. They help a lot for heat, cooling and noise. Enclosing or skirting the bottom is necessary for the winter and most likely,,, the a/c will run most all the time in the summer.
I'm sure some other owners will jump in soon and help with more information.
Enjoy the forum.
Jim M
Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.
I can't say I have heard of any of the Big Horns wall sweating, but the windows will for sure unless you have the dual-pane windows. They help a lot for heat, cooling and noise. Enclosing or skirting the bottom is necessary for the winter and most likely,,, the a/c will run most all the time in the summer.
I'm sure some other owners will jump in soon and help with more information.
Enjoy the forum.
Jim M
RoadJunkie
Well-known member
Joel, "survivability" is a subjective term and requires a level of determination to achieve. The word, in and of itself, implies some level of hardship in order to thrive and depends on an individual's threshold towards comfort. We have "survived" in a Bighorn 3670 through mild winters, say 20 deg. F nights, and warm summers with temperatures reaching highs of 110 degrees. In both cases we did not have a skirting system attached to the rig. We used a combination of electric heaters and the on-board gas furnace during the winter nights. The electric heat seemed to smooth out the cycle of heating and cooling typical of the gas furnace. It really helped us to us an electric blanket to minimize propane usage. I highly recommend two air conditioners. We are able to close off the bedroom and use the bedroom air conditioner to help make sleeping more comfortable in real warm summer evenings. We found it better to place the fan on the bedroom air conditioner off of auto and on to manual. This minimizes the on/off fan disturbance that might wake you up when air is cycled. For us, the slide out walls and floors are a big source of heat/cold loss. The entire floor is very cold in the winter and we used slippers to insulate our tootsies. We also used electric incandescent lamps in our basement to help keep pipes from freezing (be aware of fire dangers and examine your setup frequently). We used the on-board water tanks to prevent water feeds from freezing. We also filled grey and black water tanks and dumped, when full, to avoid sewer lines freezing. So, yes, you can survive in various weather but it will take experience to deal with insulating pipes. I have absolutely no idea what various manufactures use to determine whether or not a rig is "4-season". Some will say dual pane windows, "more" insulation, heated tanks, etc., but I think the biggest advantage towards 4-season rig-living will be your ability to adapt to the reality of the circumstances. Best of luck.
StephenKatSea
Active Member
Our BH 3670 does great in the very hot and some pretty cool temps. Some planning and fore thought helps. RoadJunkie stated it all very well.
Rickhansen
Well-known member
Not just to be agreeable, but we fully agree.
Bob&Patty
Founders of SoCal Chapter
If you going to order a BH get the "yeti" package and fireplace. We bought 2 small ceramic heaters at Wally-World. The one in the bedroom will run you of there. BTW, when you order a coach...make sure you get the GY G614 tires...worth every bit of the money and you cant buy them at a tire store for 2 times the money.
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