pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi,
The one I have is over twenty years old--I've but rarely used it. It contains a small motor which manually "switches" between the two outlets on the unit.
If used with oil filled heaters the "lag" in the oil cooling pretty much covers up the "on/off" nature of the load divider. There are no "extra" watts to be had, however, so there will be no extra heating either.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.
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Midwestgirl483
Iowa
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Joined: 09/08/2005
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Flyingdog I was reading this forum regarding the winter camping and came across your Solar coverings for windows made from spray painting cardboard in the cooler climates. I just have one question about how you get the 1" clearance between the window and the cardboard. Can I ask you maintained this?
2008 Discover America NuWa
2006 Dodge Big Horn 3500
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flyingdog
Land of Enchantment (or something to that extent)
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Joined: 07/25/2010
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Midwestgirl483 wrote:Flyingdog I was reading this forum regarding the winter camping and came across your Solar coverings for windows made from spray painting cardboard in the cooler climates. I just have one question about how you get the 1" clearance between the window and the cardboard. Can I ask you maintained this?
My RV window glass is set in about 1" from the walls already, so just putting cardboard flush with the walls works well enough in my case. It doesn't need to be exact or anything. Basically, the space just needs to be big enough, about 1" to 1.5", that passive circulation can set up as the air heats and rises through the space. If it's too small of a space, a lot of the heat could radiate out through the window glass instead of heating your camper...though too much wouldn't heat the air very well.
I'm in the process of posting some details on my solar heating projects over the years to my blog:
Simple Solar Heating for RVs
I'll post more in the future as I find time
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KShafer
Costa Mesa, CA
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Joined: 07/02/2010
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I'm currently staying in a Carriage Cameo F35SB3 at Tiger Run Resort in Breckenridge, CO for the winter and I thought I'd update everyone with the two cents that I've gained so far. Here's a few things that have worked really well for me:
1) My roof AC has a heat pump option that, when turned to the "on" position, will automatically switch to propane heat when it gets too cold. I've actually found the heat pump to work effectively down to about 10 degrees (fahrenheit). This has been a great way to keep the propane bill down.
2) Open the blinds in the daytime. We have dual-pane windows with day/night shades. When the sun is out, keeping the blinds up lets a lot of warmth in. I had originally planned to insulate the windows with block foam but the day/night shades seem to do a great job of keeping the cold out. They sit about 4 inches away from the windows so it creates a nice air gap.
3) Skirting. Rather than going the block foam route or shelling out a lot of money for a custom canvas skirt (which I'd like to do down the road but just didn't have the funds going into the winter) we duct taped astrofoil insulation around the bottom of the RV and secured the bottom of the astrofoil with a frame made of 2x3 boards. The cost of materials was under $150 and you can get everything you need at Home Depot or Lowe's. I recommend ponying up for residue-free duct tape so you don't leave a sticky mess on your gelcoat when summer comes around.
4) Use DampRid. You can get the little buckets for a few bucks a piece at Lowe's and they last a long time. It's looking like the ones we have are going to last us the whole winter. We've got one in the kitchen area, one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom, and one in every under storage compartment.
5) Get an indoor/outdoor thermometer; it's easy piece of mind. I got a cheap one at WalMart for $10 and put the outdoor sensor in the basement next to my water lines. Right now, it's 7 degrees outside, 46 degrees in the basement and 65 in the coach.
6) Insulate the fresh water line- I ran heat tape along the fresh water line and wrapped it with 3/4" foam pipe insulation. This worked great until temps hit -10 degrees fahrenheit and the line froze. After that, I added a layer of fiberglass insulation around the the foam insulation and haven't had any problems, even when a few nights have gone as low as -30.
7) We've got a 2003 GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax Diesel and haven't needed to use anti-gel. The block heater is needed for a clean start whenever temps are below 20 degrees. There's no need to keep the heater on over night; 30 minutes to an hour in the morning before starting always does the trick.
That's about all I've got for now!
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SunTen
Kansas
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Joined: 11/21/2010
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We are wintering for the first time and have really found this forum helpful. My RV dealer had some great suggestions for us.
We put a little heater in the storage unit of our fifth wheel plugged into to a thermostate controlled plug in. This has helped with keeping the pipes warm.
We then purchased a hose that is heated. This way we did not have to run any heat tape or wrap it. It was actually designed for farm use but if you buy a couple of couplers to reverse the ends and it works great for the fifth wheel. It did not work the first week because I had not reversed the ends so the sensor was up in the fifth wheel and it was staying warm. Once I reversed it we have not had any problems.
This week will be our biggest test because we are supposed to be 8 degrees below tonight with 30 mph winds and 6 to 8 inches of snow. If we make it this week and know that we will winter camp again next year.
Thanks for all the advice.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi all,
You can buy heater bars here:
https://www.amazon.com/s?srs=10809608011
Just plug them into a mechanical thermostat.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi all,
I've decided to add a dual fan to the area below my stove to blow warm cabin air into the vulnerable to freezing areas. This should save on propane.
Here is an example of what I plan to use:
dual fan
![[image]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41R1W4PTK0L._SL500_AA300_.jpg)
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi all,
If there is an out door shower, remove the hose, cover the openings into the trailer (duct tape?) and stuff the "box" with insulation. This may help to prevent the fresh water system from freezing up. DAMHIK
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DiscoveryTodd
Sacramento
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Joined: 04/24/2011
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Just a note, my RV had a heated icemaker line but the manufacturer didn't wrap the heat tape around the electronic valve located in the refridgerator access area. The valve froze, cracked and leaked when the temp. rose. It was a $100 valve that could have easily been spaired. Another tip, when traveling through cold climates use the pipe insulation to close off all the outside vents to the refridgerator, when you arrive at destination remove the bottom one. I use 100 watt clamp on shop lights in my basement for pump, tank and water lines and run my generator while traveling to keep from freezing up, once they are frozen it's difficult to thaw them out. While camped I swith to small electric space heaters. This helped me make it through a -15 degree week last Thanksgiving at Park City, UT.
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SunTen
Kansas
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Myself along with some friends of ours survived our first winter camping. We dealt with a lot of snow and 15 below weather.
We have a fifth wheel and he has a motor coach. We purchased a heated water hose to hook up to the facilites water which they had wrapped in heat wires. The heated water hose had a sensor to turn itself on and off to keep the water line from freezing.
In my storage compartment I purchased a plug in adapter with a temperature gauage. I plugged a heater in this and set the temperature at 65 degrees. I also placed a wireless temperature gauge in there to monitor the temperature inside the unit. I placed another wireless temperature gauge in the water hookup area to montitor as well.
We had a skirt made to attach to the fith wheel which reduced cold air blowing under the unit. Being on cement we used water filled tubes to hold it in place. Next year I will be using sand bags. They will handle the harsh winds better. Heavier to deal with but worth the trouble.
The holding tanks were dumped once a week. We did not leave the dumping hose hooked up. I would also recommend the shortest hose to dump because it will be easier to deal with in the cold. Just one less place for freezing problems. We also did not use our on board washer and dryer. More opportunity for potential freezing.
We borrowed a 100lb propane tanke to hook up outside. It was easy to monitor the level of fuel and get it filled. If we ran out for any reason we always had our onboard tanks for backup.
Next year we will add some insulation in the cabinets on the outside walls. You could feel cold air when you got into the cabinets. They talk about the great insulation but it just did not seem enough in the cabinets.
Our friends with the motor coach did pretty much the same thing except for a skirt around the coach.
With a little research and attention to detail winter RV'ing is great.
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