Freezing night / heaters

[Calman]

When out in the RV in colder weather about an hour before bedtime I make sure generator is on so I can turn on the electric mattress heater so bed is toasty. Having some reflectix under the mattress helps retain some of the heat.

Turn off generator and use body heat until almost time to put the coffee pot on in the AM then I fire up the furnace.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Originally Posted by PaulH

That's fine on hook up, but the inverter would struggle and the batteries wouldn't last 10 minutes.... I have a small gas 'fire' that uses little cartridge style gas bottles, but they cause a lot of condensation and I would never leave them on overnight. Thanks anyway.

I would never depend on inverter to run electric heater....I'd fire up the Kubota. It's mounted up front under dinette and super quiet in the BR.

[Bob Denman]

Tinme for some music...
An ode to our choice of heating fuel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1URQgQWNo

[PaulH]

���������� class ... and so apt for us in northern Europe. I'd never expect my batteries to power electric heaters, I'm gonna' get a small propane powered fan heater as used in boats and trucks over here. Very quiet ant use very litre power and propane.

[PictureTheSouth]

I'll be singing this all winter long.

[Ron]

We have only had our coach in freezing weather once up in Oregon. The water supply hose froze and that’s about it. After the sun came up, it thawed out and everything was ok but I didn’t even think about the holding tanks freezing. I’m going to have to learn more about this for the future in case we go somewhere that gets below freezing.

I’ll have to agree with most here that our heater doesn’t use much propane. I had a “HotRod” installed on the water heater so we use electricity most of the time to heat the water.

[Popfla]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Looking for cold weather?
Given the chance: I'd drive South with a snow shovel tied to the front grille.
When somebody asks me what that thing is: THAT'S where I'd stop!

Yup.

[Bob Denman]

That one is cute: here's it's Big Daddy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvR-eaKUVqU

[mkapala]

I have purchased two 120 VAC BoHo Farm seedling mat heaters, and a Farm Innovators TC-3 Cold Weather Thermo Cube Thermostatically Controlled Outlet (On at 35-Degrees/Off at 45-Degrees), all available on Amazon. The heat mats are only about 18 watts each. I have this in my water pump compartment, with one mat sort of wrapped around the pump, the other on the bin floor under the plastic plumbing. I can plug this in to an outside AC outlet when we are parked for the night. Have not tried it yet, but expecting that it will suffice for nights that can dip below freezing. Will also keep the water heater on.

[naturescott49]

We camp all winter in Georgia where it can get into the teens at night. When in a park with electricity, I have a small thermostatically controlled heater I plug into the park stalk to keep my water basement above freezing as the pipes are very close to the bottom wall and the space is not heated. I have an outside refrigerator and don't want the sink to freeze so use a small plug-in thermostatically controlled heater to keep it warm. I ran a power line outside from a regular plug inside to use an electric heater inside as it draws enough to pop the breaker whenever almost anything else is used on the circuit. This has proved very handy. My tanks have heating mats under them but I've never had to turn them on.

When travelling in cold weather, I don't hook up to water at all and keep a 5 gallon fresh water tank with me to use. It's not home, but it's safe!

[Pete'sMH]

When I camp in the winter I leave the coach winterized and just bring bottled water for drinking. Use paper and plastic for eating and wash the few remaining dishes outside with my bottled water. I’ll use campground facilities for toilet and shower and at night I’ll use the coach toilet but flush with an antifreeze/water mix. I added a dedicated 20A outlet in my coach for a space heater (or a portable air conditioner if I ever need it). this is fed by a 20Amp inlet in the electric compartment so I can use the pedestal 20A outlet leaving my 30A service for its usual duty. I wouldn’t want to do all this for full time but my winter camping is usually just a few days locally or traveling to warmer climates for snowbirding. Works for me.

[GVP-The Boxcar Children]

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Tinme for some music...
An ode to our choice of heating fuel.

Freakin' hilarious, Bob, thanks for sharing!
GVP

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

... I added a dedicated 20A outlet in my coach for a space heater...this is fed by a 20Amp inlet in the electric compartment so I can use the pedestal 20A outlet leaving my 30A service for its usual duty.

This is a great idea that would work for me as well. I’m always popping a breaker when I use the electric auxiliary heater and someone turns on the microwave.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by GVP-The Boxcar Children

Freakin' hilarious, Bob, thanks for sharing!
GVP

If I can't be helpful: I might as well help folks smile a little bit!

[Lin S]

Bob, how do I put a new post on this thing? I an having trouble figuring out how. I want to ask about a radio that will work with android

[The Gritz Carlton]

Go to the bottom on the page...click on the forum you wish to post in, then hit the red "NEW POST" box near the top left.

[Ron]

Originally Posted by Lin S

Bob, how do I put a new post on this thing? I an having trouble figuring out how. I want to ask about a radio that will work with android

You have to go to another form for Android...this one is Apple.

[Soldier Girl]

I agree. I spent my entire first winter battling winter storms & freezing temps - never again! - I hope... I have heating pads for my tanks. They probably helped, & I kept my fresh tank full - which I'm told probably helped. But one of those 15 degree nights resulted in water gushing out onto the pavement once it warmed up. I thought my tank had cracked open. Turns out that some kind of connector (maybe a valve? Sorry, not very tech savvy), cracked from the sudden temp changes. It wasn't covered by warranty & it cost about $80 at CW to replace & install - but it could've been a whole lot worse! If something seems to give, you might want to check that out before paying someone else to eventually find the problem, especially if you have some tech skills that I lack (yes, guys, you've all been great trying to teach me...). Good luck this winter!

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

If it froze, it froze and putting heat on it now probably won’t do much good. If the temp is going into the 40s and the sun is out, it will warm up and unfreeze. You are probably OK. Tank and line freeze under the coach is the biggest thing to worry about, especially if it is windy.