How cold have you camped?

[NC Roamer]

What is the coldest temperature that you have camped in your Greyhawk/Redhawk without having a frozen water pipe? How low, in your experience, can the outside temperature get if the tank heaters are on and the furnace thermostat is set to say the upper 60s? I realize there are other variables such as wind speed, but I am trying to get an idea of how far into winter we can camp. Thanks.

[OnTheGo]

We camped comfortably in our Greyhawk in mid 20's. I think we could have gone lower without problems. The tank heaters are more effective when the tanks are fuller. I was told the pipes coming from the black, gray and the dump valves are vulnerable to freezing if they extend away from the tanks. I wrapped ours with a residential style heated pipe wrap and then stuffed an old blanket up into the pipes. We enjoyed cold weather camping often while we were in Ohio.

[Ronbo]

I have never used the tank heater, I know it's probably a stupid question, but what tank(s) does it heat? It seems that if it was cold enough to have to heat your black/grey tanks it would be too cold to not have your fresh water winterized. We have camped when it was pretty cold but we used the campground facilities.

[OnTheGo]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

I have never used the tank heater, I know it's probably a stupid question, but what tank(s) does it heat? It seems that if it was cold enough to have to heat your black/grey tanks it would be too cold to not have your fresh water winterized. We have camped when it was pretty cold but we used the campground facilities.

... remember, no questions are stupid. If your unit was equipped with tank heaters it most likely has them on all three tanks. They are mats (or strips) that are glued on the bottom of the tank and easily seen from the underside.

Although the fresh water tank is heated, a separate option to heat the lines and elbows to the fixtures is usually not included in stock packages (our Greyhawk didn't have it). I think in severe cold weather I would drain the plumbing, and not worry about the tank.

I had other questions and called the manufacturer's rep. Got lots of good information from friendly people. Tank heaters and cold weather camping are not as common as some of the other features we deal with in the forum.

Edit: Using the CG facilities if they are available is always my 1st choice just because it's easier.

[reitrof]

Coldest for me was 18F. Kept the water running on a slow drip and the tank heaters on. Only thing that froze was the hot water line for the shower.

But I wouldn't recommend it. The Greyhawk is not a cold weather, below freezing, rig.

[msturtz]

We four season camped in our Greyhawk. The changes we made that allowed this were as follows:
Insulated the Black and grey tanks
Installed "UltraHeat" brand pipe heaters on the black water and grey water tank lines just above the dump valves
Insulated all drain lines downstream from the black and grey tanks
Heated the freshwater supply line with an "UltraHeat" pipe heater and installed insulation
Insulated all other fresh water supply lines including the low point drains
The carpet in the front of the cab was removed and Hushmat was installed and new carpet pad and carpet was installed.
The "doghouse" was insulated with Hushmat
The rear storage compartment under the bed was insulated to keep more heat inside the coach.
All blinds were pulled down at all times to reduce heat loss
A 100# external propane tank was used via an external regulator to provide supplementary propane via the external grill connection. (The factory propane tank is too small to keep the coach heated for more than a few days.
Hot water heater kept on both propane and electric at all times
Installed a mechanical dehumidifier inside the bathroom set at 35% RH with automatic start
Installed an auxiliary 12VDC AGM battery under the bed (Note: you must use an AGM battery because under the bed is "inside" the coach) The dealer also installed a separate battery disconnect for the extra battery.
With these changes the unit never froze up and there were no issues with water or humidity even in the winter.

[reitrof]

Michael,

Any idea how much weight was added?

[msturtz]

Originally Posted by reitrof

Michael,

Any idea how much weight was added?

Yes I do oddly enough. The ship weight was 12,691# with full propane and fuel. I had added those items and a upgraded hitch, spare tire and aux fuel tank. The weight with some fuel in both tanks and some items in the coach was: 12,760#. This means the total weight was only 59# heavier than "stock". That said, the "sticker" weights are permitted to be "low" averages as many manufacturers don't weigh each unit. I suspect that I added about 200# to the actual weight. However the impact to my CCC was minimal due to the averaging effect.

[reitrof]

Thanks