Cold weather camping

[Bduck100]

Has anyone Winter camped in this unit? It has black Water, gray Water and fresh water heaters. Low pt drain is exposed. We are traveling in northern north Dakota and possibly further north.

[vcbice]

Originally Posted by SGT

If electric heaters are used and the furnace fan is set to on with the thermostat set too low for the furnace to light, will the fan pick up enough heat to keep the tanks and underbelly warm?

I don't know. The furnace sends air directly to the underbelly rather than air that has cooled in the living section. I guess you could put an electric heater next to the return air vent for heat to the underbelly.

I'd test it and see. Put a temp gauge with min max memory in the basement. run the furnace and see what the numbers are. Then run your electric heaters and see if there is a difference.

[vcbice]

Originally Posted by Bduck100

Has anyone Winter camped in this unit? It has black Water, gray Water and fresh water heaters. Low pt drain is exposed. We are traveling in northern north Dakota and possibly further north.

If it has an enclosed underbelly with heat then you will be OK down to the temps Jayco advertises.

But, if camping in really cold weather (single digits and lower) I would plan on adding skirting and additional heating underneath. And a BIG propane tank

[Bduck100]

Thanks, the underbelly isn't enclosed so even with tank heaters I guess I am somewhat limited re winter camping.

[GrumpyDad]

I think someone above made this point, but it's worth repeating that there's a big difference between it dripping below freezing for a few hours overnight and it being solidly below freezing all day and all night.

[LeonDawn]

We had a few unusually cold snaps last year. We live about 50 miles north of Houston where it got down to 16 one day. I keep the heater running for 3 or 4 days on 60. Yeah I burned a full propane bottle but my Pinnacle 36FBTS came through unscathed!! This keeps the basement, as the they call it, nice and toasty!!

[twdenman]

Originally Posted by gypsmjim

We have camped nearly year round for 32 years. I can recall days when the high temp was only zero deg. F., and it was snowing all day.

We winterize early October. The tanks are drained and anti=freeze put in the traps. I have a plastic pan that fits in the sink perfectly. We use bottled water and empty the pan outside when its full.

The "outside plumbing" is our winter bathroom. Our stove, Microwave and fridge still work perfectly. With the trailer's furnace, we are actually quite comfy inside.

This is what we do. We carry, a few gallons of drinking water, and 2-7 gal containers of water. (The blue ones, with spigots.) Every time we flush, we add little anti-freeze. Same with grey tank. Cuddle at night, run a couple electric heaters, then pop on the furnace, when we first get up.

[viking42]

I tried 2 heaters and it was too much on the system. But I unhooked the micro and plugged one heater into that outlet and the other in a regular outlet and was able to run both on my 30amp system

[DamonBecky]

Our last cold camp was in Nebraska last November, when it got down to just below 20 at least three nights.

I bought foam pipe insulation for water hose, but filled tank during the day, turned hose off and disconnected from 5ver those nights.

Our Northpoint 361 REQS did fine keeping the camper and underbelly warm, tho like someone else said, we used a lot of propane. Had to run to town to refill one bottle during those few days.

We have an electric fireplace which really helps ease the propane use during cold days. I'm sure the fan does circulate some of the electric-heated air into the system, and our return air vents are on ceiling, where heat rises to anyway.

[chas111]

We camped off the grid in 2018 MBOK. I kept thermostat in a range of 62-68 depending when we were in the trailer. Camped three nights and used about 2/3 of a 30# tank LP. Highs in the low 30s and the low was a cold 20 degrees! I did not notice any issues with the water. It did take awhile for the hot water tap to flow hot water (as it warmed up the pex).

[gypsmjim]

Winter in Our Jayco.
Snug as a bug in a rug.
Life is good!