Winter Camping -how to/tips

jdorant · 07-23-2013, 08:15 AM

Hello! I am in the process of securing a winter seasonal in the white mountains of New Hampshire. I own a 2013 Whitehawk 28DSBH with Glacier package but I have some questions for those of you that have done winter camping.

Do you use your water system? If so what do you do to keep from freezing up?

What about dumping grey/black tanks? Do you leave the sewer hose connected all the time or do you disconnect between dumping?

I am new to winter camping so please give me any tips you can. My reason for getting the winter seasonal is I have a problem with storage for the winter. I've been quoted $500 to store for the winter. Well this winter seasonal is $850 for the winter, includes water,sewer,cable,wifi and metered electric. So why not be able to use it! Oh and the have a heated bathhouses and a main building with a family room, game room, and full kitchen. I am very excited about this opportunity!

max2bob · 07-23-2013, 10:18 AM

i lived inside Yellowstone park in my trailer for a quite a few winters. the easiest was draining all water and tanks and using the bathhouse. in later years in west Yellowstone I skirted the trailer with the foam board and had heat tape on the fresh water hose. had to insulate the sewer hose also as when it got cold it would freeze. biggest problem was condensation. I did that window insulating kit on most windows and left one or two bare so I could crack them for ventilation. and the wind blew enough it kept the trailer roof clear. a light bulb underneath the trailer would keep it just warm enough the tanks would not freeze. it is not easy on a trailer using it in the winter but it is doable.

jdorant · 11-09-2013, 10:32 PM

Bringing the camper up North to it's winter destination Thanksgiving weekend and wanted to bump this thread up a bit as others might be doing the same. If anybody has any good tips for surviving the winter please share, this is our 1st winter. I have learned from the campground that I do not have to worry about the city water connection because you are not allowed to leave it connected. You have to fill your fresh water and use your pump. But still curious to know what you do about the sewer hose.

Doug · 11-09-2013, 10:40 PM

That White mountain area is beautiful.
I drove up to a famous Hotel near Mt. Washington in the winter, About 4' of snow.
It should be a cool experience, but winter is pretty severe there.

Enjoy and let us know how it goes. Pictures are going to be a must :-)

Safe travels,
Doug

Jagiven · 11-10-2013, 08:02 AM

Well, I have never done any winter camping in my TT. I like what Max2Bob had to say. As for the sewer hose, if you want to keep it connected all the time. I would get a piece of heater tape wrap the sewer hose and have it on an elevated sewer stand. I would also try wrapping insulation around the hose to. Not sure what I would use thou. One option is to make a box out of 2” Styrofoam and surround the hose.

The light bulb trick does work nicely.

Bassdogs · 11-10-2013, 09:07 AM

My winter camping has been in 3-7 day spirts so I winterize and bypass the water heater. Use CG facilities for the most part. We use the toilet and flush with water from a 2 gal can. Same for the kitchen needs. If temps are not expected to get below 32, I might go ahead and use the plumbing but leave the wh in bypass. The glacier pac will help with heating and be sure to use your onboard furnace. Heat from the furnace is ducted below the subfloor to protect holding tanks.

Leaving the plumbing operational would scare me unless I was on site. To many bad things can happen if there is a power outage, breaker trips, or the weather goes arctic.

TeamFoxy · 11-10-2013, 01:33 PM

Seems to me like you are all choosing the wrong places for winter camping. We are planning for a week in Key West in January.

tinlizzie23 · 11-10-2013, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeamFoxy

Seems to me like you are all choosing the wrong places for winter camping. We are planning for a week in Key West in January.

Now that's my idea of winter camping !

msturtz · 11-10-2013, 09:01 PM

You can install Ultraheat tank & plumbing heaters. They sell heaters that attach to tanks, fresh water lines, and waste lines. The tank heaters are thermostatically controlled and can be easily wired into your RV. My Greyhawk came with tank heaters and I had pipe heaters. I installed pipe heaters just up from the waste gates for both the grey and black tank. I then wrapped the plumbing in insulation and then topped it all off with undercoating go protect the setup. Next I insulated the tanks to help keep the heat inside. Finally I keep the heat in the unit heated all the time to avoid any problems with internal freeze up. You can get the heat pads from www.ultraheat.com. The next thing you will need to tackle is humidity. Since RVs are generally poorly insulated and they have a smaller living space volume it is critical to keep the humidity down. The most effective method I have found is a full mechanical dehumidifier. The unit I have automatically shuts off at 35% RH. I do have to manually dump the dehumidifier tank periodically and it is amazing how much water collects when we were using our TT in the winter. This does keep our windows clear and the RV usable in the winter. We used dehumidifier in the winter for years with our 2004 JayFlight 29BHS. We just installed it into our Greyhawk 31FS. I hope some of this information helps you! Good luck!

marshvegasmike · 11-18-2013, 05:58 PM

jdorant,

Balls to the wall buddy. Admire that fact that you would want to winter camp in the first place. Go for it. Not my cup of tea, seems like alot of work. As for me, John and Nancy can sign me up for Key West!!! Don't hear much mention of space heater use. Was camping Vets' day weekend. Use the heater to take the chill out of the air in morn, used an oscillating space heater to maintain comfortable setting. Crawling into the bunk end of the hybrid, (we kept one end closed) it was cool but cured with electric blanket, fleece blanket and sleeping bag opened up as blanket. Nice and comfy. About as cold as I would want to go though. Good luck. J, I see you have as your profile pic your old/my new camper

John LLRV · 11-19-2013, 08:14 AM

Greetings from the frozen north eh?

Anyway.. we (dealership) typically install heater wraps on the tanks and plumbing wraps from this site (http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/r...FYt_Qgod9DsAdA)

We also suggest heater incoming hoses (if the campground still has water available) from this site (http://www.pirithose.com/product.php)

Has not let us down yet. HOWEVER.. you must keep water in the plumbing, or the heaters MAY damage the PVC.

John

msturtz · 11-19-2013, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshvegasmike

jdorant,

Balls to the wall buddy. Admire that fact that you would want to winter camp in the first place. Go for it. Not my cup of tea, seems like alot of work. As for me, John and Nancy can sign me up for Key West!!! Don't hear much mention of space heater use. Was camping Vets' day weekend. Use the heater to take the chill out of the air in morn, used an oscillating space heater to maintain comfortable setting. Crawling into the bunk end of the hybrid, (we kept one end closed) it was cool but cured with electric blanket, fleece blanket and sleeping bag opened up as blanket. Nice and comfy. About as cold as I would want to go though. Good luck. J, I see you have as your profile pic your old/my new camper

I don't know if you were referring to the OP or me but we work a lot and have two infants and an 8 YO. We try to get away for a weekend whenever we can even in the winter. I also had a Trac Loc rear differential installed and 6 studded snow tires so if we encounter snow and ice we won't be stuck. It is common to have snow in the passes in the winter. We got caught by a massive snow storm about 9 years ago with our TT. Fortunately, I had Hensley Arrow hitch and I had a one ton truck 4x4 with studded snow tires. Otherwise we could not have made it home. We have had many fun times camping in the fall winter. Usually we do not go anywhere if there is lowland snow predicted but it can happen at any time and we try to be as prepared as possible. If Jayco had a 4x4 version of my motorhome I would have bought that. Funny that Jayco now has a 4x4 Melbourne but it doesn't have bunks so it won't work for us.

Sixpak · 11-21-2013, 08:26 AM

We bought our TT in September and decided instead of parking it for the winter that we would keep it up in the nearby by Pocono mountains. Our campground has no water during the winter months so I've completely winterized my plumbing. We utilize the bath house nearby for showers and potty. My sewer hose is hooked up for any times the temps are expected to stay above freezing in order to use sinks but we don't use the toilet at all. We go just for weekends and I put more antifreeze in the p-traps if we've poured anything in the sinks at all.

Expecting temps to hit a low of 12 this weekend so we'll see just how effective that furnace is. I STILL remember the dealer telling me I wouldn't need an Arctic package because no one camps in the winter. Sigh.

acbgrb · 12-04-2013, 06:55 PM

Thank you for the information. We are new to camping in a travel trailer, but have learned so much by all the campers we have met over the last few months.

DKRITTER · 12-05-2013, 08:37 AM

We did ours for the first time yesterday afternoon, it was kind of weird since it was in the upper 70's in DFW but it's in the low 30's now and should be in the low 20's tonight.

It was really easy (once we got all the valves correct) just went through the entire trailer opening faucets until it turned pink then poured the remainder of the 2 gallons in the drains.

Just a note don't forget about the outdoor shower or kitchen, we almost did.

mohok1 · 12-05-2013, 06:52 PM

I have read the question and all of the replys. Good info for sure. I have a question. If you are living in your RV and the temp drops below freezing into the high teens and low twentys for a few hours, can you not put RV Antifreeze into your black tank to prevent it from freezing? My daughter and son-in-law will winter in the Charlotte, NC area and live in their camper. No Artic package on the unit. They will have city water. The fresh water tank will be empty and the grey tank will be left open. They can run the water heater off and on to keep it from freezing. The furnace will be run as needed to keep the unit liveable. I have winterized the water hose with electrical heater tape and insulation. We are hoping for the best as the temps are not as bad as further North. Might have to get a dehumidifier for the condensation.

Mohok

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