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Old 07-03-2010, 05:22 AM   #1
KathyandDave
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Using Monty as guest house in cold climate?

We will (finally) be parking the Monty beside the stick house for the winter. I hope to use it as a temporary guest accommodation from time to time, especially at Christmas. Are there any concerns about moisture buildup or condensation? Any other problems? We will have to put thermal plastic over the windows (we have single-pane). We know that, if we want to use the sinks, shower and head, we'll have to put a skirt around the bottom of the trailer and heat it, plus wrap electric tape around the water supply lines. I remember a thread about Monty's in Montana and Alaska, but I couldn't find it on Search. Assuming I get the services installed before the snow flies...
 
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Old 07-03-2010, 05:38 AM   #2
Sierra 117
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I would keep a vent cracked open at all times. It will take more gas to keep it warm, but it will reduce condensation big time.
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Old 07-03-2010, 05:50 AM   #3
H. John Kohl
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I suggest you contact Steve and Vickie, they have a lot of experience with winter usage also ICEHOUSE.
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Old 07-03-2010, 07:38 PM   #4
Wayne and Carolyn Mathews
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While our home was being built, we lived in our Monty for a year, including 7 months of one of the coldest Montana (state of) winters we'd seen in 8 years. Frequently we had several weeks in a row of -30 to -45 degree temperatures, along with high winds blowing off of Clark Canyon Reservoir and through the Garfield Canyon.

We had a makeshift skirt of stock fence covered with mover's blankets, and that kept us from freezing up most of the time. (That wasn't the plan--we'd actually started a plywood skirt when the first blizzard arrived and caught us "with our plywood down.") Once or twice we did have to put a space heater under the kitchen area to keep the water lines thawed there.

The other thing we had to do, which you probably will be spared, is move two Porta-Potties onto our land, about 20 yards away from our rig. We couldn't hitch up and drive 35 miles to town to dump the black tank once we were snowed and iced in, so we couldn't use the toilet in the trailer for about 7 months. We were too far from our well to keep a hose connected and insulated with heat tape, which was another problem you probably won't have. We had to get water from the well and dump it by hand into the fresh water tank. You can probably insulate your water hose and have water all the time for your rig.

We never had a problem with moisture inside the rig. And considering the weather we lived in, we actually had a great year living in our Montana. Running out to the Porta-Potty at midnight when it was -40 and snowing like crazy wasn't fun, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. I was more afraid of the coyotes and mountain lions than of the freezing temperatures and the unlighted outhouse for which I was headed. If we'd been closer to our well, close enough to make insulating and heating a water hose feasible, our winter in the Monty would have been a piece of cake!

Hint: I learned from someone on this board that if you put a layer of blankets in the storage area under the bed, you'll sleep a lot warmer. Ditto for the sofa bed--put a layer of blankets under that mattress. Blankets will keep the cold from coming up through the mattresses.

Search posts from Icehouse, as John said. They were living through their Alaskan winter at the same time that we were living through our Montana winter.

Carolyn
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Old 07-03-2010, 08:36 PM   #5
Rondo
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Kathy and Dave-- I am assuming you have a sewer hookup or septic near the house since you will be using it as guest quarters. If not where do you plan on dumping that time of year? See you guys at Goshen!!
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Old 07-04-2010, 05:26 AM   #6
rapidrobert
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we do this all the time. Usually we use the RV and let guests use our bedroom. We don't trust folks that are not used to rv toilet. When it is below freezing we just fill fresh water tank and unhook hose. We do have power, water and sewer hookup at trailer.
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