Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > MOC Technical Forums > Additions & Improvements
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-24-2006, 04:05 PM   #1
mountainmole
Established Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Cascade
Posts: 39
M.O.C. #4562
Winter Living

This will be our first winter using the 5th. We will leave the Monty in Boise where it get regularly gets well under freezing. Does any one have a short or long list of what precautions we need to take. Thanks for your input!
 
mountainmole is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-24-2006, 04:26 PM   #2
Ozzie
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Apple Valley
Posts: 1,574
M.O.C. #1358
Send a message via MSN to Ozzie
I just read a thread about this...try reading this thread:

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=16909


327RKS
Ozzie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-25-2006, 09:16 AM   #3
sreigle
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
Mountainmole, what year is your Monty and is it a Montana or Mountaineer? The changes in recent years make preparation for cold weather living a whole lot simpler.

Also, will you stay in it our will you winterize it and not use the water system and tanks?

With that info we can better answer your questions.



See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

sreigle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2006, 04:25 PM   #4
mountainmole
Established Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Cascade
Posts: 39
M.O.C. #4562
Steve,
Hope this gets to you, new at this and not sure yet how to respond. We live in the mountains 75 miles above Boise and dont want to expose the Monty to our not so hot winters. Boise is usually 25 degrees warmer wiith much less snow. We would leave H20 in for we plan to use it once a week or so on our trips to civilization. Would like to set the heater to 45 or so. Its a 2006 Montana that we bought Sept 05. Thanks for your response.
John
mountainmole is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2006, 06:37 PM   #5
sreigle
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
John, you did just fine on the reply.

Does yours have two hoses close together hanging below the rig? Actually, there's a third that is the freshwater tank drain. Those two hoses are the low point drains. On some 2006 models and later (but not all 2006, I think) the low point drain valves are inside the basement storage area. The hoses hang out below but the valve is inside. If yours are inside, then skip this part. If yours are hanging below and have caps on them to drain the water lines, that's the first point that will freeze. I had to heat tape ours and then wrap with insulation followed by duct tape.

The water tanks and water lines are in the belly. There is a furnace duct to keep that area from freezing. It works quite well but only if the furnace runs enough. And it will eat a lot of propane. If the furnace quits running, it will freeze. I would think 45 would work so long as you are not in it and dealing with that temperature. I hope you will have a large propane bottle because with temperatures in the teens and below and the furnace on 45 you'll get maybe 3 or 4 days, 5 or 6 at the most, out of a 30 lb bottle. The 45 setting might give you a little more time on one bottle. You can get a larger external bottle to connect to.

Re-reading your post, I guess the Montana will be in Boise where it doesn't get quite so cold? I just checked Boise's average and last year's temperatures and it is surprisingly mild for winter. Looks like they had some low in the upper teens but not much colder than that. If that's what you expect, you'll probably be fine with the furnace on 45. If you have those older style low point drains, though, ours used to freeze at around 22 degrees F. If yours are inside, no problem.

I've kind of rambled. I hope this helps somewhat. Keep in mind if you get three or four hours below 27 degrees without the furnace running, it will freeze. So it's a good idea to let it get down to that 45 degrees before it gets that cold and then let the furnace maintain it. When you visit the rig you may want to turn the thermostat back down before the temperatures drop below freezing. Just a suggestion.

We have a number of people here who have survived winter in a Montana. Maybe some of them will jump in and help.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

sreigle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2006, 09:10 AM   #6
Cat320
Montana Master
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,700
M.O.C. #5751
Here's some information on propane consumption:

Each gallon of propane produces about 91,500 BTUs of heat energy, therefore a seven gallon bottle will provide about 640,500 BTUs of heat energy. The following is a typical rate of consumption when turned on full for one hour:

Water heater: 12,000
Regrigerator: 1,500
Furnace: 20,000
Oven: 14,100
Each Range Burner: 5,600
Cat320 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-27-2006, 09:43 AM   #7
mountainmole
Established Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Cascade
Posts: 39
M.O.C. #4562
Steve,
I wish I could ramble as well as you. Ours has both valves outside the basement area. Is there way to cut these short to recess them into the basement with just the drain outside? I guess the only alternative is to dry camp and clean up in the club house. Are the sewer shut off valves in the basement? I will be hooked up to electricity to refer, and water heater will be off propane. Do they make a combo propane/elect furnace, or is that just a waste of money? So little experience - so many questions. Thanks for the help!
mountainmole is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Something is living in my table coupe31 General Discussions about our Montanas 12 04-09-2010 01:19 PM
Winterizing while living in it blamb Brrr it's cold outside! Winter Camping 8 12-29-2008 02:14 PM
Living in your Montana this Winter? SKOOBDO Full Timing in your Montana 74 07-28-2007 05:00 AM
Living Will Kathi Sitting around the Campfire 1 06-15-2007 05:36 AM
Living with a blind pet Mrs. CountryGuy Pet Palace 17 01-04-2007 01:50 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:43 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.