1st time winter/freezing camping.. advice?

[bootstrap]

DW and I are work camping in South Dakota through the winter and I’m look g for advice. I mean besides going south for the winter. We are in a 2004 2955 RL with Artic Package for what it’s worth.
From the axles forward I dropped the belly pan- put pipe insulation on all water lines. I cut 1” foam board with radiant barrier and installed between frame / crossmembers, I strung tie wire under board to help suspend it and radiant barrier facing up. I cut and used spray adhesive to stick the bubble wrap radiant barrier to inside a belly pan and re installed. I’ve skirted RV with 1.5” pink foam board. I have 2 heat lamps to set under the black/ gray water tanks in front. I have my galley tank open and draining all time as we use it. I’m using onboard water tank vs being hooked up via water hose. I cut pool noodles and used as an extra seal around the slide outs to help seal better.. cut foam board and installed in the roof vents.
What else should I do? Next week lows are forecasting to be single digits. We’ve had several nights below freezing but not single digit cold yet. So far, no issues

[DutchmenSport]

You need to remember, the sewer lines will freeze up also if you do not protect them. Also, your water hose line also needs protection.

In freezing weather, we use the sewer hose only long enough to dump the tanks and then its drained and put away. We do the same with the garden hose. Fill the on-board water tank, disconnect the garden hose, drain it completely and put it away until the next usage.

Some folks attempt to heat tape their water hoses and sewer lines. You "can" do that too. The options are yours. But most important, protect both of these lines or you'll have frozen lines outside the camper where are completely unusable until things thaw out.

[Daryles]

You can put foam board around your slides. Roof 2" wider than walls for run off. Walls overlaping skirt for run off. Same for the bedroom floor bottom slide. Tape to seal it).
Skirt. Put a heater under the skirt. Make it as air right as possible. Keeping drafts out is key.
I used Gorilla tape to sea up all frame openings and holes inside and out. I dropped the coroplast then used

SmartSHIELD -20mm 48"X25ft Reflective Insulation Roll, Foam Core Radiant Barrier, Thermal Foil Insulation Panel - 0.8 Inch Thickness, R-23 https://a.co/d/doAuEEx

Around the inside frame perimeter and across the bottom. I used Gorilla tape to hold it in place.
I put a 2x4 down the center between the two outside frames lenghtwise through the cross frame braces and used 2" screws and fender washers to hold the center of the coroplast up and keep it from sagging. Measure from the outside of the frame to the center of the 2x4 so you know where to put the screws.

Put Insulation on the inside wall (of the outside walls) of your pantry and cupboards, bedroom closet and floor. Also your basement doors.

There is a section for winter camping ideas in the forum.

[Bourbon County]

It sounds like you've been very thorough in your planning and implementation.

Is it possible to connect to the sewer with some PVC or ABS pipe rather than the slinky stinky hose? If you can hardpipe that discharge and have adequate pitch on it, it should never actually hold any water. The slinkys will always hold a bit of water between the ribs. The heat lamps are a good idea, but a double edged sword. If you have installed any radiant barrier between the lamps and the tanks, they won't do what you might expect. Another issue is safety; they can pretty easily melt any synthetics under your rig, or possibly even set them on fire. A conventional air sensing thermostat won't work on infrared. It heats objects, not the air. I believe you'll find a thermostat for infrared application will be quite expensive.

If you have a tank type water heater, you absolutely must leave it on, they are exposed to the elements and will freeze pretty quickly. I believe all of the tankless models have a freeze protection heater because they hold a small quantity of water even when not in use.

Another thing to be aware of in very cold temperatures is the exhaust for your furnace. The exhaust coming off the furnace is pretty moisture laden, when it hits the screen on the exhaust tube it can condense and freeze over very quickly. You don't want any ice build up that will obstruct the airflow, it hopefully would keep the sail switch from closing and shut the furnace down before it does damage or causes an unsafe condition. I've used these before on my gas furnace exhaust in my house:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Amerimax-Al...ard/1000068967

They're kinda ugly and you certainly want to remove them before towing, but they're much harder to ice over. They are a mesh material and can be manipulated to most any size you need.

[jsb5717]

Were they ducting the underbelly in 2004? If not you might get behind the basement wall, splice into a furnace duct and direct heat down under the floor into the underbelly. That could help tanks and plumbing.

[bootstrap]

I did not think about insulating the exterior of slides, on to do list. Same for furnace suggestion.
I’m not running shore water, instead filling onboard tank as needed. I got a macerator pump for black/ grey water and plan to use as needed and store when not in use. I don’t think the tanks are heated, I might be wrong. I did not see anything on bottom of black/ grey tanks when I put the 1” radiant barrier insulation in under the RV. I do not have a furnace vent going to the underbelly, have kicked that idea around. All advice and tips are definitely appreciated.

[Daryles]

When you take down your basement walls, most people find a 2" duct laying on the floor coming from the furnace but not going anywhere. Take this and put it down through the hole. I put mine down the hole between the tanks as far aft as it would go. This will help keep the tanks and dump valves warm. Picture 1.
If you have an island, take the corner cover off that's covering the pipes. You will fine a hole that goes all the way down to the underbelly. You can put a hair dryer blowing down here to warm the underbelly.
Picture 2 looking up from underbelly at bottom of island.
Also good to use if your pipes ever freeze. Once we were winter camping and tried ti bring the hydraulic slides in. They were barely moving. We put the furnace running and a hair dryer blowing down the island hole. Also put a small heater blowing on the hydraulic pump and reservoir. Let it run for half an hour then everything worked fine.

[Rondo]

Jim, you are one brave man and married to an even braver lady! We don't winter camp and as you said "Head South!" when it gets cold here in Nebraska. I do have a couple suggestions for you however. There should be a light in the convenient center where the hoses hook to the piping for the pump and each. Turn that on and leave it on. I found this out while down in AZ and where we were we always had cold spells where it got down below freezing especially at night. It is surprising how much heat comes off that one little fixture. Also take two inch pink styrofoam and cut it to fit tight between the floor joists below the bedroom. A layer of foiled bubble wrap either over that and the joists will help also. It not only keeps the floor warmer but also keeps it cooler in the summer heat. I also plug in an extension cord with a trouble light in the basement so it does not touch any items. If you can find an incandescent bulb it will give you enough heat down there also to keep it from freezing. The furnace duct going to bathroom can be split and a pvc Y can be added with clamps and an added duct can be clamped to the other side of the Y and set up next to the back of the convenient center for added heat both in the center and in the open area behind the basement wall. If you can find electric heater that are thermostatically controlled they can be set under the unit in the middle inside the skirting and set at a temp to keep the underbelly even warmer also. Good luck and hope all goes well.

[RMcNeal]

All really good ideas above. Just be aware on our 2019 model and newer (I think) all of the existing light fixtures are LED so they won't provide heat like an incandescent bulb will. Check first.

[Cat320]

With the WX you are about to get, I would suggest you go to WM and buy a dozen or so, cheap drop lights, and, most important, old style bulbs....that get hot...if you can find them. I scatter them around where there is likely to be water. This is after running A/F through the lines.

[daboom11]

If you wrap heat tape around the stinky slinky all the way from the tank drains, you'll be fine. Winter camping in Wisconsin right now.

[thedinobots]

The first day it snowed last year our water pump froze. We got a clamp-on incandescent heat lamp from Home Depot and put it behind the wall in the basement keeping the water pump warm. You don’t need a lot of heat, so the weakest incandescent heat lamp bulb should be fine. I also ran a space heater down in the basement if it was extremely cold just to keep everything warm. Tank heaters on at all times.

To monitor it, I put a temperature sensor down there. Stayed nice and toast and gave me some peace of mind..

Heated water hose is handy if you don’t want to have to fill your tank every couple of days. But even with a heated hose, you may want to drip the faucets on below freezing days because it can still freeze.

A space heater in the bedroom was necessary for us to keep the home warm enough.

Even with the fireplace and a space heater, we went through a bottom of propane every 3-5 days but we stayed very comfortable.

When you plan to leave if it’s still freezing, you will need to melt ice off the top of the slides or risk damage to the RV, because it will accumulate and there will be a buildup on top of all slides.

Good luck and stay warm!

[bootstrap]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, very much appreciated! Please keep them coming. Rondo thank you for the suggestions, I will be doing the insulation in the storage compartment asap. Our lowest temperature so far has been 10 degrees and about 3” of snow. Knock on wood, no problems yet. I have it skirted with 1.5” pink foam board, all except the 5th wheel area. The bedroom above the 5th wheel and it does get cooler up there. For some reason I’m not getting much air flow from furnace in floor vents in bedroom. I’ll be checking that out tomorrow and doing the suggested floor insulation/ skirting 5th W area. I have 2 heat lamps, plan on setting one under, from axle to 5th area. Basically below the black/grey water tank area. This coming week shows low teens and highs in low 30’s, one day hitting 40. I also plan to use foam board on the slides side walls and under slide toppers.
Definitely the opposite from south Texas where we try to stay cool ��. A learning experience for sure. I did get a 250 gallon propane tank and it’s been a blessing Started at 80% in October, yesterday it’s showing 60% full. Also using 1 small electric heater. If I leave it in the bedroom, it will cook us out. Now I set it on kitchen counter facing the bedroom, much better.
Found a covered entry way that was used on a mobile home, 5’ deep X 5’ wide X 8’ tall with closed front/ exterior door, going to get it today. Having a “mud room “ will definitely be a nice addition. That’s been a challenge trying to keep mud/ snow out when coming in from working all day.
Please keep the ideas/ suggestions coming.

[bootstrap]

What temp sensors are you guys using to monitor temps under the RV?

[Rondo]

Jim, Private message on your way!