Anyone in WI staying through winter?

[Fivealive]

You do realize people in Alaska endure a lot colder temps than here in WI don't you? I was hoping for some helpful tips please and thank you. I'm from here and kept warm for four hours in 40-below temps but was walking on a door-to-door canvassing job just not sure about sleeping at night. But I bought R30 insulation and got heat supplies. I hope to hear from people in WI who have successfully done winter camping. I'm not going to be boodocking though. Will have heat and power. If it's too cold, there might be nights I'll stay indoors. But just curious if anyone has anything helpful to add please.

Sent from my RS500 using Tapatalk

The bulk of the population in Alaska is actually in warmer areas then most of WI. (the ocean regulates the temp) Look into average temps in Anchorage and [font=Roboto, arial, sans-serif]Juneau and compare to wherever you are in WI.  I was born and raised in MN so I have an idea of what you will be up against.  When I first moved into a truck camper I was in MN and I was fine down to the 20's, but when it dropped into the single digits or below zero it became a bit much, not going to lie to you.  I spent a few winter nights in North Dakota in that truck camper for a gig I was doing in the oil fields, the temps for that stretch was down to -30 at night with highs around -5 during the day.  I survived just fine but no part of it was enjoyable, it's no way to live.  You really should try and head somewhere with better weather, do whatever it takes.  I eventually left the midwest and made it out to the west coast, never looked back.  [/font]

 

[Lorelei072]

Due to the work and planning required this is not an immediate solution per se, but earth is a good insulator. Dig below the frozen portion and you'll be heating your space from 50 degrees instead of whatever the weather dictates. Thermal loss from earth is excellent. Eventually when I buy my land, I'll be forgoing any mortgage and digging out a whimsical hobbit home as my abode. Summers will be more comfortable; there will be a savings on building material; and rough topography would be advantageous.




Currently I'm living in an insulated conversion van. When I arrive at my overnight spot, I run the van heat until the thermometer beside the rear sofa bed reaches 70 degrees, comfortably change into sweats and a thermal, then it's bedtime. I'm only in Georgia but it's gotten into the upper 20s sometimes in the past 2 months. Basically, if it's the 50s or below, I sleep wearing thermal underwear under my sweatpants, t-shirt under a thermal top, heavy fleece slipper-socks, and a wonderful knit zippered hoodie with a thick fleece lining (from Walmart).

I found an enormous, ostentatious king-sized comforter from Goodwill for $25. I think it weighs 40 lbs. It was so large and heavy it was difficult to maneuver at the checkout counter, into the van, and onto the couch (lol). Under this blanket I sleep comfortably every night. It's superb. Hopefully you can find one similar 2nd-hand somewhere.

I have a velvety sofa cover over my van's sofa bed. On top of that is the ostentatious, heavy king comforter. And over that I have an electric blanket on loan from a family member. As a Christmas present, my family helped me buy a 500wh Jackery (https://www.amazon.com/Jackery-Portable-Solar-Ready-Generator-Emergency). I'm learning 500wh is fairly limited but the electric blanket works well. I only need to warm it up, then I turn everything off and sleep quite comfortably through the night with my layers, knit fleece hoodie, king comforter, and warm van.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

To Sofistown and others:

I apologize for my frustrated tone the last time I replied. Thanks for the input from some of you. I was harsh when I asked, "what is wrong with you people?"

I'm sorry. I really am.

I'm also over my disappointment and realize it is up to me to figure this out.

Yeah my plan is to find a vehicle on which I can build my tiny house, which too bad I couldn't build on this week because it is in the 30s and 40s.

I wanted to buy the truck first but wasn't sure if I'd get everything built in time so instead spend $400 on supplies to stay warm.

So far, I stayed warm in temps as low as -1 degrees F under the covers. I would stay under there til my car was warm (keeping the fan off til my car is warm).

If I felt like sitting in their after work, I'd sit and watch Netflix or movies and turn the heat on every 30 minutes til I was ready to sleep.

I have lots of clothing and blankets. I would like to get everything built before February, but it might not happen that soon, so I'm making the most of what I have to do now.

My personal threshold will probably be 20 below. Still making sure I save money for hotels just in case.


Sent from my LM-Q720 using Tapatalk

 

[NctryBen]

JuliaAnne, are you still doing ok? I’m a Minnesnowtan and the last fifteen years lived in my old hunting shack my dad and grandfather built when I was three. The last couple I’ve been building a new place which is so much warmer. But I never liked it when it was -25 and windy. I’d rather have it -30 or so cause the wind wasn’t so brutal if there was any. I hope your doing ok... it was a bucket list thing for me. The cold has gotten hard on my bones so after this year I’m closing up in the winter. Funny story though... my daughter moved here while attending a local college. One of those -50 windchill nights I woke up extra cold. I’m like where is my blankets. I went out and stoked the fire. Here Sadie remembered I’d said how I didn’t cover up too good cause I wanted to wake up before I got too cold to stoke the fire. She was like a cocoon all wrapped in blankets which included mine. I had to use my sleeping bag and kept her warm with an extra hot fire. Haha!

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

Hello. It's been a crazy time for all of us. Sorry about the late reply. I was lucky. The coldest temperature I had to endure this past winter was -7. I'm guessing my threshold would be -20 after which time I'd probably rent a hotel

Believe it or not, even at zero degrees I was sweating. I was in a small car and wore hats, gloves and a snowsuit. I had like four blankets total including two sleeping bags -- one of which was for 30 degrees, and the other was for 10 degrees.

But I sometimes stayed warm even at 10 degrees with no snowsuit. Most of the time, I didn't even use all my blankets or my winter gear.

I got used to and found it quite comfortable to sleep in the passenger side seat. I put a pillow to the right of me to act as a wind barrier. It worked quite well.

I've got other updates to post, but that's it for now. I learned it's actually easier to stay warm for me than to now stay cool. (I also spent half of last summer outside past year, so I know ).

The nice thing is, I work 2nd shift now, so when I sleep in the car, it's usually perfect tempurature.

-->That car is getting old, however, so I have two backup plans:

1.

I just got a storage bin so I could finally get my stuff out of my mom's garage, plus I can set it up to change before work. It's only about 10 minutes from my job. I'm also going to get a bike just in case.

2.

I now am going to pay a friend $200/month to shower and cook at his place. (I was crashing on the couch for a while, then in his newly built shed.)

3.

Most of the stuff is outta my car, and I now sleep on 6 inches of memory foam...so nice...even nicer than my friend's couch (really a futon).

4.

My next plan is to get a bigger vehicle hopefully before winter comes again.

Sent from my LM-Q720 using Tapatalk