Dad may be moving into an RV

[c_hasbeen]

Hi, My dad may be moving into an RV he has property and electricity and water available, this is in Nebraska and it is cold during the winter, my thoughts are to build some shirting out of plywood around the RV and then get a big LP tank to keep his heater operational, the temperatures can get down to 0 in the winter but right now they are only dipping to the single digits then coming up to freezing or above during the day. do you think it would be good to put some straw bales abound the plywood also?<br><br>I am thinking that if he can park the RV in this skirting and then skirt the front of it he could also go and dump the holding tank and back into the little skirted area again.<br><br>I have not seen the RV or have any idea what it's size is, but I think it is not much more than 24 ft long.<br><br>I know in a chicken house I would put a heat lamp in it to keep the water from freezing, would this be a worthy idea or to dangerous?<br><br>any ideas or comments is greatly appreciated!!<br><br><br>THANKS!

 

[akrvbob]

Those are all very good ideas!! One of the biggest problems will be keeping the plumbing from freezing. Heat tape wrapped around all the hoses and heat lamps under the tanks should keep them moving. The hay bales is also a great idea. it's very good insulation, cheap and easily moved.<br><br>If this is a long term thing and you won't have hook-ups I suggest you get a macerator pump and a blue boy. You use the pump to empty the tanks into a portable tank called a blue boy, then you drive that to the dump and dump it without moving the trailer. To get fresh water you just get a 55 or 30 gallon drum, take it and fill it and then use a RV pump in the truck to pump it into the RV.<br><br>For better insulation, you can lay multiple layers of sheets of Styrofoam on the roof--the more the better! To keep them from blowing away I took a extra heavy duty tarp and laid it over the top and then tied it down to the sides with strong rope. that worked really well for me.<br><br>Hope that helps!<br>Bob

 

[jtgjco]

A thought, Move south, Texas,&nbsp;Louisiana, ect.&nbsp;cold weather is a killer, in every way. I lived in&nbsp;Colorado&nbsp;for many years,&nbsp;not in a RV , a mobile home and it is a hard way. Insulation on the inside of the skirt would be the answer, LOTS of Insulation.. 8 inches or more, sealed with all the above stuff.&nbsp;

 

[wandering mike]

Keep wandering and searching around the various forums and threads. &nbsp;There are lots of folks who get by in the winter. &nbsp;Bob's points are good. &nbsp;I know people do it in Denver at Jefferson County Fairgrounds. &nbsp;The lights by the waste tanks is also good to keep them from freezing. &nbsp;This especially works with the insulation and skirting.&nbsp;<br><br>Another good idea....get your dad online so he can participate too.

 

[RV-Kitty]

RVs aren't designed for really cold weather. His heating bills will be astronomical. Condensation may become a large problem.&nbsp; It's hard to keep the water from freezing. He may want to consider another option such as buying an Arctic Fox RV but even used they're not cheap.&nbsp; Or a used but well insulated small mobile home... or he can move south.

 

[jtgjco]

Hey, the thing about hay bails is&nbsp;mildew, bugs, mice, rats and other thing hide and live in them and then in your home, at best Last Resort type stuff..

 

[gadgetMe]

I stay in Nebraska usually a week at a time.<br><br>All of the insulation &amp; heat tape suggestions are good ones.<br><br>Also, using the clear plastic covering that you shrink to fit covering the windows works good too. There is alot of heat lost through the windows.<br><br>Also in cold weather conditions, I keep the holding tanks valves closed until the are pretty full, then when it warms up I will drain them, that way you will not have much build up at the bottoms of the tank of the nasty stuff.&nbsp; Flushing a full tank will carry away the build up of debris that settles to the bottom.<br>I also add maybe a quart of rv antifreeze to the tanks just for a little safety reason, I don't want the dump valves to freeze, and split apart,&nbsp; so far this has worked, have not needed to replace one so far after 7 years.<br><br>I also use electric space heaters to supplement the gas furnace, you will save a-lot on propane.<br><br>Last week I ran 2 small electric heaters on low (750watts each) one in the back&nbsp; &amp; one in the front of the camper. It stayed pretty nice. <br><br>I use cheap timers from home depot on the electric heaters, during the day I have them off, if I am gone and have them turm on about an hour early if I know when I will be returning.<br> I also set the furnace thermostat at its lowest setting mine is 55 deg. when gone.<br><br>When at night I increased the front heater to high. The furnace only ran about 4 times during the night. I keep the thermostat at 65 at night. In cold weather.<br><br>Hope this helps<br>Putz

 

[c_hasbeen]

Thanks everyone!&nbsp; this helps a lot, I am going to try and get him to delay his move to a camper until spring, I only have slept in an old 13 ft camper during two nebraska winters back in the late 70's, I have forgotten so much how cold things are until people start making comments on here.&nbsp; <br>I really admire him wanting to do this, but his reluctance to go further south...<br><br>As far as getting him on line to participate in the discussion, he has not accpted the fact that cell phones are a handy device <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"> so a computer is to far of a reach at this time.<br><br><br>

 

[StarEcho]

ok, this is probably a stupid question and from someone who isn't living in an rv or van...but I've been thinking about this subject for a while now for myself...if one owned land and could dig a 3 sided pit into the ground....maybe 4 or 5 ft deep ...easier on a slope obviously, but still doable on flat land with a sloping entry way... and of course shored up on the sides for strength and safety.... Could one use that as a sort of skirting? &nbsp;Would the ground keep the temp high enough to avoid freezing issues? &nbsp;Maybe a horizontal skirting around the opening on the top and a skirting in the front...with insulation on the skirting. &nbsp;I don't know, but I've been thinking that if I had land myself here in Colorado I might try something like that to be able to park an RV there in the winter.

 

[c_hasbeen]

I would worry it would fill up with water and then freeze.&nbsp; but I am a worrier

 

[StarEcho]

I would worry it would fill up with water and then freeze.&nbsp; but I am a worrier

<br><br>Totally didn't think about rain or snow! &nbsp;Sorry! &nbsp;That wouldn't work then without a roof and sides which would then make it a half underground garage...pretty pricey, I'd imagine. Especially with windows which you'd want if you were living inside it in an RV. &nbsp;Again sorry, just thinking out loud so to speak. &nbsp;Ignore me..

 

[Les H]

the hay bales and plastic sheeting, along with heat tape or heat lamps would be the way to go. However, starecho is also right to a certian degree. The frostline ( how deep the ground freezes) in upstate Ny where i lived was 4 feet, quite a deep hole, and most people had 7' or 8' basements under thier houses. Here in north alabama, the frost line is one foot, max. Footings are usually a foot to 18" deep and a crawl space above the ground level. it would not be that hard to adress drainage, as its done all the time in buildings, but keep the cost in mind. Also keep in mind that the majority of mobile homes are sitting on a slab of concrete ( if that!) only, and have uninsulated skirts, or none at all here. Check through the files or search for " willy utility" or "walking onion" , a gentleman who built a wintertime " docking station" for his utility van.

 

[RV-Kitty]

Hey, the thing about hay bails is&nbsp;mildew, bugs, mice, rats and other thing hide and live in them and then in your home, at best Last Resort type stuff..

<br><br>They're also a fire hazard in dry weather.&nbsp; <img src="/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">

 

[c_hasbeen]

Originally Posted by StarEcho<br><span id="post_message_1276385341">Totally didn't think about rain or snow! &nbsp;Sorry! &nbsp;That wouldn't work then without a roof and sides which would then make it a half underground garage...pretty pricey, I'd imagine. Especially with windows which you'd want if you were living inside it in an RV. &nbsp;Again sorry, just thinking out loud so to speak. &nbsp;Ignore me..</span><br><br>I have to admit I thought of the same thing then I just imagined wind blowing snow in or a rain storm and...well...<br><br>You mention putting a roof over it, I did think about trying to talk him into parking it in a building!<br><br>Thanks for the idea and for taking the time to offer a suggestion <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">

 

[Salida Scarlett]

Heat tape is a big worry because if you over-wrap it that will cause it to overheat, and underneath anything you can't see or tell what's going on until perhaps it's too late. My son woke me up one night, yelling the cabin is on fire. He and the other teen son put the fire out with our extinguisher, but that heat tape nearly burned our cabin down. We spent the rest of the winter in a motel until spring when repairs could be made. My suggestion---- if you have to insulate, is to use wrap foam insulation, or something similar, but never heat tape. It's an accident waiting to happen. The life you save may be that of your dad, or your kids.

 

[Les H]

sooooo, it was the HEAT TAPE at fault, not the improper installation by teenagers? Foam pipe wrap does not generate heat , only helps to retain it. It also keeps the cold in, keeping your pipes frozen longer when they do freeze. Hay bales have been used for decades as insulation around foundations. As to flamability, loose hay and hay dust are extremely flamable, while tight bales will char on the outside and then go out . ( no oxygen inside the bale). In fact, hay bales are SO GOOD at insulating at low cost, they are being used to build entire houses.
http://www.google.com/search?q=buil...qC8AS9ioH4Bg&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=320&bih=455#p=0
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&q=building+houses+with+hay+bales&v=133247963
There are a lot of people out there that mean well, but dont have accurare info for one reason or another. Best to sift through it all, and double check what might sound promising.

 

[squatting dog]

I think Les is right. As long as the heat tape doesn't overlap itself, there is no real danger. Have used heat tape in&nbsp;multiple applications&nbsp;for most of 45 years with no incidents.

 

[Kevin H]

Take a look at <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><a href="http://www.pirithose.com/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;">Pirit Hose</span></a></span></span>. &nbsp;Expensive but safe, convenient and flexible.<br><br>Good Luck and Happy Trails!!<br><br>-- &nbsp;Kevin

 

[Dazzlecat]

Its totally doable. My mom has a neighbor living in their 5th wheel just several trailers down from her (she lives in a trailer park in South Dakota). They have it all set up with wood skirting around the bottom to help with insulation. From what I hear they are nice and cozy. &nbsp;I think it was a Cougar (if I remember correctly). Best of luck to your dad, i'm sure he will be fine with a son like you watching out for him.

 

[dudleyduright]

Straw bale construction has been used since the invention of the bailing machine in the late 1800's. The trick to straw is to build a foundation and cover the bales with a clay similar to adobe. lots of info on the web. Great insulation and almost completely fireproof when finished correctly. The problem is moisture.. needs to be roofed. and yes, if you dig it in, the deeper you go, the warmer.. up to about 55 degrees. again, info on the web. You did not discuss whether your dad was planning on a permanent or temporary installation of the RV. Consider something else for skirting/insulation... Earthbag construction. http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/articles/ebbuildingguide.htm and http://www.themudhome.com/earthbag-building.html