Full-time vandwellers in colder winter climates

[DebraOak]

Wondering if any are living full-time in their vans in the northern Colorado front range area, or vicinity (from Fort Collins through Colorado Springs) or any colder area like Canada (!) and how that works in the winter? I still have a full-time job for 3-1/2 years and would like to keep it to sock money away, but am concerned about living in a van during the long, cold winter months. Any links to those who do it much appreciated!

 

[AMGS3]

Hi DebraOak

I feel you. I'm in northern MN. The decisions I made about a rig (getting a fish house/ice house) were based around surviving cold weather. As for a van, have you looked at Bob's van heating vids on YouTube?

Here are links to three of them, though he's got other heating vids, just search for them on YouTube.








One cold weather issue I'm predicting is having to shovel out (or paying someone else to do it for me, if my health isn't up to it) after it snows.

Because I live in a trailer, I'm not parking on the street. But a lot of towns have snow emergency parking enforced in the winter. Which makes finding a spot to park even more difficult.

I hope those links help.

~angie

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[DebraOak]

Thank you Angie. 

Yes, I've watched Bob's videos but it doesn't really give me the feel of the experience. I guess what I could do is find someone who might rent me their garage. I could park in there. Anyway, time to be creative and consider.

Thanks again.

 

[Theiznezz]

I'm in the northeast. Buddy heater and sleeping bag

 

[jonyjoe303]

Foam insulation, more foam insulation, and then a little bit more foam insulation. I learned that from seeing how people in alaska keep from freezing in winter. 

The coldest temps I see is in the 40's. This past winter I added more foam insulation, every inch in the back of my astrovan has a layer of foam insulation, some areas multiple layers. I even covered all areas where outside air might come in (sliding side door/back doors) and made as airtight as possible.

Most winters I had to sleep in a sleeping bag, sometimes inside 2 sleeping bags, and I had to use a mister heater in the morning. This winter it never got under 50 degrees in the back of my van, I didnt use the mister heater all winter. And didnt have to sleep inside a sleeping bag, Above 50 degrees sleeping bags are too hot to sleep in. And I can still add more insulation to improve it more. You can never add too much insulation, it will also keep you cool in the summer.

Here is a picture of the back of my van. I use the rtech foam insulation available in home depot, I install with a hotglue gun. I'm always adding more foam insulation, thats why I havent covered it over with wallpaper etc. I recommend foam insulation to everyone, it works extremely well, and easy to install.

 

[highdesertranger]

it's a necessity, a must, something you can't ignore.

if you are going to be in cold weather you MUST have a sleeping bag that keeps you warm without any outside heat source. I can't emphasize this enough. heaters fail, if your heater fails and you can't stay warm you are done.

highdesertranger

 

[Theiznezz]

I got a 0 degree sleeping bag and it cuold be 0 degrees out and I'm super comfortable. Ranger is right. The sleeping bag is the most important. Mine was 100$ I love that thing. Most times I don't run the buddy heater at night. Just turn it on before I crawl out of my bag.

 

[AMGS3]

I almost said "it goes without saying" but really nothing on this forum "goes without saying" since there are so many people reading/learning about an issue/subject/question, not just the one person who posted it.

From my experiences camping, it's a good idea to bring along warm winter socks to sleep in. Paired with a proper cold weather sleeping bag and a hat with ear flaps, they can make sleeping very comfy even when the weather gets really chilly. Even if you don't need the hat/socks very often, they don't take up that much space, and they are the difference between surviving comfortably and misery. Frozen ears and toes aren't something anyone wants to go through. I've woken up to iced over cups in my cupholders before and been quite comfortable all night, despite the cold.

This won't replace a heater of some kind, but it takes the stress out of going to sleep when it's snowing outside, knowing you'll be fine no matter how cold it gets.

Another possible option I'd say would probably not work for everyone, but I'll mention it just the same in case it helps someone. I used to have an auto start on my car. My ex and I originally had it installed in Vegas, and they installed it incorrectly so instead of starting the car and the heater/AC it would start the car and the radio. The idea is that you can get your car cooled down or heated up before you get into it. By the time my now-ex and I noticed it was incorrectly installed, we were back in ID, so we just lived with it.

The cool thing about it was that I read the instructions manual that came with the remote starter and figured out how to program it to start every 3 hours. This came in really handy once I had moved back to MN. In the dead of winter I didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night to go start the car, let it run for a while, then shut it off again. When it's too cold you really have to do that to warm up the engine if you don't have a block heater otherwise you just won't be able to start your car in the morning.

Where this comes in here is I could program the remote starter to start every 2, 3, 4, or 5 hours, and stay on for a chosen duration. If it was wired properly it would have warmed up the vehicle every 2, 3, 4, or 5 hours. I personally wouldn't sleep with my vehicle running (any duration) unless I had a carbon monoxide detector. Even if it only started it once in the middle of the night it might take the edge off in places where the temp is hovering close to -35°.

~angie

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[flying kurbmaster]

There are a few people on this site that live in cold areas, one guy was living in a box truck in Edmonton over several winters, the bottom line it has to be well insulated including the floor, Along with a good sleeping bag, you will need a heater of substance, unless you are just planning on living a few nights in the cold you will need a vented heater if you are using propane, you could heat with wood or diesel as an alternative or plug in with an electric heater if you have access to an outlet somewhere. Other wise it just becomes very uncomfortable, I have lived in my van in the low 20’s comfortably, I have a Dickenson vented propane heater which i turn off at night, I ran it on low during the day, sat around in a track suit. I have an insulated bulkhead to separate the front from the living quarters, I imagine I could live in the van comfortably at much lower temperatures. At some point I would have to block off the windows with more insulation.

 

[Master Mechanic]

id have both of these
Planar 2D-12 Diesel Air Heater
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0733VGXX...olid=2REYPDGM9883F&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Olympian Wave 3 LP Portable Gas Catalytic Heater
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BUV1R...olid=2REYPDGM9883F&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

[QinReno]

If you are going to be staying in colder climates in the winter, then do all of the above: insulation, heater, extra clothing, and extra warm bedding. I lived in the Colorado Front Range for 25-years, and typical winter temperatures were probably 10-15F at night, but we had many nights where it was well below 0F. The thing about Colorado is, they get a lot of sunny days and clear nights, and on a clear night, the temperature plummets. On cloudy nights, you get a greenhouse effect, so it stays much warmer. Then, if you go north from there, eg Alberta is probably one of the coldest places you'll ever be. Bob Wells talks about cold weather issues, but he endeavors to stay always where it is mild.

I was down in central AZ and NM in Feb-March, and I thought it would be warmer, but the nights were routinely down in the low 20F range. I favor the layering method, for both clothing and bedding. I have a regular sleeping bag that I use most of the time, but I also have a very good down bag spec'ed to about 0F that I would pull over the regular bag on really cold nights. I would sleep cold, but then turn on some sort of heat in the morning.

 

[leslymill]

Wondering if any are living full-time in their vans in the northern Colorado front range area, or vicinity (from Fort Collins through Colorado Springs) or any colder area like Canada (!) and how that works in the winter? I still have a full-time job for 3-1/2 years and would like to keep it to sock money away, but am concerned about living in a van during the long, cold winter months. Any links to those who do it much appreciated!

If I was full time cold weather camping I would do a small rocket type wood stove. You just need to like smelling like a fireplace.

 

[ChezCheese:-)]

I would like to recommend one of the greatest inventions ever for auxiliary heating: the humble hot water bottle. It will cost you less than $8 from any drugstore or cheapstore. Heat up some water on your campstove and fill it up. It will keep your feet warm all night inside a sleeping bag. It can be shifted around to warm up your belly or back or whatever is chilling you. It never runs out of electricity. It doesn't catch fire or suck all the oxygen out of the room or emit poisonous gases. It doesn't do weird things to your body electrics like an electric blanket. They last forever!

Get a couple of them! They're cheap!

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

That's a good idea. I have, in fact, a coffee thermos already that keeps liquid not for at leaat 12 hours. It was still at least warm 24 hours later.

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[JuliaAnne2018]

Nevermind. I forgot my insulated water bottle would not work. It keeps the heat inside it. What brand of water bottle?

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[John61CT]

A standard hot water bottle is made of rubber, big flat floppy thing with a screw-in stopper. Sold at pharmacies and online.

Ribbing on the sides to help stop you from burning your skin, but really if you fill with boiling water you should make a bag from toweling.

Be careful with litte kids.

A thermos would last much longer, by releasing the heat much more slowly.

So a poor quality one wrt beverages would be better for putting at the bottom of your bed.

 

[ahh_me2]

There are a few people on this site that live in cold areas, one guy was living in a box truck in Edmonton over several winters, the bottom line it has to be well insulated including the floor,

I think he's referring to me, I have spent the last 3 winters in my cube van, will be going into the 4th winter soon here.
In my area winters are long and cold, so I decided right off the get go to put in a proper heating system.
I still work full time, So I can be away from my van for 8-10 hrs easily and in the dead cold of winter I don't want to come "home" to a frozen interior.
I put in an RV furnace, Suburban NT-16SEQ, it set me back around $800 Can, it is thermostat controlled, and I keep it at room temp, so it's more like a one bedroom apartment on wheels.
I also did full insulation, blue styrofoam, on all the walls, ceiling and floor, but it still needs heat to be warm when it's around 0-20F outside.

 

[Dingfelder]

When my mother was growing up back in the old country, they put bricks by the fireplace at night, then took one to bed later on, to put by their feet. Kept them pretty toasty, she said. So for those with outside fires, maybe a cheap brick or two would help out.

 

[John61CT]

I put in an RV furnace, Suburban NT-16SEQ

For running off the TV's propulsion fuel, the Webasto / Espar style of "parking heater"

or off propane, Propex HS2211

are very fuel efficient,
can be located outside the living space to help keep the noise down,
and also don't use as much electricity

 

[Canine]

Keeping in the warm air is important to me so I put 3 inches of polyiso in the walls, 4 inches of polyiso in the ceiling, and 2 inches of XPS in the floor. I can walk around in bare feet at -25F. It takes almost 4500 BTUs to keep it warm at that temp. When I get down to about 0 degrees, I need to turn on my auxilary heater. My cargo trailer is 6X12 with extended height. Bigger spaces take MUCH more energy to heat. I also kept thermal bridging to a minimum. I live in windy, cold, Central Montana.