Just thinking ahead about winter ...

[Dingfelder]

I had to move very quickly and didn't have time to shop for my ideal trailer.  Probably not the money either, without bottoming out my bank account.  It's not a 4-season trailer, just a trailer.

As long as I flush my system and get it ready for winter, don't use my plumbing, and can bear up under our usually pretty mild winters (it doesn't snow very often), I'm hoping I'll be fine.  Pooping in a bag doesn't bother me, no matter what the people in the supermarket say.

Anything I should keep in mind or be wary of outside the ordinary flushing and anti-freeze measures?

 

[DannyB1954]

Might want to get a head start on making insulated covers for the windows.

 

[John61CT]

If it's stationary, insulated skirting boards help.

Actually insulating the whole space can be a very big job.

 

[bullfrog]

It all depends on where you are, how cold it gets and if you have/pay for water and electricity or are living off grid. Lots of things work better in different situations. For example my utilities are free so when I want to make sure my water lines don't freeze I leave the water dripping as it gets cold enough here to freeze insulated lines.

 

[AMGS3]

Dingfelder
Do you have a furnace or are you planning on using a buddy heater type portable?

Do you have a cold weather sleeping bag? Thermal long johns? A hat with ear flaps and wool socks for sleeping?

How about your food storage? I ask because if you are only planning on heating when you are present, and your trailer gets very cold when you aren't home, then that would make a difference in what kind of pantry safe food storage you would choose. Especially things that have high water content don't do too well if frozen in jars and cans. I've seen soup cans and jars of spaghetti sauce busted open when the contents freeze and expand.

Plastic bags/pouches can usually expand without damage. You may have to get fresh water daily or deal with frozen jugs daily.

~angie

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

 

[Dingfelder]

Dingfelder
Do you have a furnace or are you planning on using a buddy heater type portable?

~angie

I have a furnace, propane only.  I was thinking of getting a portable heater, as the videos I've seen say that RV furnaces tend to use up propane at a very expensive rate.  I'm not committed one way or the other at this point and have experience with neither.

Do you have a cold weather sleeping bag? Thermal long johns? A hat with ear flaps and wool socks for sleeping? 

Nope, yes, no and yes.  

In the fall I start opening the bedroom window wider an inch at a time until it's pretty wide open even when it's snowing or below freezing.  I make it my business to adapt to the cold and usually extra layers are all I need to feel fine.  

That said, it isn't all that common for it to get to even the mid-20's here, and it usually doesn't snow for more than a couple of days, if that.

How about your food storage? I ask because if you are only planning on heating when you are present, and your trailer gets very cold when you aren't home, then that would make a difference in what kind of pantry safe food storage you would choose. Especially things that have high water content don't do too well if frozen in jars and cans. I've seen soup cans and jars of spaghetti sauce busted open when the contents freeze and expand.

Plastic bags/pouches can usually expand without damage. You may have to get fresh water daily or deal with frozen jugs daily. 

Wow, I probably wouldn't have thought of the water content in food bursting open jars ... and would have assumed cans were safe regardless.  Keeping that in mind is a great tip!  It will definitely call for some rethinking on my part.  It's hard to get along without either jars OR cans ...

I can get fresh water daily, no problem.  

I think it's most likely I would heat only when home, but might keep heat at a tiny bare minimum level, like above freezing or something.  I don't know what's wisest or how most RV people do it.  I've read before that regarding sticks and bricks houses, anyway, that it's cheaper to maintain a constant level of heat or cooling than to try to heat up a frozen ice cube of a house.  Dunno how much that applies to RV's...

 

[Dingfelder]

It all depends on where you are, how cold it gets and if you have/pay for water and electricity or are living off grid.  Lots of things work better in different situations.  

Ah, I should have realized that I needed to clarify how I'm living ATM.

Winters are mild, getting to 125 occasionally, 110 rarely, but often we don't even go below freezing or have any snow.  If we do, it tends not to last for long.  

I'm on the grid, parked outside a friend's house and using one of her outlets.  I use her toilet or poop in a bag, depending on the timing; wash dishes using an outside faucet (that will be turned off come winter); and shower elsewhere a couple times a week, doing a sponge bath or using a portable outside shower in between.

She does have a cellar, where I could probably keep things at a more steady temp than I could in my trailer.

I don't use my plumbing at all, since moving my trailer would be a major pain.  And also because my trailer's approved weight is almost nothing outside of itself, and water is so incredibly heavy.  I imagine my axles can take some extra pressure, but don't want to push my luck in a major way.

For example my utilities are free so when I want to make sure my water lines don't freeze I leave the water dripping as it gets cold enough here to freeze insulated lines.

Good tip.  I will remember that for when my situation echoes yours, thanks.

 

[Dingfelder]

If it's stationary, insulated skirting boards help.

Actually insulating the whole space can be a very big job.

It is, but I don't know if I'll be here more than one winter.  I've seen skirting kits sold, which are pricey but look excellent.

Importantly, I think I'd need a disposable solution, because a kit like that looks like it would take up a huge amount of space and my trailer is too small to carry that kind of thing.  

Good to be reminded of, thanks.  Perhaps there are cheaper disposable methods.

 

[Dingfelder]

Might want to get a head start on making insulated covers for the windows.

Hmm, good idea, thanks.  I put a cover for the fan on my Amazon wish list, but the rest of the stuff would need to be home-made.  Small trailer, though, only four windows.  I'm the least handy person in the world, but even I could probably manage that much.

I'll start strategizing ...

 

[SimpleSafari]

I've stayed 3 winters now in my Pace Arrow where it is often below freezing and has gotten into the teens a few times, but is mostly in the mid 20's to mid 30's. And it gets into the 40's to low 50's most days. My rig is 30 amp and plugged in to a dedicated 30 amp source. (not an extension cord plugged into an outlet) It has a basement, which means my tanks and plumbing are in the basement, and the furnace is ducted though the basement as well.

I'm staying on property that a family member owns, and there is a cottage that I use for showering. I have an 80 gallon water tank which I fill when it gets about half empty, and I use my toilet, so I have fresh water, grey water and black. I put a 60 watt incandescent bulb on my water pump when it's forecast to be below 32. I only urinate in the black tank, but I use a macerator to pump the black and grey tanks into the sewer clean out, which is a little over 50 feet away, about every three weeks. This way I have water, a place to pee at night and convenience for cooking and dishes. I don't turn on my hot water heater unless I need to do dishes.

For heat, I use an oil heater (electric, and my rig is 33 feet so I put it up front with a fan behind it to move the air back, It is radiant heat and gets hot enough to hurt if you touch it) and use my furnace as a back up at a certain temp. Sometimes it comes on a lot, and sometimes it doesn't come on at all. I also have an Olympian 3100, which is propane. I put reflectix in the windows.

In my bedroom I have jalise (sp?) windows that don't close all the way. The first winter the wind blew through my bedroom. Last year I put gaffers tape on the outside of the windows to seal them and put reflectix on the inside. It was toasty and I plan to do that again.

That's what I can think of right now, hope this helps.

 

[Dingfelder]

Absolutely.  And it's good to hear of personal experience getting through winters without a 4-seasons rig.  That's what I'll have to do, and I'm a bit nervous about it.

There are some nice things about my trailer, but it's not high-end by a very very long shot.

Hope I can make up with personal fortitude what it might be lacking in build quality etc.

 

[yugogypsy1963]

Hmm, good idea, thanks.  I put a cover for the fan on my Amazon wish list, but the rest of the stuff would need to be home-made.  Small trailer, though, only four windows.  I'm the least handy person in the world, but even I could probably manage that much.

I'll start strategizing ...

I'm thinking of that myself. Also reflectix for my windows. I'm also planning to sew up a set of heavy curtains to go over the existing curtains for extra warmth. I'm also going to make a cover for the door and as my rig will be parked this winter I'll put a layer of plastic over the windows except for one small window for ventilation. I'm going to make a cover for my vent and I've got to repair a broken window mechanism in the bathroom before I close that up.

I've got a wool underpad for my bed which will hopefully wick away any moisture and I have lots of blankets plus 2 feather duvets so I won't need a sleeping bag, socks yes, long underwear yes, just need to have my cousin knit me a hat or sleep in a hoody like the lady Bob interviewed about "Basic Essentials" I also plan to use her method for keeping myself and my dishes clean when necessary so I don't have to have any water on board except what I need to drink or cook with.

I've got a couple of electric heaters and plan to isolate my sleeping area from the rest of the trailer with a curtain so that space stays warm and the rest of the trailer stays above freezing

We have mild winters so I'm not expecting any big issues. I'm plugged in to my own home at the moment and can use the bathroom in the house until I build a composing toilet (my black water tank is split and would be an expensive fix and more expensive to replace

Cheers, Lois

 

[Dingfelder]

Cool, Lois.

Re reflectix, I haven't gotten any of that yet, but I did get a bunch of windshield reflectors at the dollar store. They're far from huge but I think I have noticed a real difference just by putting a few of them up, two on a window and a few lashed onto my awning haphazardly. I suppose I can reverse that and put them on the inside during winter, even with something so simple as modeling clay or painter's tape. But unless I were to line every single surface with a reflective material in winter, it seems to me that the heat would just move to its easiest escape route and quickly leak out anyway.

I'm hooked up to a house too, but it's at a friend's place who has electrical problems and doesn't want to fix them, for some reason. Older people are often randomly quirky and stubborn. Every so often the electricity just cuts out for no noticeable reason. I tried using my AC in this 100 degree weather, but that definitely shuts off the power to the whole side of her house. Hope things are more reliable when using the AC heater, the furnace, or whatever alternative I'll be using this winter.

Heavy curtains sound nice, but they do sound ... heavy. And hard to store. I was thinking bubble wrap and/or that kind of rollable foam wrap. Pricier than it should be but very lightweight. With my weak axles, I have to always think about weight.

I have an aerating underlayer under my bed too, and I know I need it. I had a foam bed before, and one day when I lifted it up I was shocked at the mold underneath. I don't want that to happen again, especially in the confined space of a small trailer.

 

[yugogypsy1963]

Hi Dingfelder,

For heavy curtains I wasn't thinking of quilted material or anything like that. I plan to go to the thrift store and find some lined curtains I can make over to fit. If they don't work out I'll just pack them up and mail them home, that way they aren't taking up space or adding weight to the trailer

I had my electrical in this house upgraded in 2014. Rob runs his AC and it doesn't cause any problems, but if he runs his welder, I get some blinking so obviously my electrician hasn't found all the "bugs" in the wiring yet.

I definitely plan to use reflectix when I go traveling, until then I'll use the curtains and plastic on the windows.

My trailer has a bit of mold I'll have to deal with, give it a good scrub with salt and vinegar, rinse it, and let it dry thoroughly. I use the extra strength 7% pickling vinegar for cleaning and it works well

Cheers
Lois

 

[MrNoodly]

...getting to 125 occasionally, 110 rarely...

Huh? 125? 110? What scale is that?