So far I have not yet ever turned on my furnace. All of my camping with my travel trailer has been during summer weather, usually with the a/c going non-stop as soon as I plug into shore power at an RV park. I know that my trailer's water and holding tanks are not insulated and I would not attempt to go camping once it goes below freezing, but I wonder how cold I should expect to be able to handle using the trailer forced air furnace? I'm guessing that I would be OK to about 40 degrees outside temperature, but doubt that the little furnace could keep us comfortable much below that. What do you do?
How cold before you stop using your trailer?
- Thread starter vito55
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Sprucegum
Well-known member
You must live a lot farther south than I do - I have used my furnace 10 time more than my AC unit.
We have enjoyed camping in temps a few degrees below freezing, not cold enough to harm the plumbing though.
The furnace stays off until the first person to get up in the morning (usually me :
) turns it on. I will often jump back into bed until the chill is off the air. A good heavy quilt or sleeping bag will get you through the night quite comfortably.
We have enjoyed camping in temps a few degrees below freezing, not cold enough to harm the plumbing though.
The furnace stays off until the first person to get up in the morning (usually me :
) turns it on. I will often jump back into bed until the chill is off the air. A good heavy quilt or sleeping bag will get you through the night quite comfortably.
UTTransplant
Well-known member
We used to camp in a pop up at temps in the low to mid 30s. We love shoulder seasons! Heater ran pretty much continuously, and we wore a sweater, but two adults and four kids did just fine. No water lines to worry about now.
My goal in life is to never be where it is hot enough to use the AC. I am not successful at that, but it is still a goal.
My goal in life is to never be where it is hot enough to use the AC. I am not successful at that, but it is still a goal.
Joezeppy
Well-known member
That little heater actually does a pretty good job. And you can always supplement it with a small electric heater, too. We camp from mid-May to mid-October when temps can be 80* or 30* here in upstate NY. Now I would not want low temps for a whole week or more but a weekend here and there is fine.
Boonieman
Well-known member
We went to South Dakota this spring and I generically asked the same question because I had never used the furnace. It ended up being cold and rainy for a few days and I was pleasantly surprised how warm the camper stayed, and the small amount of propane we used. Also, re-filled the propane tanks in Pierre, SD for $.61 a pound. We pay $2.49 a pound where I am in KY. Geez.
Gods Country
Well-known member
Condensation will be a bigger issue then the furnace keeping you warm. Toss a ceramic heater in the trailer for backup. Freezing temps won't cause you any issues. It would need to be be far below freezing for an extended period (like 24hrs or more) to cause concern.
muskoka guy
Well-known member
I use mine here in Ontario right up to and including deer hunting season, which is the first couple weeks of November. Temperatures are quite often near or below freezing at night. The furnace keeps the coach plenty warm. Plan on using a bit of propane if the furnace is on for a week. If electricity is available, I also use a small electric heater. This does the job for all but the coolest nights. My previous coach had the thermostat near the bathroom door, but inside the bathroom. I could close the door between the bathroom and the main living area. This way the furnace only had to run until the bedroom and bathroom was up to temperature. In the morning I would get up and open the door, then hop back into bed until the rest of the front warmed up to the same temperature. The front is much harder to heat due to all the windows.
mrschwarz
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2009
- Posts
- 875
When grandchild number 5 was born in December, in Grand Junction, Colorado, we discovered that the dashboard thermometer reads negative numbers! For the month of December, it got above freezing twice for a couple of hours each. We stayed warm inside.
HappyWanderer
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- Apr 21, 2014
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- 2,967
A ceramic heater in the bedroom with the door closed will keep it more than warm enough with outside temperatures in the 30s. We also have an electric mattress topper to keep the bed toasty.
We never leave the furnace on overnight; the blower wakes us up every time it kicks on.
We never leave the furnace on overnight; the blower wakes us up every time it kicks on.
grashley
Well-known member
One other thought: Often we get nice weekends after the camper is winterized. You can still go camping, just carry all of your water in milk jugs or similar. Flush the toilet with them. Wash and cook from them. Get an old, large perk coffee pot to keep hot water available. Dump black and gray water tanks, and you are winterized again!
Memtb
Well-known member
vito55, The answer to that would be based upon the RV you have and what your rv'ing lifestyle is. We rarely ever spend time in an RV campground....we mostly boondock. We do fall/ winter hunting in Wyoming and expect single digits, often below zero. We occasionally go ice fishing, and have awaken to minus 20. We use all the amenities, water, grey and black tanks. But....our unit is designed for sub-zero weather. In our previous unit (same brand) we lived in it for 2 Wyoming winters ( while building our home) with quite a few mornings at less than a minus 30, and never froze a water line. We didn't even "skirt" it until our second winter. We kept nice and warm, only using the RV heater. Obviously, if we lost power (heat), we would have been in big trouble.
When not in use, we keep it "winterized"! But....we don't shy away from using it in cold weather!
A plus to camping in cool weather...it's rarely ever crowded!
When not in use, we keep it "winterized"! But....we don't shy away from using it in cold weather!
A plus to camping in cool weather...it's rarely ever crowded!
We have been in our trailers down into the teens for overnight temps. We use a 1500 watt electric heater, then the furnace set at about 68 degrees. The furnace will only run when the electric heater won't keep up. And that was a lot of the time, we eat up a good bit of propane. The only exposed water lines we had were under the kitchen slide. I kinda skirted it and run a 100 watt light bulb there when below freezing. The only time we had a freezing issue was due to a not so good forecast one evening. It was forecast to stay above freezing, but actually got down to 21 degrees, and was there most of the night. The freshwater supply hose froze up on us. I just changed out hoses, and let the other thaw during the day. No harm, no foul. When the forecast was correct and it was to get below freezing, I would shut off the water supply and drain the hose and filters.
steveblonde
Well-known member
if we didnt camp at below 0C or 32F we would never camp. we camp with snow on the ground all the time in March and late Oct early Nov
