First winter RVing....lots of challenges

Hi there.  We are Dennis and Monika and our dog Miss Molly.  We sold all earthly possessions and purchased a 4 season Wildcat RKS 28ft and parked it at a beautiful Resort by a Lake and we are living in it full time.  We are both in our late 60s, reasonably healthy, and love the challenge this canadian winter is throwing at us.  This is our first winter in this unit and it has been quite challenging with -20 celcius temps at night.  We have read many posts from others that had problems and learned lots.  So we decided to join this community and maybe pass on some of our hard lessons learned.  Sofar we fixed hard water problems with a heated hose and we xtra foam insulation, and a special insulatating wrap were the hose joins up with the trailer, skirted , insulated and added a space heater under the unit, have a fan going 24/7 in the living area to keep air moving and supplement LP with a Dyson Heater Fan.  We removed the sofa and air bed which were not comfortable, replaced them with a daybed and 2 leather recliners.  We dont need a dinette, so that is gone and instead have a small computer/office area.  We both love this low maintenance and quiet, hermit like lifestyle.....but now my Dometic 2852 fridge/freezer is acting up.  We purchased a 4 year extended warranty for this trailer and it has already paid for half of it with service calls for onsite repair for the tankless waterheater and water leaks in the bathroom.  Will call service tomorrow to get fridge checked out.  And so it goes....never a dull moment.  I am thinking of lining the slide walls with cork this summer to keep the cold out...hubby sleeps on the daybed there as i snore...apparently....so it might keep a bit more heat in.  We have 2 340 lb LP tanks hooked up, and hope to cut propane cost a bit in the future.  Our aim this coming spring is to put a permanent roof over the trailer and deck area, which will make snow clearing easier in future as we get older.  So....what else can we do to make our lives easier and lving more economical?  We are not the only RVers full timeing it in Canada and we would love to hear what others have done.  Ps....we are between Kamloops and Vernon and it gets NASTY cold here, LOL

Cheers......Dennis and Monika

We spent several winters in ski areas. We found that when it got way below freezing, we had to "heat" the refrigerator.  Some people put a light bulb behind the fridge.  We usually taped up most of the outside refrigerator venting with duct tape or metallic tape.

Enjoy your winter adventure.

Hi Armchair52,

Do you plan on going anywhere in your unit or are you staying there full time? If you don't plan on going anywhere in your unit then maybe a Park Model would be a better choice to avoid the difficulties of keeping things warm enough.

I admire your effort in setting up camp in such a cold place and wish you good luck!

So....what else can we do to make our lives easier and living more economical?

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Move to Florida. 8)

I will concur with CamperAL. Even a single wide ATCO style trailer will be hard-pressed to keep you warm in the winter in the Kootenays, let alone a holiday trailer.


We have done winter camping at -25 C in Kananaskis in a holiday trailer, but I had the whole bottom of that trailer spray foamed with urethane insulation.  It is fine for a week, but two inch walls are just not enough insulation to live in long-term, in my opinion.


Frank.

Huum, you must be around Monte Lake, or that area somewhere.  I used to live in Chase but moved down to Agassiz in the Fraser Valley this past spring.
I admire your fortitude, since the temperature in that area sometimes hits as low as -40 C which is the same as -40 F. I keep watching that area on the weather channels and not much snow until last week or so.  That might be a good thing as you could pack the snow up around the skirting to help retain heat.
Looks like you are learning all the bad things about winter living in an RV this winter.  Next year you'll probably have all the problems solved.
Good luck to you.
Gord

Lol.."thanks Gord, yes we are learning and i am sure all will go smooth next year.  We had plenty of snow beginning of December, 14" so far, but i am sure there is more to come.  I hope it doesnt go down to -40....that would be awful!  -20 we can handle just fine for a few days.....we love Monte Lake and the fishing is awesome as well as the temps in the summer....so 2 or 3 months of cold....not too bad.  We have all skirting insulated with that green insulation, as well as vapor barrier on the ground and a heater underneath as well.  Out tanks are heated and everything functions well.....forgot about blocking the fridge vent and placing a. Heatlamp in the back....working n that right now and hope to have it up and running again by morning.  Thanks for your reply and wishes and if you ever this way....we are pad #4....

No temps like that here, Dennis.
We stayed at that campground(likely) one summer when we lived up there.
The last week down here has been interesting. We had 20 cm of snow and then 10 mm rain on top of that. The wind was blowing right across the front of my house and drifting up (before the rain) then follow the next day by more snow (15 cms) and another rainstorm with the high winds 50-75 kmh. what a mess!
We were literally snowed in for three days.  The side of my car (facing the wind) had about a 1/2 inch of ice plastered on it.  Just finished getting that off today.
Warmer and sunny today so snow was melting but still big drifts around.  And it is not supposed to do that down here.  Yeah that's what they said last year when the same thing happened.
Oh well, car's out now,...and fridge is re-stocked.  No appointments to get to so life goes on.  Couple of weeks and it will all be gone (I hope).
Enjoy the fishing.  I bet you could go ice-fishing about now out on that little bay by the campground, if you had a mind to do so.
Keep well and keep warm  8) 8) 8)