Living in a 5th wheel full time in Canada!! in winter?

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coal said:
Jim  check out a espar diesel heater, also Snugger and webasto, quite common in the big trucks for heating the bunk.  Runs off diesel and 12 volts.
Super cheap on fuel, really low amp draw, I will send some pics to your email tomorrow am

Yes we use those in big trucks and they are not only efficient, but reliable as well.

Here's a link to the one most of those I know use;  http://www.espar.com/
 
Thanks, I am acquainted with the Espar line and am very interested in what Coal has done.  I have been very intrerested in the hydronic heater as a friend put one in his MH.  I haven't been able to get serious for a few years, almost 5 due to medical issues, but most of those are hopefully behind me so I am starting to look at changes to the MH.  Diesel heat is one of my priorities with the cold we have in MT.  :)

THe air heaters are "interesting" but I need about 30,000 btu as a minimum and only one gives this.  The difference between heating a cab and a 38' MH is significant.  The existing 30,000 Btu heater will barely heat the MH in the severe cold without a little help from some place, electric heaters, to make it shirt sleeve weather inside. 

The hydronic can also be used to pre-heat the engine and also heat the water so both the furnace and water heater can be removed.

Decisions, decisions, decisions!!! 
 
Im just west of Calgary and its -3 C today, and I am freezing my butt off. Good luck to you when it gets to -40 C up here, please get an apartment for the winter.
 

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My rig is 40 feet four slide, sitting just outside Toronto, close to freezing last couple of nites  and windy.  My diesel heater 7200 btu is heating my rig, temp inside is 68 to 72 depends how many times the door gets opened as its right in the wind.  Have not had the propane furnace on yet.  The diesel heater does a pretty good job, another five degrees colder and the propane furnace will come on to top up the temp.  Difference is, it only comes on once in a great while, and there is no big swing of temps in the unit.  No noise either, they run quiet. 

I have a 2005 jayco designer legacy, it is well insulated, not the best out there but it does a good job. 40 feet with four large slides, so I have some 400 square feet here too heat.  Been full time here in Ontario for fifteen years, best thing I did for winter full timing.
 
Hello:
I have a 35' 1998 Winnebago Adventurer and I spent a year in Minneapolis, Minnesota 3 years ago.  I am an independent consultant and travel a lot.
This time I am back in the Saint Paul, MN area with the same Motorhome.  I was fine last time and will be fine this time.
I leased a large Propane tank from Amerigas this time and Farrell gas last time.  They delivered it a couple of weeks ago.  I just call them 4 or 5 days in advance and they come refill it during the winter.  I put a skirt around the bottom of the RV and Heat-Tape on the Water and Sewage lines.  I was plenty warm last time and plan to be the same way this winter.  My furnace did fine 3 years ago and had it checked out recently.  Hopefully it will make it through this winter.  If not, then I will buy another and have it installed without a problem.  It's only money!


Many ways to seal the bottom of your RV or Trailer.  You can also box up your water and sewer area with wood, insulation and foam sealer.  If you want; you can put a heat producing light bulb in there to keep it acceptably warm.  It doesn't take a lot of heat to keep a small area from freezing anything within it.  Several campgrounds/RV Parks are open all year here in Minnesota.  Most of the ones that are not open during the Winter are closed because they don't have deep enough water lines to keep from freezing when it is very cold.  The place I am currently staying has heated Spigots just above the ground that will keep it from freezing on it's way to my connected water hose with Heat Tape surrounding it.


Let the Naysayers keep saying "NO!" or just do a reasonable job of sealing off what you want so you will be fine this winter.  Only issue I would  keep aware of is the condition of your furnace and where to get another one if yours happens to develop problems during your foray into the Great White North!

 
LPETEET,
  I am in search of a site close to Minneapolis/St Paul that is open for the winter and not having much luck. Do you have any suggestions?

 
Hello:
There are actually quite a few places to stay here.  Many are closed for the Winter as they don't have the ability to keep their water running during hard feezes.


Search the Internet and also particular sites for RV or Camping or even Trailer Parks in Minnesota and twin cities.


There is Lowry Grove in Saint Anthony (NE Minneapolis, up North on Central a couple of miles from downtown).  This place is really convenient with several bus lines very close.  Like many places it is mainly a Mobile Home Park but have quite a few RV spots.  There are only a few which they allow Winter Rentals on.  I stayed there 3 years ago and there are a lot of drunks there; which is not that unusual.  It is a fairly safe park and the Management seems to vary year by year.


There is also Landfall Terrace (City of Landfall) which is just East of Saint Paul and 3M on I-94.  Mainly a Mobile Home park but now has about 15 RV Spots.  The spots are sort of small but they put in brand new heated water spigots on all the lots which is nice.  Management is very friendly and they have cleaned up a lot of crime and other issues in the last 5 years I have been told by many people.  There are several spots still  open there to rent as of this writing.  Let me know if you end up checking it out.  There are two Park-N-Ride near there with the Guardian Angels Church one being very close and takes the 375 Line straight to downtown Minnie!  Also Harley and Indian Dealers right at the park.  Buy a new bike there for $20 Grand or store your own bike there for the Winter.


I found several others but they were a lot further away from Minneapolis, where I work, or didn't have great Transit Options.


Warmest Regards,
LarryP

 
My husband and I have been fulltime rver's in Calgary,Ab for 2 years now.There are times that is is a bit chilly and frost on the walls( mostly around the windows) but all in all not bad at all.We live in an rv park with fullfacilities so no problem. It is much less expensive then renting in Calgary that's for sure.
 
I'm planning on retiring within 4 - 7 yr and me and my sister will be rving fulltime. Although, I enjoy camping and the cold (only done tenting), she's not a camper and doesn't enjoy the cold.  Now I know I'm crazy because I would just get an arctic tent and sleeping bag for below zero and blanket and call it a day.  I am glad that there are other alternatives.
 
nash0098 said:
I am long haul driver and used to be living on the road. This year I planning to ditch my apartment and living in my Flagstaff 8524RLS 5th wheel full time when I am at home (since I am only in town a week out of the month, renting is a waste). So far so good living in my RV, it's summer and it's nice and the beer is flowing. Come this winter in northern Canada where temperature can drop below -30F every day, I am not sure. Heating is my biggest concern, how often do I have replace propane tanks at that temperature? Can I keep my RV comfortable at 70F (I like it hot  :)) As far as pipes and sewage is concern, I'll be using portable toilets and water since I am away 3 weeks at a time and don't want to deal with frozen tanks. Anybody thinks I am crazy living in RV at -30 in Canada, any brave souls have any experience and want to offer me some tips other than go south young man  ;D
Nope! not crazy! I have modified a 85 winnebago cheiftan 22 and lived out of it for two winters while at work the worst stretch was a -40 stretch of about a week and a half where all heaters came out to keep it comfy and warm, but for the typical -15 to 20 stuff, my modified old girl got me through fine. I was at home last winter so she didn't go out, but I'm back on the road this year and looking forward to another winter living the loa dream:)
I am not sure how you will compare having more space to heat and such, with a newer unit you should be set up with better insulation than I.
I paid pad power of 280 and about 140 on propane on average between nov and march. Make sure you have the propane tanks heat taped BTW. After reading through the posts, which jogged my memory. I also used a couple of oil heaters (garrison) from canadian tire to help keep the propane from running constantly. after setting those up my furnace would be lucky to cut in 6 times a day unless it was really windy.
 
Francina said:
I'm planning on retiring within 4 - 7 yr and me and my sister will be rving fulltime. Although, I enjoy camping and the cold (only done tenting), she's not a camper and doesn't enjoy the cold.  Now I know I'm crazy because I would just get an arctic tent and sleeping bag for below zero and blanket and call it a day.  I am glad that there are other alternatives.
wow you and my wife  are both the same kind of crazy! :)
 
I'm a Canadian living in southern Ontario.  Living in a sticks home in the winter here is bad enough.  In a RV????? yes I think you're a little crazy to even consider it....
 
quaywe said:
Try this, it's a forum for "four season campers"...

They appear to have a strong following of diehard winter campers all with lots of advice.

I hope I not breaking any rules by linking to another forum, if so, please feel free to edit or delete.

http://www.4scf.com/viewforum.php

bad or not thanks for the link :)

Cheers,
Geoff
 
99WinAdventurer37G said:
Yes we use those in big trucks and they are not only efficient, but reliable as well.

Here's a link to the one most of those I know use;  http://www.espar.com/

another option (if you're cheap like me is to visit the truck wrecking shops. before I moved up to my gas hog 454 I did a winter of minivan dwelling and picked up a working used one for under $400 and used it for 2 years with no problem
 
I hope you have a good friend who can check daily on your fifth wheel.  What will happen if your propane runs out mid-way through your three-week travel period?  Of what will happen if there's a really heavy snow fall and collapses the roof?  I know a lot of people think their apartments are a waste of money and that some kind of RV will be better but in northern Canada that could be very costly.  It's one thing to be there and be able to control heat, propane, freezing tanks, etc.  It's quite another to be thousands of miles away.  Of course, they say ignorance is bliss so maybe you can be blissful while on the road and worry about the other stuff when you get home.  If you said the southern U.S. I'd be more inclined to say go for it, but northern Canada?  Uh uh!

By the way, you aren't an Ice Road Trucker are you?  I watch the show regularly and I'm not sure if those truckers are for real or just plain missing a screw!

ArdraF
 
I don't think you're crazy Nash0098, I've been living in a 34' fifth wheel for 8 years, in interior Alaska.  I bought 20 acres and parked the fifth wheel, intending to build a cabin but haven't got that far yet.  Yup, it's a challenge.  Seems only time problems arise is in the winter. Recently lost power to all of one side, 12V and 110 both.  Turned out to be a low voltage issue.  It killed the circuit board on the water heater needed for running it on propane,  but after replacing the electric element in it; draining it was a treat at 9 degrees outside temp,  and repairing the low voltage issue, it's all good.  Will deal with the WH brain next summer.  I installed a toyo heater, don't use the propane furnace at all, in fact never. Stays a comfy 70 degrees inside even when it's -40 outside.  I have clear plastic window covering both inside and out, insulated curtains, 6 inches of insul board behind t1-11 skirting, 500 gallon freestanding, insulated and heat taped water tank, pump and pressure tank stowed in the"basement" compartment that is plumbed into the on board system. Have done a LOT of other, what I like to call upgrades, added insulation, etc.,  don't see the point of the cabin anymore and have moved on to the barn instead for the horses.  Love the "tiny house" concept and the lack of additional property taxes for a structure.
 
They definitely are!  I cannot imagine doing what they do.

ArdraF
 
Hi!
I'm new on the forums but happened upon your post by chance. We are looking at becoming full time RV'ers and full time WINTERING in Alberta and Saskatchewan territory. So far everything I found was with people with great big RVs and fancy pants 40k rigs - we're looking at winne's and vanguards in the 80s-90s, so your post seems like you know exactly what we might be coming up against. Any tips for immediate things to modify on an old motorhome for our harsh winters before we hit the road forever??
 
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