I want to fulltime in Calgary

[Raeiika]

Hello there,
I have a lot of questions so please bare with me. I'm looking for a lot of resources.

I currently live in Ottawa, Canada and plan to move to Calgary to live fulltime in an RV (I originally wanted to live in a microhome but that is for the future!) I'm planning on saving up a couple thousand dollars to buy a used, cheap RV (under $3000) and over time gut the inside and make it as modern as possible, winterize, solar-panels, the whole shebang. My biggest concern is having somewhere to live/park.

• What are some good full-time parks I could rent at and the costs & what they include?
• I'm looking into getting a 'c class' so in case I have to move, I can without the need of a vehicle. What are some reliable used RV/brands you could recommend I look into getting. It needs to have space for a tiny kitchen, bed and bathroom.
• I have a motorcycle which I'd use in the summer for transport. I will not sell it. It's a 2012 cbr 250r
• I have just started a home business so I would need access to pretty decent internet, plus I love to game when I can.
• I also have a dog, just over a year, super friendly, loves everything and everyone, so it would have to be a pet friendly area.
• When I move to Calgary I will be starting fresh. New job, everything. I have one family member living there who could help out if need be in some way. Otherwise, I don't know anything about what places are good to rent from/what to avoid, etc.

If you have any advice at all I would love to hear from you and your experiences. I know this is a bit of a stretch for some so I'm trying to see how I can make this work! (: I love the idea but there is a lot to figure out beforehand. I appreciate all help!

[WFD]

Full time in Calgary?? Wow...good luck! You will be very hard pressed to find any park in Calgary area open in winter for starters. Although Calgary gets lots of Chinooks through the winter they also get a lot of sub zero temps...will be very hard to keep an RV warm enough, and it will cost you a fortune in heating costs...read in one of these forums where a guy tried full timing in Minnesota one winter and ended up abandoning it part way through....just got too difficult. With what you have set as a budget, the unit you would find will be suspect to begin with and probably wont be in any condition, or have any of it's eqpt in good enough condition to sustain any type of winter weather as you get into your gutting and reno work.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I think it is a pipe dream at best.

[Raeiika]

Well I mean I've read some people doing it. A couple vloggs on youtube I'm watching. And there are a few RV all year round camps in calgary. Heating seems the main issue. I kinda thought if you just cover yourself in thick blankets and winterize it wouldn't be such a big deal but then again, I don't know how it really is.

I want to figure out the best way to go about this as if it were the only option

[Tom Hoffman]

With a 500 gallon propane tank outside and $2000 a month to pay the propane bill, you may be able to do it, but why would you want to?  I am sure you can find a warm snug apartment or house for much less than that.

plus lot rent $300-$500 per month.

plus electric. 

Plus frozen waterline daily and frozen gray and black tanks to deal with daily.

These things are NOT well insulated and have tons of air leaks.  Thin floors in the slide outs.  You would be very uncomfortable trying to live and work on it at the same time. 

It can be done, but you will be miserable.  I had a single neighbor who had lived a year around in a class C 200 feet from our home and they found him outside frozen to death last winter because he ran out of propane and tried to go for help and no one was close enough to walk to because of the snow and his truck would not start. 

[Jere and Laur]

A nice little pot belly stove some spray foam insulation R21 for side walls and mega floor and roof. Everything built inside this box and you'll be fine.

[Sr Fox]

In a couple of words, don't do it on the budget you have.
If you want to know what it is like, go talk to the guys working the oil patch.  My friend does it in a brand new 4 season skirted trailer and you should hear the horror stories he has to tell.  All the way from propane tanks freezing and severe condensation problems whenever the temps drop.  Calgary can get real cold.

[Sprucegum]

Condensation will destroy an RV in one winter. When the temperature swings from -40 to 0 and back to -40 there is no way you can avoid the moisture build up. I have lived in Alberta for 66 years and tried roughing it more than once. Had my sleeping bag frozen to the wall more than once also 

[vmax1]

Calgary is not RV friendly. Whispering pine is about 4 miles north of Calgary, but its a dump, best find a place to rent.

[Raeiika]

You would think there is a way to insulate the RV to prevent these problems. That's what I would be looking to do. I've seen people using electric heaters, dehumidifiers and the like to work out heating and cooling solutions. I don't want tobe running gas. Just electric.
Anyone know of someone I can talk to who has done anything like this?

[Sr Fox]

Electric is worse for condensation than gas as there is no combustion to burn off the humidity you will create by just living in the unit. Your electric bill will be astronomical.  You will also have the skirt the unit and heat the underneath of the unit to keep pipes from freezing. If you run drains, you will have to put heat tapes in the drains to keep them from freezing.
The only way to insulate the older RV against the cold is put it in a heated garage.
We used to have poorly insulated hunting/snowmobiling cabins that we stayed in for weekends with wood heat but we did not have any plumbing to freeze up. They were no places I would have taken a computer.
Have you ever lived in temps that easily go down to minus 30 or more Celsius?  You do know that is dangerously cold don't you?

[grassy]

I think the only province you could full time in is BC..... being cold in a trailer is not fun...

I agree with the other posters...

[Tom Hoffman]

We over wintered in SW Virginia near Wytheville and use electric heaters exclusively.  We could not run two of them on a 30 amp circuit.  So either the living room or bed room got heated.  We also had an electric blanket,  all windows were covered in plastic to slow down drafts all doors were hung with large beach towels to stop the drafts, we had no slides,  We had a heated hose for the water, which would still freeze at the hydrant and only thaw out after the sun came up.

Temp never went below 19 degrees.  Lost power 3 times to snow breaking power lines in the mountains.   

The above conditions would be balmy compared to Calgary.

You seem to be convinced to do what you want, so go for it and don't bother to ask for advice.  The other posters have been trying to tell you that this is a bad idea.  You are determined not to listen so, go for it and do let us know next May how it all went. 

If you are doing this to save money, buy a tent.  I have seen natives in tents in Alaska, they survive,  of course you don't hear about the ones who don't.

Watch the videos of the people in RVs in N Dakota working on the oil fields.  You will be able to make one your self. 

[WFD]

You would think there is a way to insulate the RV to prevent these problems. That's what I would be looking to do. I've seen people using electric heaters, dehumidifiers and the like to work out heating and cooling solutions. I don't want tobe running gas. Just electric.
Anyone know of someone I can talk to who has done anything like this?

You ARE talking to people who have experience with RV's...some have piped up that have very good experience...can't get much more than whats being offered...and doing it with all electricity is even more of a pipe dream....the electrical circuit in your trailer or any other trailer could not keep up when the real winter temps hit.

[cadee2c]

If you are determined to give it a go, this thread may give you some ideas of what you need to do...  sounds like renting a place is going to be a better way to go all the way around, especially with you getting such a late start.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,79455.msg719702.html#msg719702

[RoyM]

I lived in Alberta for 23 years, no way I would do it in an rv from October to May.

[Sprucegum]

If I was determined to live in my RV over the winter anywhere in Alberta I would rent a bay in a commercial building and park inside. 

[Graderman52]

What a brunch of negative people. I have full time in Cochrane just outside of Calgary for 3 years now. The rent is 900.00 per month includes power and water. The propane was 91.00 for Jan. I skirt my 5th wheel with insulated skirting, park over the waste water drain so doesn't freeze. I run one heater under the trailer, got down to -38C and the temp. Under the trailer was still +.07C under there so not bad. I have ran 2 sometime 3 heaters inside depending on outside temp. You should insulate the inside of a carbage can and place it over the water pedestal and run heat tape and wrap the waterline with insulation. There are about 20 of us living here. If you spend some time and thought you can live here quite comfortably through the winter

Anything is possible if you spend some time and thought about what you need

[Sr Fox]

Not really negative.  Did you see that the OP posted "buy a used, cheap RV (under $3000)"
How much did you invest in what you live in now at those temperatures?

[Graderman52]

45,000 for a 2008 Ameri-camp 38 ft, 3000.00 for skirting and about 200.00 for heaters witch I would probably use 1/2 the much for summer use. Cool in the summer this close to the mountains. I haven't had any of the bad stiff you are talking about, but you got to be prepared for those things if you want to life this lifestyle. Got 4 more years to retirement so I say I am in training for retirement, can't get there soon enough

[Lou Schneider]

Your skirting cost as much as much as the OP wants to pay for the whole setup.  Yes, anything can be done if you throw enough money at it, but trying to do something like this on the cheap with old, unreliable equipment is asking for trouble.

[Graderman52]

I agree, but this my home so I spend the money to do it right. After all the thread is full time living.

[WFD]

You're the one who called us all negative....we are just realistic...what you are doing is nowhere near what the OP was talking about doing. It's not even a fair comparison...Pretty sure you would agree that doing it the way the OP mentioned in not only unrealistic, but also dangerous.

[deucesarewild]

I agree, but this my home so I spend the money to do it right. After all the thread is full time living.

Graderman we would love love love to talk to you, I think we are even looking at the RV park in Cochrane that you're talking about. We're having a hard time finding information from the people who are out there doing it and know what they're talking about.

If you're willing to lend us some of your time and knowledge we'd love to learn more from you, we could even go for a coffee or drink if you're up for it. My email is deucesarewild1@gmail.com

- Erin & Cam
(sorry about hijacking this thread - I see no way to PM people)

[frankazoid]

(sorry about hijacking this thread - I see no way to PM people)

just click on the nickname and there will be 'Send PM' on the left hand side

[deucesarewild]

just click on the nickname and there will be 'Send PM' on the left hand side

Hi Frankazoid,

I must not have enough posts yet because I am not allowed to send PMs.

[Roadhammer]

My suggestion would be build one of those tiny homes on a trailer. You can have far superior insulation and heat with wood for the winter. Your budget is a problem though. From what I have read it would cost about $50,000 to build here in Canada. It's a better option for you.

[grassy]

I didn't think winter Rv'ing in Canada was really possible but I parked next to a couple that have been doing it in northern(ish) Ontario for a year...the have experienced -38 degrees and are quite happy with the situation. There is a cost though, he has a Mobile Suite.

So it is possible to do it comfortable..