BEGINNER FULL TIME TRAILER LIVING

[Ray-IN]

I was wondering when choosing my hoses if it's smarter to buy all my hoses heated instead of insulating them winter , can I use them year round and just turn the heat on during winter? Also, I've seen levelers for the tires (the ramp looking ones) are these recommended and do I get 4 of them so each tire has one? Also what is the most sturdy thing to use for leveling , cinderblocks or?

Store-bought heated hoses do not heat nor protect the spigot from freezing, don't waste what money you have available.
Buy a fresh water hose just long enough and insulate it yourself, then leave about 2 feet of heat tape on the spigot end so you can wrap it around the spigot to protect it from freezing. Cover the hose and heat tape with foam pipe insulation.

 

[XSWEETJANE]

I appreciate all that information

 

[Compadre]

Treat it like an adventure and best of luck. Advice given here may be a little over your head,as the saying goes "It's all Greek to me". Would recommend trying to find an owners manual for your trailer, almost everything is on line now. Casually read through it a few times just to get an overview and an idea of where to look for info later. There may be a Facebook group for your trailer brand, good for answers to common problems. There were for the 3 trailers I've owned. Helpful to join and just read through posts for now, ask questions later.
I'll bet that you'll have neighbors in the park that will be helpful, hopefully the park owner/manager can help with setup. I will give one piece of advice, watch your water system carefully. Leaks are common in fittings below sinks,tanks and pumps. No big deal, likely just drips but over time they can be damaging. Most are easily fixed by tightening something. For the first few weeks, turn off your water near the hose spigot whenever you are gone. In a months time you'll be the one giving advice.
Be positive and good luck.

 

[Kirk]

I am unsure of how many tanks I have or how many discharge ports there are

An RV has 3 different tanks. A potable water tank with a pump to allow you to use water when not connected to a city supply. It has a gray water tank that collects the water from the sinks and the shower and it has a black water tank to catch the effluent from flushing the toilet. Each waste tank has it's own dump valve with the larger valve for the black water(toilet) tank. You do need to keep the larger valve closed and only open it to dump the tank contents and keep it closed the remainder of the time to make sure that no solids remain in the tank. You should also be sure to use a septic safe toilet paper and be generous with the use of water in flushing and stingy with the use of TP. An RV toilet does not operate the same way as one in a house so make sure that you know the proper way to use it.

I will be hooked up to water and was advised there no reason to use my tank?

The fresh water tank doesn't have to be used but if you keep a fresh supply of water in it, that will allow you to use water when city water is shut off or in very cold weather when the supply is frozen.

Also, I've seen levelers for the tires (the ramp looking ones) are these recommended and do I get 4 of them so each tire has one? Also what is the most sturdy thing to use for leveling , cinderblocks or?

If you will be permanently parked you might want to use blocks to level the trailer and lift it completely off of the wheels. You will probably need help to do this. If you will be parking and leveling it, the ramp type of levelers is the least work for you.

There is a lot to know about living in an RV that is quite different from living in a house or apartment. All of the lights and appliances in the RV are powered by 12V power from a battery & converter, except the microwave which is 120V only, possibly the TV is also 120V, the water heater may work from 120V or it might be propane only and it probably needs 12V power too. The furnace will require propane for heat and 12V power for the blower and controls. You may have a 120V refrigerator but most likely you have an absorption refrigerator that must have 12V for controls and also either 120V or propane for the cooling. It probably has at least 1 exhaust fan over the propane stove and that fan is 12V and it may have 1 or 2 ceiling exhaust fans that are powered by 12V. The stove top probably doesn't have a pilot light for the burners. The water heater will probably be 6 gallons but could be 8 or 10 gallons. The water is much hotter so that you do not need as much of it. Most likely you will have a manual TV antenna that can be raised and lowered but the RV is also cable ready. It probably has 2 removeable propane bottles and they could be quite small, depending on the size of trailer. There is a lot more to learn so you will be very busy getting ready to live in it.

 

[John From Detroit]

For leveling I used wood slabs
For sub freezing camping I filled the onboard tank (heated) on my Class A and drained the hose unless it was very long term parked then I developed a home brew heated hose but That's a lot of work and some of the things I did (To protect the park's plumbing) was not precisely approved so I won't do the whole thing.. .The hose however was nothing more than a string of rope lights (Incandescent) and a couple rolls of patterned Duct Tape. a Thermal outlet adapter (used for Eves heaters or animal stock tank heaters) and it came on around 35 degrees and off at round 40 Lit up real pretty due to the duct tape.

 

[jackiemac]

We have 4 tanks, 2 grey, blank and fresh water. Just for info.

 

[JudyJB]

I think the best advice is to ask your new neighbors for advice. They, or the park management, will know best how to handle things like keeping warm and cool in the local weather, and how to keep pipes from freezing. Most people (like all of us) love to give advice, so don't be shy about asking them!