Adding an RV Pad Next To My House

[Hinkelsworth]

Hello
My name is Steven and i have a 1985 31' Winnebago elandan. I bought it about 6 months ago and have been living in it for the past three weeks.  About 4 years ago my wife and 8 year old son bought 5 acres in the forest with an old manufactured home. Our plan was to tear down and replace with a stick built home. Well we are days from tear down and now living in the rv. 3 humans, 2 dogs, 2 cats.

We will be installing a dump station along with our septic. We have water and power. I need to run a 30amp dedicated line but I'm not there yet. I am doing this right after tear down and excavation. 

To level the rv i made 4 gravel pads and leveled them with a transit so i can drive on and off. Its pretty level. I have no leveling jacks so its a Little  wavy.

I built a small outdoor shower with a on demand water heater, propane.  Will suck during the winter but so be it. It gets hot.

My biggest fear is winter, the cold and freezing. Our winters are not always super cold but occasionally they are. If anyone has advice on winter rv living id love to hear it. Things to think of.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Hi Steven -

Don't worry, I split off your message to it's own Topic so it won't interfere with the other discussion. Others can reply right here.

Welcome to The RV Forum!

 

[Isaac-1]

Maybe if you give us a better idea of your climate / region we could help, by not supper cold are you talking about Florida standards or North Dakota standards for cold?

 

[SeilerBird]

RVs are horrible to live in during the winter. Very little insulation and lots of windows and such to allow heat to escape. You should rethink your plan.
When installing a 30 amp power line make darn sure it is a 110 volt circuit and breaker terminated into an RV 30 amp outlet. Otherwise you could destroy a lot of valuable electronics.

 

[John From Detroit]

I do not know if I mentioned this before the split but I always recommend you install a 50 amp RV outlet. even if the rig is 30 (you can use 30 amp breakers i you like) and use a dogone adapter.

WHY? well I've read too many stories of 30 amp outlets being wired wrong. I've even prevented one from being wired wrong (The electrician exchanged the breakers for a breaker after talking to me in the parts store in fact)  and 50's they almost never get wrong.... Never on new installs.

Plus if you ever upgrade the rv. Well most 50 amp; rigs (mine for examle) are just fine on two legs of 30 amp (What my generator outputs in fact, tough they are both the same leg)  or you can (if the electrician uses the right size wire) just upgrade the breakers.  Breakers should NEVER be "Bigger" than the wire they feed.

 

[BruceinFL]

What John said: go 50 amp instead of 30.

 

[dverstra]

What John said: go 50 amp instead of 30.

^^X3^^ What Bruce and John said. I've never regretted that decision

 

[grashley]

Welcome to the Forum!

First, I understand this is a SHORT TERM situation.  Not ideal, but...

For winter, place some type of wind break / under pinning / around the camper to eliminate as much air flow under the camper as possible.  Bales of straw may work well now and be reused when the house is done.

Assuming you have a freeze proof water spigot, when freezing temps are forecast, fill your fresh water tank and use it.  Disconnect and drain the hose.  When weather stays above freezing, reconnect and use the hose.  Heated hoses are also available.

Heat will be an issue.  When I installed power for my FW, the box I used had both a 50A and 120 V 20A receptacle.  I strongly recommend this.  If you ever get a different camper with 50A service, you will be ready.  For now, the 20A can also feed an electric heater in the camper, in addition to a second heater plugged into the camper power supply.  The propane furnace will also provide heat, but they gulp propane.  If you use propane, get a 100# tank brought out.

Block the roof vents with styrofoam "pillows" or similar.  Cover windows with curtains or plastic or some other insulation to slow heat loss.

Remember, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

If this is a ONE winter setup, you could build a straw bale enclosure. If you're in a farming area you can buy/borrow enough bales to build an enclosure. The one I saw was well thought out. The side walls were built up so the tops were just above the roof of the trailer. Boards were put across the top to support the bales for the roof. As the side walls were built, they drove rebar down through them to help keep everything in place.

NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT.....all the vents were extended up through the bales. The air intake and exhaust for the furnace was extended out through the side bales. The point being that anything that needs air or needs to exhaust air needs to be extended outside the bales. They shut off the propane to the water heater so it couldn't light. Just used the electric.
I also seem to remember that they left one bale out in the front and back towards the top so there was some ventilation.
This was used like your use, to get them through one winter.