RVn in the Bitter Cold

[X-Roughneck Strike 3]

Curious if we have any fellow board members out currently RV who got caught up in this Cold Snap unexpectdly?

If so, how are you Holding up out there?

I ask because I know my Triple Slide Rig seems like the outside temp is the Inside temp. I do not envy the folks out there in this mess! We had a -1F which was a record for us down here at the 1800 ft mark of Tx elevation.

Anybody care to share some Real world Experiences they are dealing with?

Hoping everybody is safe out there. Stay put, and warm, if you can.

Good Vibes to everybody out there.

JD

 

[Rene T]

I just spoke to a lady in Kansas and this morning when she got up it was -17F below zero. brrrrrrr!!!
She was not camping

 

[NY_Dutch]

Fortunately we're toasty warm here in Florida right now, but we have been in temps as low as -4 F in past years. Even at -4 our two furnaces kept us comfortable and the only thing that froze was a short water line from the cold feed to our accumulator tank. All that did was make the pump run every time a faucet was opened, just as it would with no tank. 5 minutes with a hair dryer fixed that. In weather that cold, we do pull in our single super slide so there's less volume to heat. Everything is still accessible though, so that's not much of a hardship.

 

[X-Roughneck Strike 3]

Good Strategy Dutch. Those slides definitely allow the outside temps (hot or cold) inside. On our Inaugural RVn Voyage in Sep 2019 when we went to Mount Rushmore / Badlands we had a blast come down from Canada that got the temps down 20F ish.

This year we added 2 each 1500 watt certamic heaters purchased at Sams Club to augment the Heat Pump/ Combo 15K ac on the roof. My opinion is that heat pumps are not too effective when the temps drop down way low.

For my Winnebago Aspect 30J once the Outside air dips below 36F the Gas heat Automatically Cuts on and Works in Concert with the electric heat you have selected on the wall thermo.

I had to go back and look in the Winnebago books because I was like WOW how did I use a 1/4 of propane last night initially, scratch head?

All my tanks are small on this Aspect 30J to include Propane.

Ceramic heaters...A nice addition.. BTW I have only used one, never 2 yet and makes a HUGE, positive difference to the inside temps without burning up your Propane.

Just make sure you have it on a BRK that can handle the load.

 

[TheBar]

I moved a furnace vent so it blows on our recliners which made a big difference. But you can feel the cold radiating up from the floor. One of my planned upgrades is adding electric heat strips under vinyl plank flooring.

 

[rdmcguire80]

Ill be putting new carpet in my living and bedroom area this spring. Would it be stupid not to put heat strips in?? Are they very expensive?

 

[Oldgator73]

We have our TT sitting on our property in VA. No utilities. Our son stays there permanently. He uses a Mr Heater propane heater that keeps his unit warm enough. One night his boots froze to the floor. When we go down we also use a Mr Heater that keeps the little TT cozy.

 

[Roy M]

A balmy -4C here this morning but last week it was -19 which is too dang cold for this old guy. I did my time. An acquaintance living in his fiver is doing ok but going through a LOT of propane. I haven't heard if his pipes froze.

 

[TheBar]

Ill be putting new carpet in my living and bedroom area this spring. Would it be stupid not to put heat strips in?? Are they very expensive?

If you do a lot of winter camping and don't want "your boots freezing to the floor" you might want to. The prices cover a wide range. I'm planning to do just where our feet will mostly be in the living/kitchen areas and the dry bathroom. I'm not doing the carpeted bedroom since we don't sit or stand there very long. About $300 DIY for an acceptable quality 85 degree manual control 10' x 30" mat and two small ones. A thermostat control adds $200.

 

[Dreamsend]

About $300 DIY for an acceptable quality 85 degree manual control 10' x 30" mat and two small ones. A thermostat control adds $200.

Hi All

Can you guestimate what the power draw is for something that size? Or even something smaller, say 20 long by 6 wide or so?

Can the thermo be set lower than 85 degrees or is that what is required to get heat through the vinyl?

TIA
Linda

 

[TheBar]

Hi All

Can you guestimate what the power draw is for something that size? Or even something smaller, say 20 long by 6 wide or so?

Can the thermo be set lower than 85 degrees or is that what is required to get heat through the vinyl?

TIA
Linda

It all depends on what mat you choose. I think you misread my feet-inches. It is a 10 foot x 36 inch mat I looked at which draws less than 3 amps. A 20 foot by 6 foot mat would be 4x that around 11 amps. The thermostat doesn't say what the temp range is but the picture shows it set on 72.

 

[Dreamsend]

It is a 10 foot x 36 inch mat I looked at which draws less than 3 amps.

Thanks for your reply. Seems very reasonable on the power draw. I did read your dimensions as 10 feet by 3 feet (kinda rounded up!); however, I did screw up and should have asked about something "larger", not smaller descriptor--blame it on not enough wake-up juice at the time. This may be a mod I'll have to keep in mind.

Stay warm!
Linda

 

[Memtb]

We were supposed to head-out to Baton Rouge yesterday morning. We had picked a warm(er) route, straight down I-25 all the way to Southern New Mexico, down through Texas to I-10. This route was fairly warm, so frozen water and propane consumption wouldn’t have been a problem.

But, the forecasts showed our window through New Mexico closing, continued ice issues into Friday near Houston and potentially not being able to buy fuel in Texas due to power outages.....we gave-up hopes of making it to Baton Rouge!

If we were guaranteed that we would be the only ones on the roads and we could get fuel......we’d be headed to BR right now! memtb

 

[thumped]

Power went out last night for about 8 hours. At 3:30 am it was 18*. I think I burnt a lot of diesel in the AquaHot keeping warm, but my diesel battery charger never kicked in due to low batteries.

I had no issues, but my showhauler is set up for cold weather.

looks like snow and ice tonight and in the morning. I think ice is the worst, but dragging snow inside is a pain.

 

[jymbee]

I do not envy the folks out there in this mess!

JD

We left the State Park we were at near Corpus Christi, TX early last Sunday afternoon headed to the State Park we're now at outside of Houston, TX. On the way here there was a pretty constant drizzle and temps were hovering near freezing. I've had some times when I had to drive on snowy roads, but ice? No way. I'll just pull over at the closest safe spot.

Fortunately we arrived at this new site just as temps were continuing to fall and rain started to freeze. Any thought of getting some winterizing supplies was out of the question given the ice covered roads.

Power went out soon after we got here Sunday afternoon and remained out until late Tuesday. Generator running non stop throughout given temps dropping down to near single digits. Fresh water tank was drained as was hot water tank. Put a small ceramic heater in the water bay and when the fireplace and another heater weren't enough to keep us warm inside, we cycled the coach propane heater on for a bit.

One of my golden rules is to never, if at all possible, run too low on gas before refueling. We managed to fill up about a half hour from this site which let us keep the generator running.

Still no power today. Gas stations all around Houston are packed, many with long lines. As we're here until Monday I really wanted to fill up and did manage to find a station South of here-- farther way from Houston.

Now power finally comes on for an hour or two, then off again. Part of their grand plan to get back to normal apparently.

 

[X-Roughneck Strike 3]

Jim and Todd and all you other unfortunate souls out there we got another 28 hours of this till we try and land this thing. Sending positive vibes your way!

Our Current Situation must be similar to a day in the life of Evel Knievel. This situation feels eerie similar. Right now alot of Folks out there are figuratively speaking, "Looking down and seeing nothing but air and the Fountains of Caesar's Palace under their feet" just like he did flying across the air on that Triumph Motorcycle.

Hope we land this lack of planning disaster, better than Evel did.

The media is not keyed in and focusing too much yet on the gasoline shortages, but the refineries are shut. They do not want to overload the collective fragile minds (Like mine LOL) out here, but your / our / my Gasoline will have shortages I am guessing nation wide.

Media stories should be upticking and getting alot of clicks once people venture out and try to go to the store and find their Gasoline tanks empty at their local 7-11 store.

This will have a Hurricane Harvey Shock wave thru the USA will be my guess. I am staying at home today may venture out, but why I ask?, as the stores are empty down here in PO Dunk, Texas.

JD

 

[UTTransplant]

We are still in the warm California desert. We delayed our planned departure from Death Valley 4 days, and we are planning on staying close another 4-5 days when we leave here. I want to give NM, TX, and OK plenty of time to get things slightly back to normal. Interestingly we are seeing some food shortages. We went to Pahrump, NV for groceries yesterday, and the refrigerated food section was very low. Makes sense with trucking either stopped or slowed significantly. When we leave the warmth here (mid 70s folks!), it will be with full tanks of propane, diesel, and fresh water.

 

[thumped]

Went to work today in 5" of ice and slush driving 30 mph. I had no issues on the way to work. I saw lots of people in ditches.
When I got back to the campground there was a 5th wheel in the ditch blocking one of the campground roads. A bunch of people were trying to get it out, but I think they were doing more harm than good and I'm sure there will be some huge ruts for everyone to deal with.
The park has no power again. The motor home next to me let me plug my battery charger into there genset so I'm good to go.