Using grey & black during winter?

[zapatasghost]

So I'm thinking of using my RV for November hunting dry in Colorado. Technically my RV says it's "all weather" and does have all plumbing insulated. Night temps can go into single digits where we camp. We "boondock" where we hunt - no hookups. One time we got hit with a blizzard in spring (pretty high altitude in June) when we were wet camping and my pipes were totally safe! But I don't trust it during the winter.

3 broad questions:
I don't trust the "all weather" so will camp dry - no water in the tank or pipes and fully winterized w/ antifreeze. My question is what should I do to still use the toilet (black) and have some grey water use (cleanup, etc.)?? Am I good if I keep some antifreeze in the drain pipes and in the tanks? If so, how much antifreeze should I dump into the tanks? OR is this simply not recommended? How cold do you all think an "all weather" trailer can go "wet?"

Also, any advice for keeping my batteries in good shape for these kinds of trips? I have 120 watts of solar and a dual fuel (propane/gas) generator.

What kind of heaters do any of you use to supplement the regular furnace?? I've looked at the propane heaters and they seem like a good option - but only some work well at high altitude and would require running a propane quick connect into the trailer.

Again, this is camping (week max) - not LIVING in the RV for winter - so not planning on skirting (unless it's an absolute, or other more "permanent" fixes, etc.

 

[Henry J Fate]

RV antifreeze in the tanks will give you more wiggle room. You should also buy a digital temperature monitor with multiple sending units to place in areas of concern. The monitor will give you some idea of what to expect at a given outside temperature and provide real time temps.

Battery maintenance......run the generator early morning daily to bulk charge. Let the solar attempt to do the rest.

If you need additional heat, I would not know of any other option other than propane for your circumstances.

 

[DonTom]

Night temps can go into single digits where we camp.

It's not the same as the RV not being used. If you're using it and running the furnace to keep the inside warm enough, it is also helping to keep the tanks warm.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[rvlifer]

Depends on the manufacturers definition of all weather. If you have an insulated underbelly, tank heaters, and heat from the furnace is pumped into the underbelly you should be fine as long as tou dont run out of propane for the furnace and power for the tank heaters.

My mr heater propane heater worked fine as high as 10,000 ft above sea level. I use a standard prooane grill sized tank (20 lbs?) Dont know if that made a difference

You could use bottled water to "flush" the toilet.

 

[Kirk]

When we lived in Wheat Ridge, I hunted in the area near Walden, staying in a small travel trailer. I suspect that your potable water tank is inside, probably under the bed and as such should not freeze if you stay warm. The waste tanks could be a problem as might the batteries. How many batteries do you have and what size are they? We used to camp in a forest service campground and used the outhouse instead of the inside toilet. We used a propane catalytic heater that was mounted to a 20# propane bottle for heat. We didn't skirt but did park where there was little wind to deal with and we put bales of straw around the upwind side and rear.

 

[UTTransplant]

My Mr.Buddy heater stopped working at 7,000’. And no internal heat except a propane furnace is going to help the plumbing. We have had single digit trips (necessity, not choice!), and we went through a huge amount of propane - 1 1/2 days per 30 pound tank. That was in a well insulated (for a trailer) Outdoors RV rig. We used water and tanks too. Generally we strongly prefer an electric site so we can add a simple tank heater in the wet bay in those kinds of temps. If you don’t mind the noise and the fuel, you can use the generator to do the same. Your small amount of solar will do very little with short winter days and low sun angle.

 

[rvlifer]

My Mr.Buddy heater stopped working at 7,000’.

Are you running an lp filter and which model is it? I am over 7k ft and run mine often without issue

 

[Sunnyfalls]

We have used our uninsulated Casita trailer down to 0 degrees F without any issues. We just heat the trailer with our propane furnace and put RV antifreeze in the black and gray tanks before using them and add more as needed. Our potable water tank and associated plumbing stays warm enough and is PEX Type A which shouldn't get damaged even if it were to freeze. The biggest issue we have in cold weather is needing to run our dehumidifier continuously, but we have sufficient battery and solar panel power to do so. We likely use more propane in cold weather than a better insulated trailer, but we don't do much cold weather camping. And the lack of insulation also keeps the potable water tank and associated plumbing warmer than it would otherwise be.

 

[Gr8bawana]

We regularly use our non "4 season" trailer for hunting with below 0° temps. Since we camp in the middle of nowhere we run the gen 75 feet away all night with 2 electric space heaters at the lowest setting.

 

[zapatasghost]

RV antifreeze in the tanks will give you more wiggle room. You should also buy a digital temperature monitor with multiple sending units to place in areas of concern. The monitor will give you some idea of what to expect at a given outside temperature and provide real time temps.

Battery maintenance......run the generator early morning daily to bulk charge. Let the solar attempt to do the rest.

If you need additional heat, I would not know of any other option other than propane for your circumstances.

Nice! What propane heater do you use? And what monitor - and price range?

 

[zapatasghost]

We regularly use our non "4 season" trailer for hunting with below 0° temps. Since we camp in the middle of nowhere we run the gen 75 feet away all night with 2 electric space heaters at the lowest setting.

You also use the black (toilet) and grey (sinks/tub drains) tanks with no problems?

 

[zapatasghost]

We have used our uninsulated Casita trailer down to 0 degrees F without any issues. We just heat the trailer with our propane furnace and put RV antifreeze in the black and gray tanks before using them and add more as needed. Our potable water tank and associated plumbing stays warm enough and is PEX Type A which shouldn't get damaged even if it were to freeze. The biggest issue we have in cold weather is needing to run our dehumidifier continuously, but we have sufficient battery and solar panel power to do so. We likely use more propane in cold weather than a better insulated trailer, but we don't do much cold weather camping. And the lack of insulation also keeps the potable water tank and associated plumbing warmer than it would otherwise be.

"Casita" - I love it! We call ours our Chantita. No generator? How much solar power?

 

[zapatasghost]

My Mr.Buddy heater stopped working at 7,000’. And no internal heat except a propane furnace is going to help the plumbing. We have had single digit trips (necessity, not choice!), and we went through a huge amount of propane - 1 1/2 days per 30 pound tank. That was in a well insulated (for a trailer) Outdoors RV rig. We used water and tanks too. Generally we strongly prefer an electric site so we can add a simple tank heater in the wet bay in those kinds of temps. If you don’t mind the noise and the fuel, you can use the generator to do the same. Your small amount of solar will do very little with short winter days and low sun angle.

Yeah. We don't leave the furnace running through the day - only at night while we sleep. We're definitely not RV dwellers - we spend most of our time out around the fire.

 

[zapatasghost]

My Mr.Buddy heater stopped working at 7,000’. And no internal heat except a propane furnace is going to help the plumbing. We have had single digit trips (necessity, not choice!), and we went through a huge amount of propane - 1 1/2 days per 30 pound tank. That was in a well insulated (for a trailer) Outdoors RV rig. We used water and tanks too. Generally we strongly prefer an electric site so we can add a simple tank heater in the wet bay in those kinds of temps. If you don’t mind the noise and the fuel, you can use the generator to do the same. Your small amount of solar will do very little with short winter days and low sun angle.

Yeah. We don't leave the furnace running through the day - only at night while we sleep. We're definitely not RV dwellers - we spend most of our time out around the fire. Thanks for the advice on the solar! I've only really used it during summer.

 

[zapatasghost]

Depends on the manufacturers definition of all weather. If you have an insulated underbelly, tank heaters, and heat from the furnace is pumped into the underbelly you should be fine as long as tou dont run out of propane for the furnace and power for the tank heaters.

My mr heater propane heater worked fine as high as 10,000 ft above sea level. I use a standard prooane grill sized tank (20 lbs?) Dont know if that made a difference

You could use bottled water to "flush" the toilet.

The manufacturer (Nash) says my trailer has "All-Conditions/Four Seasons Insulation With R-14 Ceiling R-15 Reflective Foil Insulation in Roof & Heated and Enclosed Tanks" and the windows are "Thermal Pane"

 

[Derby6]

1 week. Hmm
No experience but here is what I would do / am thinking.
Leave fresh water all winterized.
Haul in 20-25 gallons fresh water and about same of rv antifreeze.
Use water and antifreeze about 50/50 in gray and black tanks. Use stove to heat water to wash. Store all the water inside the trailer so it will not freeze solid.

Generator with some space heaters would be nice to supplement furnace during the cold nights. And that would keep furnace from draining batteries at night since it’s powered.
Lil propane heater could work as long as they last and are safe. Id rather have electric. Won’t dry me out as much, less carbon monoxide worry, and battery maintenance I mentioned. Solar will keep up batteries during day unless snow covered.

 

[Sunnyfalls]

"Casita" - I love it! We call ours our Chantita. No generator? How much solar power?

It actually is a Casita travel trailer:

https://casitatraveltrailers.com/

We named it "Los Gatos Casita" following our initial 12,000 mile, 3 month, 24 State pickup trip that we completed with our two cats...

We have a 200 Watts portable solar suitcase which is sufficient to replenish the 40-50 AH that we typically use overnight in about 4 hours. Besides always being able to keep this portable solar panel suitcase in full sun, it is easy to keep it cleaned of snow too.

We use a Pro Breeze Mini Dehumidifier, which is a thermo-electric type of dehumidifier that uses 23 Watts. We can operate this Pro Breeze Mini Dehumidifier continuously for about 36 hours using our 100AH lithium battery and 3,000 Watt Inverter without recharging the battery, but we typically recharge our battery after only 12 hours of overnight usage.

And I should also add that being a small RV, it is very easy to heat with our propane furnace while using much less propane and battery power than a larger RV would consume.

 

[Kirk]

We don't leave the furnace running through the day

That is probably pretty typical for most hunting camps and most of us don't keep the inside as warm as we would our homes. But if the inside gets too cold while without heat, it could take more to heat it back up than you save.

With R-14 Ceiling R-15 Reflective Foil Insulation in Roof & Heated and Enclosed Tanks" and the windows are "Thermal Pane"

The real issue with insulation is the rate of heat loss in winter and of heat gain when air conditioning. Also important is the ability of outside air to get inside, especially if it happens to be windy. If you have been in the RV in very hot weather and had no problem keeping it cool, then keeping it warm in cold weather should be as good or bad.

 

[UTTransplant]

Yeah. We don't leave the furnace running through the day - only at night while we sleep. We're definitely not RV dwellers - we spend most of our time out around the fire. Thanks for the advice on the solar! I've only really used it during summer.

It is at night you need to be running your furnace to keep the tanks warm during the coldest part of the night. And a Nash is fairly well insulated for a trailer, pretty similar to our Outdoors RV. I do recommend a remote read thermometer though. Put the sensor in the wet bay near the bottom where it will be coldest just to double check everything is working well.

 

[zapatasghost]

1 week. Hmm
No experience but here is what I would do / am thinking.
Leave fresh water all winterized.
Haul in 20-25 gallons fresh water and about same of rv antifreeze.
Use water and antifreeze about 50/50 in gray and black tanks. Use stove to heat water to wash. Store all the water inside the trailer so it will not freeze solid.

Generator with some space heaters would be nice to supplement furnace during the cold nights. And that would keep furnace from draining batteries at night since it’s powered.
Lil propane heater could work as long as they last and are safe. Id rather have electric. Won’t dry me out as much, less carbon monoxide worry, and battery maintenance I mentioned. Solar will keep up batteries during day unless snow covered.

This is exactly what I was thinking is the plan except the electric heater which requires one of these, which I got but not sure how long it would run the heater before needing to be recharged, or to run the generator Thanks!