Winter camping in Travel Trailer

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Not sure how having one untenable situation somehow justifies another. There are always solutions, some better than others but almost surely none of them will include living in a camper during the winter in Michigan. Something's got to change, either the camper part or the Michigan part.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
I would say the cat part too.
 
My bil tried to live out of his tc in Ft McMurray Alberta over the winter, no accommodation available. Running out of propane at 3 am got old real fast. You really need to rethink this. Do you need to build during winter?
 
My bil tried to live out of his tc in Ft McMurray Alberta over the winter, no accommodation available. Running out of propane at 3 am got old real fast. You really need to rethink this. Do you need to build during winter?
I was in Grand Praire and Dawson Creek last week -44 with the wind chill -55 stupid cold brrrrr
 
My bil tried to live out of his tc in Ft McMurray Alberta over the winter, no accommodation available. Running out of propane at 3 am got old real fast. You really need to rethink this. Do you need to build during winter?

A large (250 gallon or larger) propane tank would be advised! If the plan is to stay put for a long period of time, most any propane supplier rents tanks of most common sizes. Very easy to incorporate into your rv propane system! This was our method when we lived ours for 2 years while building!

A large volume, a gauge, and if you look at the gauge periodically.....no running out of propane!

When we go on our little 21 day or so boondocking trip, we bring a 45 gallon (used to be a propane fuel tank for a pickup truck) tank with us. No trips back to town (several hours round trip) to fill 40# bottles!

Being proactive goes a long way in comfort! memtb
 
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Not full time, but did live in ours for two Wyoming winters while building our home......seeing a few -30 F mornings. Never had a moments problem! Having an rv designed for cool weather, and taking a few common sense provisions made it pretty easy! Didn’t even have skirting the first winter!

We do a bit of winter boondocking ( see avatar photo), and never shy away from it. If you can do it for fun.....it can certainly be done as a necessity! Jus Say’n! memtb
You are one tough hombre. Now that your home is built, have you given up on RV living?
 
You are one tough hombre. Now that your home is built, have you given up on RV living?

We have never done the full-time thing.....only when building our home.

But, do some fall/winter boondocking (except this year🤬) for about 3 weeks during hunting season.

We did spend a week in Evanston, Wy. around Christmas. They had some pretty serious weather while we were there, a lot of snow, fairly high winds, a few mornings in single digits, interstate closed off and on for several days.....just another Christmas in Wyoming. Though, we weren’t boondocking! We cheated, we were in a campground......electricity only! But, electricity or lack of is the biggest winter camping challenge! 😉 memtb
 
If you are only using space heaters, you could be in for a World of trouble. Typically your pipes run in the basement and depend on the furnace ductwork to give off some heat to keep the pipes from freezing. Just something to think about.
Were actually only using bottled water and kept the unit winterized. We have a bathhouse at the campgrounds for showering. We do use the toilet at night (for urinating only lol) but we flush by pouring a little antifreeze in the tanks. Not the best but its working for now
 
If you want a travel trailer rather than a 5th wheel.....look at Excel. And yes, they also went out of business (about 5 years ago) much like some of the better made higher rv’s did in the late 2000’s! The Excel’s had a factory guarantee of -20 F wintering capabilities!

They were very well made, though a bit heavy. But, weight generally comes with additional quality and materials!
Thank you, if our house build drags into next winter we will get a bigger unit. Not sure if park models have better insulation
 
Not full time, but did live in ours for two Wyoming winters while building our home......seeing a few -30 F mornings. Never had a moments problem! Having an rv designed for cool weather, and taking a few common sense provisions made it pretty easy! Didn’t even have skirting the first winter!

We do a bit of winter boondocking ( see avatar photo), and never shy away from it. If you can do it for fun.....it can certainly be done as a necessity! Jus Say’n! memtb
What type of unit did you have
 
We were in Albuquerque in 2010 when a front came through dropping temps below zero, even during the day. We were in a Beaver Motorhome at the time with diesel heat, dual pane windows and decent insulation. We did not freeze but did get cold. The next day a friend and I went through the park to make sure folks were OK. Some of the trailers froze, went right through the walls into the pipes despite electric heaters and furnace working overtime. Everyone survived it but it was telling about the abilities of RV's in cold weather. Choose your rig wisely
 
What type of unit did you have

A Teton Homes 5th wheel, as seen in avatar photo. The one we lived in was a 1990 model, our present is a 2004 year model!

Teton went out of business in ‘07, and finding quality used is difficult.

Tetons and Excels are not Park Models....though, I think that Teton did build some. We drug our Teton almost 6K miles last year......”parked”, it wasn’t! 😁

Excel manufactured both travel trailers and 5th wheels, and I think (pretty sure) that both had -10 F guarantee. Finding a good used Excel may be a little easier as they only ceased production within the last 5 years or so! The Excel manufacturing facility ( in northwest Kansas) was taken over by one of the owners and a group of employees. While the do not manufacture, they specialize in repair (especially on Excels) they do sell used units (different makes) and have very high marks on their repair workmanship! In fact.....I think they have a couple of used Excel 5th wheels at the shop for sale!
Here’s a link! memtb

 
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We were in Albuquerque in 2010 when a front came through dropping temps below zero, even during the day. We were in a Beaver Motorhome at the time with diesel heat, dual pane windows and decent insulation. We did not freeze but did get cold. The next day a friend and I went through the park to make sure folks were OK. Some of the trailers froze, went right through the walls into the pipes despite electric heaters and furnace working overtime. Everyone survived it but it was telling about the abilities of RV's in cold weather. Choose your rig wisely
Were not doing too bad, the cats dont like being confined but that will be short term anyway. Hoping we can get the house all framed in and most of the way done by fall so this will be our only winter in it.
 
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