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Yes, very much so. I lived in my 5th wheel for 8 years and did not have any problems.
My neighbor works up in the Oil Patch and has for over a year. He lives in his 11 ft camper that he took out of bed of his pickup truck. He had some discomforts last year, but said it was not bad. He had no water, no electricity and no sewer. He used a generator, propane heat, bottled water and a port-a-pottie. He'll be there through this winter also.
As far as preparing your 5th wheel, what kind do you have? Are you going to want to stay connected to water and sewer all winter? The RV parks disconnect water and sewer during the winter and a water truck comes around as well as a sewer truck to pump tanks. Are you going to have that kind of an arrangement?
Don't know what kind of sewer arangement we will have, didn't know trucks come around to pump out tanks. So thanks for that info. We will be parked on a job site and I know there is water and sewer there, but not sure how we will work that? any thoughts on that would be appreciated. Can we stay warm enough? someone told me not expect it to be toasty, that there would be lots of drafts, and lines and pipes would freeze. Made me think not to expect it to be too comfortable.
There are a lot of things you can do to warm things up a might. Seal all your windows except one on the "off wind" side. You will need some ventilation. You can seal the windows with plastic and duct tape.
Crawl underneath and check where anything penetrates the trailer. Tail light wires, pipes, jack cranks, anything that leaves a gap. Get some expanding foam (spray can) and close up every penetration point.
Get some 4 inch thick foam rubber. Cut it about an inch larger then the square hold going to roof vents, you know the ones you crank open. Stuff the foam rubber into that hole.
Does your 5th wheel have a basement? In other words, storage area beneath the floor? If so, your plumbing usually goes through that area. Keep a couple 60 watt bulbs going in there to warm it up.
They sell electric blankets for your holding tanks. Very cheap to put blankets on each holding tank. It's much cheaper then having a 60 gallon block of ice that freezes and busts.
Propane tanks are carefully engineered to run out at 1:30am or half way through a steak. Make sure you have adequate propane.
The heater/furnace is designed for occasional use, not continuous use through the winter. It is well worth it to get a furnace fan motor as a spare. As well as the circuit board that lights the furnace. Those circuit boards are less then $80. But when it hits -30 and the board fry's, it's going to take you hours to find one and get it back to plug it in. By then, your plumbing is froze as well as all your items in the trailer.
If the trailer has a basement, skirting it really doesn't do a lot for you. If it doesn't have a basement, skirting is a must because your plumbing is exposed.
Electrical heat tape is a must on water line. Then wrap it with rubber insulation (the kind you get that is split), then wrap that with insulation and then put vynil or some sort of wrapping around that. Where the hose goes into the RV it's very difficult to insulate. I took a cardboard box and installed a light in it. Then put the box over that water inlet and duct taped the box to the side of the trailer. When it got down in the negative temps, I flipped a switch and turned the light on.
Sewer line. Do not use the flex line (accordian style), it's better to get some PVC and hard plumb it in. During cold, hold in your tanks and dump when full. As soon as it dumps, run about 5 gallons of hot water into your holding tank and dump again. I made a 6 foot hose that would clip onto my faucet. I would turn on the hot water, hold the toilet valve open so that I could run water in there. Run it for a while and dump.
Enough for now, as I think of more things I did, I'll post them.
If I come to Williston, would I be able to find a place to park my Camper ? Len
New camp opening south of Williston on hwy 85 but you better get here quick. It's gonna be full in no time. Also a camp with park models available to rent near Trenton/Fairview. Good luck.
I've been looking into camper living and here are a few links. I have no first hand information about any of the following gear so if anyone has any ideas please chime in.
I thought of making an enclosure just large enough to sleep in with sheets of this insulation and a heat exchanger that ran off of the vented cat heater. The enclosure would be warm and the rest of the camper would be much cooler. The foam may need to offgas if it is new?
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I also read that when it is really cold when trying to run propane appliances off of 20lb bottles that it is best to have two bottles and two regulators to prevent freezing.
I've been looking into camper living and here are a few links. I have no first hand information about any of the following gear so if anyone has any ideas please chime in.
RV Dealers sell a vented catalytic heater that is vented and it is fantastic. I was in Washington State in the Mountains and the guy in the RV next to me bought one and installed. His normal furnace would use a 100lb tank of propane, every month and it struggled to keep his place warm. The catalytic heater did a lot better job. Kept his place toasty and used one 30lb tank a month. His catalytic heater was hand regulated, so at night he would turn it low and rely on the rv's furnace. Come morning, he'd crank up that cat again. Excellent buy.
Wouldn't touch one. If you are going to spend the money, get the vented model. It's more costly but a lot more efficient. If you buy the unvented, you need to open some windows. Look at the heat you are loosing????
I would not recommend putting a deep cycle battery in a vehicle. It does not have the cranking amps needed when it gets cold. It is a lower amperage battery that lasts a lot longer. Outstanding for running the lights all night in an RV, but not very good at cranking your vehicle over when it's -30. I recently purchased two new batteries for my truck. 1100 amp batteries with a 7 year warrantee. $110 each. You'll spend twice that for a deep cycle battery.
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I thought of making an enclosure just large enough to sleep in with sheets of this insulation and a heat exchanger that ran off of the vented cat heater. The enclosure would be warm and the rest of the camper would be much cooler. The foam may need to offgas if it is new?
That causes a couple of problems. First, as you mentioned, the offgas when it is new. The second thing is, what are you going to do for oxygen? You have a car heater blowing in there? So the car is running? Which way is the wind? The wind can switch and your exhaust is blowing forward so your heater is drawning nasty gas into the vehicle. Sleeping, it will kill you in your sleep. Secondly, blowing snow can pile up around your exhaust in drifts and cause the exhaust gas to come into the vehicle.
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If the heater fails and you have to stay put.
Sorry, the link wouldn't work for me. If you are in a car and stranded, have some candles handy. You can buy short little 5 inch tall candles. Have a couple of bean cans to put the candles in to keep wax from running everywhere. Those candles are 8 hour candles and 2 of them burning in your vehicle will keep you warm as long as you keep the car buttoned up. Crack a vent window or a regular window by about 1/4 inch. That is if you are stranded, not to be used if living in your car.
It's a good idea to have a well rated sleeping bag in your vehicle should you get stranded.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. You will age rapidly, living in your car. You have absolutely no place to wind down after a 16 hour day. You are cramped and you don't stretch out to sleep so you don't rest. Sure, somebody says they sleep fine. Yeah, you do sleep after a 16 hour day, however, you don't rest. 10 years from now you are going to have knee, hip and back problems and even working at Wal-Mart is going to be a challenge. There are too many inherent dangers living in your car. If you are talking a day or two, sure you can do it. But I wouldn't plan on any longer. No place to sit and relax, to unwind, to socialize, to cook, to use the bathroom, to shower. These are things you need for piece of mind or you will never get comfortable.
There is a whole list of things you should have in your vehicle while in cold country. If you want I'll post that list. It's been posted a couple of times if you care to search Emergency or car.
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I also read that when it is really cold when trying to run propane appliances off of 20lb bottles that it is best to have two bottles and two regulators to prevent freezing.
In an RV, you should have two tanks. I would like to meet the engineer that carefully designed propane tanks to run out at 2am in a snowstorm, or halfway through a steak on the bar b q, he was a genius to be able to accomplish that.
An RV has a regulator and valve between the two tanks. You can set it for right or left tank or both. Never use both, always be using one while you have the other in the vehicle taking it to get filled. If you run out of both, your rv will get so cold that you will run the furnace for hours warming the woodwork up again. So only use one or the other. If one runs out in the middle of the night, you will be alerted because your furnace blower will continue to blow, you will not have hot air, and most importantly, your home will smell like garlic. Propane is odorless and they add the smell of garlic. When the propane runs out, all you have is the smell blowing in through the jets. You smell garlic, go out and switch tanks, it only takes a minute and your back inside with warm air again. With older RV's, your back inside lighting the pilot lite.
I've had my rv in -40 and have never froze up a regulator or a propane system. I had a neighbor that did. You know the white fiberglass cover that slides down over your tanks? He didn't have one and the snow was all drifted up on his tanks, ice had melted off his roof and was on top of his tanks and regulators and he was completely baffled that his propane stopped when he knew the tanks had propane in them. His valve was frozen from ice on the outside so he couldn't turn it to the other tank to even see if it would work.
RV Dealers sell a vented catalytic heater that is vented and it is fantastic.
I am searching for the one you have mentioned as the one I linked to is the only one I have found yet. Do you happen to remember the brand? I'll keep searching.
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Information about batteries and cold weather
Deep Cycle Battery FAQ
"I would not recommend putting a deep cycle battery in a vehicle."
I just posted that link for the information about batteries and the cold that is on the page but your advice is good.
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I thought of making an enclosure just large enough to sleep in with sheets of this insulation and a heat exchanger that ran off of the vented cat heater.
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The second thing is, what are you going to do for oxygen? You have a car heater blowing in there?
As mentioned above "a heat exchanger that ran off of the vented cat heater."
Great advice on the candles and thanks for that.
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You will age rapidly, living in your car... You are cramped and you don't stretch out to sleep so you don't rest.
Good information
I have a full size van and I'm too tall to fit on the standard bed in the back comfortably, and there was also no room for storage under the bed because of the mechanism that raises and lowers the bed, so I removed the bed. I build a folding bed support which folds lengthwise and which is just a little higher than the flip top plastic containers that I store all my camping gear in.
I bought this amazing futon from Ebay to sit on top. Look at how highly everyone rates this product.
These are made with high density foam and are just so comfortable. Much more comfortable than the usual folding van bed. If the link does not work Google Dan Futon and go to the Ebay store and this is the
6"Thick x 39"W x 75"L NAVY TRI FOLD FOAM BED GUEST BEDS for $115
A twin sheet fits on it perfectly. I have been travelling and shooting pictures for a long time and this futon is great and very cheap compared to other options. It is also very firm which I like.
Thanks again Elk Hunter! I'll look for the post you mentioned.
No, sorry, I don't remember the brand of cat heater that he had. (1997-98).
It was about 18 inches tall, and 12 inches wide. Kind of stuck out from the wall in a half circle. Radiant type, so would want to locate it in the middle of a 5th wheel. He vented it through the floor
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living thru the winter in 5th wheel
Make sure you have adequate propane.
