At what temperature should I forget about staying in my RV?

Hattem

Member
I have a NorthTrail 31RLSS and will be taking it from Canada to California in January. If the temperature outside is -10F, will the heater keep things warm enough to allow me to stay in the RV overnight - if I can find a campground that is open as I drive south? Is it OK to put on the furnace while still driving (say an hour before I plan to stop for the night)?
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
I stayed in my Big Country for a couple nights when it got down to 14 above and it was fine but it did warm up to above freezing during the day. Keep in mind your trailer has a lot of plastic and fiberglass parts that get pretty brittle when it's that cold. Myself..I would be reluctant to even tow it when it's that cold let alone try and stay in it. I don't think you will be very warm at those temps plus you will use a ton of propane. Can't imagine there would be any campgrounds open either. I'd go with a motel until you get someplace warmer. Between the cost of a campground ,if you can find one, and the propane you will almost cover the motel bill. JMHO..Don
 

caissiel

Senior Member
These trailers are much warmer with the slides in.
We travel with the sides in all the time Ha ha ha
Not with this one but in the past we always left in the winter and the furnace with the slides in will heat it much faster enough to heat the bedroom a little more and the rest gets warm to.
As long as the furnace is running when parked it should heat enough to prevent freezing inside, because our water in jugs never frooze.
I remember reading my thermostat one night it had gone down to -20F in Maine while driving south and we were warm as toast in the bedroom.
Always leave your trailer winterized and do not fill the tanks till its warm enough. We used the jugs to flush the toilet and the black tank never did freeze if only used during the night.
When winterizing I use to pour windshield washer liquid in the black tank to seal the 3" valve against freezing.

Better have lots of battery power (2 min) because the furnace in our BC will kill the power fast, but if only stop for an 8HR sleep after traveling all day they should be ok. I have 10 Ga wires to the trailer connection and the truck charges at 23 Amps to the trailer batteries.

The original 16Ga wiring on my truck to trailer connection was not doing much, so I installed a better one. It takes a long time to recharge these batteries after the furnace has killed them.
 

Rmcgrath53

Well-known member
I am staying in Kentucky at a campground right now. It was down to 7 degress the other day, and suppose to get to 8 deg tonite. No problem so far. I ran heat cable on my water hose and wraped my sewer line with insulation. I am keeping it set at 60 and 70 during the day.
 

lwmcguir

Well-known member
Keep in mind you are going to run out of propane very fast if the furnace is running a lot during extreme cold. Keep one tank full for sure all the time. Nice to have a spare if you have a place to haul it.
 

caissiel

Senior Member
I got 3 days supply out of one tank while running the fridge hot water and the furnace when stopped. Its good to keep the HW tank on due to the exposure to the cold wind when traveling.
 
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