Considering Purchasing Need Reviews

My husband and I are looking to purchase an RV for year-round use. Has anyone stayed in a Heartland Sundance 3300CK (or something similar) full time in colder temperatures? How does it hold up? Any problems with water freezing, excessive use of propane, etc? Thanks in advance!
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi tiffanywilliams1208,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There's lots of useful information here along with a great bunch of friendly and helpful people.

For cold weather camping, a lot depends on how cold. The two key issues are 1) staying comfortable inside, and 2) keeping the water running. We use our Landmark in extreme cold weather in the Colorado mountains, often way below 0 (F). In fact, we've been down to -30 (F) a number of times. But we've done a number of things to protect the water system and maintain interior comfort.

You should be prepared to go through a lot of propane in sub-freezing weather. And for sub-freezing weather, you should plan on getting tank heating pads. You may also want to add heat tape on the water lines. That's going to be the case on a Sundance, or on more expensive coaches. A fireplace is essential and you may also want a ceramic disc heater.

Many of the items you'll want for cold weather are available on Big Country and Bighorn. I don't know if they're available on Sundance.

We have an owner-written Water Systems Winter Usage Guide that you might find helpful. Here's a link to the User Guide Folder.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
I don't have a Sundance, but I believe it's a step down from our ElkRidge.

What I can tell you is that the ElkRidge was not designed for full-time use, and is not warranted as such. But we've had very good experiences with the unit in mid/range temps, 45*-85*.

Colder and hotter, the unit is not as well insulated as the full-time units, so the ACs (we have 2) can't keep up as well, and/or the furnace runs more frequently.

The tanks are smaller than full-time units, so you are dumping more frequently.

The kitchen sink is on the small side, so washing dishes is a bit of a challenge.

Propane tanks are two 30# units, many full-time rigs have 40# so refilling becomes necessary sooner in the colder months.

Nevertheless, our floorplan works well for us and it has held up very well for 15 mo of continuous use. But, we've also made modifications so we don't have as many issues. We added thermal curtains to help with heat and cold transfer through the windows, as well as tank and pipe heaters for the winter, to name a few.



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