Year Round Living

My wife and I are looking at the BC 3251TS. We really like the looks, the layout, etc. However, I have one major concern. We currently live in Montana, and will be retiring in a couple of years. We are planning to sell our house in the Spring/Summer, then take the gains and trade our current rig on the BC, but....I can't find anyplace that gives me a cold weather or "all season" indication other than a little note that you can't really read on the website that says "0 rated". I guess what I'm asking is....are the the tanks and underbelly heated? If so, can you also add the 12v tank wraps? Between now and retirement we plan on parking in an RV park locally that allows year round living, but as most are probably aware....Montana in winter can get rather "COLD", and we have a lot of wind in our area. I realize we'd need to underpin it while stationary in this neck of the woods (and heat wrap the water line from the spigot to the trailer. I've looked at so many 5th wheels, it'g sgetting confusing, but I believe someplace on the BC options I saw something about the "Yeti" package. Can someone please explain?

Thanks

We have that model and just love it. We did a great deal of analysis on the BH and BC layouts, etc. before choosing it. Please PM if you'd like any further info on the model, etc.

The underbelly is heated. You can add the Yetti package which would give tank heaters and add'l insulation in the coach (in the caps I believe).

New BC's now have flush windows and Broyhill furniture as well and they are now pearl rather than tan and what looks to be a darker brown than ours. Appears to have same graphics. You can find a thread about this and Heartland has detail around this on Facebook. I strongly suggest asking the dealer for the low down on all the recent changes made to the BC's.

Theresau, do you have any weights you could share? It looks like the 3251 TS could be pulled with my 2009 2500HD Crew Cab Duramax, but it looks like a pretty tight fit.

With the proper prep you can easily survive Montana winters but it won't be cheap or easy. There are whole threads here regarding winter setups but I do have to say you'll need to watch yours weights with full-timing. When we moved into our coach (3650RL) we ended up loading close to 1500 lbs of stuff. After weighing in at the national rally and being 800 over GVWR on the coach and 1200 on the truck. Needless to say I'm going thru stuff and cleaning house.

The Yeti package adds insulation in the slides and end caps, tank heaters for all waste tanks, and also heat tape on the fresh water line. I highly recommend the option, especially in MT. I lived there for a year while in the Air Force, and it gets COLD w/ 40mph winds.

Hi Bionics1,

We have several owner-written user guides that you may find useful. One covers Water Systems Winter Usage and has a number of tips for handling extreme cold weather.

Btw, the 0 degree reference that you found is a marketing statement that the coach is tested for comfort at zero degrees (F). It's actually not hard to keep these larger 5th wheels comfortable. But it takes a lot more to keep the water running when temperatures drop below zero. That's why we have the Winter Usage Guide.

Sorry I just noted that I didn't respond to this.

Our GAWR at build as it rolled off the line was 11,990 but that did not include the sofa - we assume you would add about 100. We're assuming our actual GAWR at build was 12,100. This reflects the following options that would impact weight: large refrigerator, bedroom AC, level ups, 7000# axles, slide toppers, and G rated tires.

We were weighed at the Goshen rally and the trailer came in at 14,300 fully loaded with a pin weight of 2,800. Both seem high to us - I'd like to do again at a CAT. We didn't add that much to the coach - just seems excessively high.

wg5jim said:

Theresau, do you have any weights you could share? It looks like the 3251 TS could be pulled with my 2009 2500HD Crew Cab Duramax, but it looks like a pretty tight fit.

Click to expand...

Hello We purchased the 2014 3251 BC in May. We DID get the Yeti package . So far the temp has been as low as 17 and stays cozy. I would opt for the electric fireplace. We run the elec at night (has a thermostat ) and have a small oil heater in the bedroom. We set the furnace temp at 60 normally only comes on once in the am. We are also looking at full time living (in Utah ) next winter. We did not get the double windows and have had NO condensation, so far so good !! VERY happy with the quality of the RV.. Love it !

vickisav said:

Hello We purchased the 2014 3251 BC in May. We DID get the Yeti package . So far the temp has been as low as 17 and stays cozy. I would opt for the electric fireplace. We run the elec at night (has a thermostat ) and have a small oil heater in the bedroom. We set the furnace temp at 60 normally only comes on once in the am. We are also looking at full time living (in Utah ) next winter. We did not get the double windows and have had NO condensation, so far so good !! VERY happy with the quality of the RV.. Love it !

Click to expand...

Running the electric fireplace and an additional heater will prevent the furnace from cycling too much. However, the it is a GOOD thing to have the furnace run as it warms the basement and provides heat to the underbelly through a 2" connection on the furnace. Not having the furnace cycle enough could cause the water to freeze in these areas.

As mentioned above, Dan et al have written a very good Water System Winter Usage - highly recommended read for those winter camping.

Brian

One accessory I would think about adding for winter heating (and summer Air conditioning) use would be a Progressive 50C Electrical management system with the remote readout. The protection the EMS gives to your electrical system and appliances is great, but for full-time living in parks that are often just 30 amp service, the continual readout inside the trailer of how may amps you are using helps you manage your high current loads (like air conditioning, microwave, water heater, fireplace heater, plug-in electrical heaters) so that you do not overload the park pedestal supply, and have to go outside to reset the supply breaker.

Good point Brian.

Thank You for the insight as we have done done the winter full time as of yet !