Anyone full timing in truly cold weather?

[Nuffsaid]

I would like to know if anyone is full timing in their Solitude in truly cold weather and what the good points/ bad points are. Is the insulation truly as good as claimed by GD? Is the heater large enough to keep the trailer warm in 0 or below 0 temps. Does the water stay flowing. The highs in the Rocky Mountains are in the single digits and expected to be below 0 in the next few days. Post up any real world experiences you have.

[JCZhome]

I'm from California....."truly cold" is anything below 50F. It's all relevant.

Seriously.....there is a Solitude here in this RV Park and it's already been down to 18F and it's not been an issue in our Momentum with just the fire place and a portable space heater (we don't pay for electricity in this park so it doesn't cost us to run the two elect. heaters). However, starting Sun. afternoon we'll be below freezing until Thurs. morning and as low as 12F-14F at night. I suspect that we'll have to turn the furnace on and burn a little propane....the wife likes to keep it 68F-70F in here. In short, this 41' 5th wheel has been much more comfortable than I was expecting for a trailer with five slide outs.

I have read about those that have stayed in the minus (below 0) temps but they are taking other precautions (heated water hose), skirting, etc.

Hope this helps.

[Nuffsaid]

I have lived in RV's while working construction years ago and usually did ok. Back then I didn't have slide outs so heating was easier. With all of the people I see now that are full timing, I am just curious how their GD products are treating them in the bitter cold of winter compared to the claims in the brochures. The high in Billings, MT today is around -8 and the low tonight will be somewhere around -20, it is slightly warmer where I am, but it is a chore to keep our log home warm with a big wood stove, so I can only imagine the difficulty of keeping a 5er warm in this climate. Sometimes I have friends stop by and spend the night in one of my 5ers, but this time of year the furnace runs almost non stop.

[Second Chance]

If you'll use the search function, there are several recent threads on this topic.

Rob

[D2Reid]

We are parked in Park City Utah for some holiday skiing, Next week we are headed to Whistler BC for more skiing. This winter has been milder than previous winters when we have done this. -3 is the coldest we have seen so far, typically 12 at night and high 30's during the day.

We are in a GD Momentum. I am replacing 30# 7 gallon propane tanks every 2.5 days, I just purchased a 40# 10 gallon tank to have a spare and to extend our heating an extra day.
We are quite comfortable.

There are number of gotcha's you need to learn about. I think this article is a good starting place. Reserve America Winter Camping Tips There are number of cold weather/winter threads on this forum you can use the search bar to find them.

Happy New Year!

[Nuffsaid]

There are always general items that apply, but I am looking for feedback on specific items as related to the design of the GD products. For example, does anyone have any issues with the water filter freezing up in the storage compartment, the hole in the bottom of the storage compartment designed to let the hose penetrate the bottom of the compartment is just plastic and not sealed or insulated, does this cause an issue?

[JCZhome]

Nuffsaid, it hasn't been an issue in mine but I've only been down to 12F. I haven't read of that being a problem for anybody else, either and some of these guys have been in minus 0 temps.

[D2Reid]

does anyone have any issues with the water filter freezing up in the storage compartment, the hole in the bottom of the storage compartment designed to let the hose penetrate the bottom of the compartment is just plastic and not sealed or insulated, does this cause an issue?

In my 376 there is a heater duct inches away from the water filter, probably the warmest place in the RV since that duct is literally inches away from furnace.

As far as the hole where the hose comes through, I just stuff a rag around it. Did that in my old 5th wheel without the heater duct in the water compartment, never had either freeze up.

[orbiker]

I would like to know if anyone is full timing in their Solitude in truly cold weather and what the good points/ bad points are. Is the insulation truly as good as claimed by GD? Is the heater large enough to keep the trailer warm in 0 or below 0 temps. Does the water stay flowing. The highs in the Rocky Mountains are in the single digits and expected to be below 0 in the next few days. Post up any real world experiences you have.

I'm not full time yet and most of my camping is in the wet NW Oregon in the winter.

The manager of Cascade Meadows in Central Oregon stays in his RV. It's not a GD. Last winter he froze up in temps. you are referring to. This year he skirted his RV and is a happy camper.

I don't think it is going to be very easy to keep an RV warm without a skirt at below zero temps.

[Sparkydh]

Our 379fl has been in some really cold Indiana winters. Get some skirting around the bottom of the camper. When it would get below 10 degrees we would run some shower water at night. This kept it and the toilet from freezing up. All other spigots had no issue.


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