Full-timing through December in Montana

[Leechantee]

We need all the advice when it comes to full timing in the winter in Montana. We will be in our 2021 Solitude 378 MBS-R. We will be staying through mid/late December and want to be fully prepared! We will be moving our rig to a “winterized” spot in the campground on October 1 and will be skirting it in with foam boards at that time.

We need advice on how to cut down on propane use while still keeping things from freezing. We understand we will go through a decent amount of propane and rented a 100# external tank, but we want to maximize our other resources.

We have read about the use of space heaters-can we put one underneath the RV once it is skirted in? We also considered adding one in the main living and master bedroom but are wondering what the best location to place them would be given thermostat locations (I know it sounds basic). When using space heaters inside what is an ideal temp to set furnace to insure it still turns on to heat underbelly?

The other concern we have heard about is rodents in the winter. Anyone have experience with this and tips on preventing it?

 

[FT4NOW]

Dont overlook your water line and sewer hose. Its best to keep the fresh water tank full as a good backup source of water. When we lived in our Momentum, we had a heated water hose, wrapped it in pipe insulation and put heat tape on the spigot and water filter. Never froze and we had temps down to low teens. Your sewer line should be fine as long as you keep your valves shut, and ensure the line is empty after dumping. We had a black valve leaking and figured it out when our sewer line turned frozen solid. I wrapped it in foil, heat tape and insulation which thawed it out. No issue the following year after I fixed the valve.

We kept a close eye on temperature and had a temperature monitor and alarm in the underbelly. I set the alarm to 40F and would turn the furnace on when it got cold enough. We ran the fireplace and 2 electric heaters. Be mindful of power draw on each circuit with an electric heater, they draw about 12A each.

Skirting would have definitely helped, but it wasnt allowed where we were. If you search the forum for skirting, you can read about some of the options. Also search for winter camping and there should be some good discussions.

My preference was also to clear snow off the roof. Since you are heating the inside, the snow directly on the roof will melt first and there needs to be a place for the water to go, or it will come in the slides. The one time I decided not to clear the roof, we had water come inside.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[COLRetired]

Have you looked into "Cheap Heat"? https://www.rvcomfortsystems.com/

We have this system on our Solitude 384GK; in sub zero temperatures it has kept us comfy at 72 degrees all winter, without using the propane. If a campground doesn't meter the electricity my husband calls it free heat. He installed it in the fall of 2018 and it has worked like a champ.

Have fun in Montana!

 

[530_Josh]

For heat we have 2 pelonis brown box heaters. One on low in the basement of our Coach and one on high in the living room. So far that’s all we need to keep our 310GK-R roughly 68-70* when it’s 25* outside.

As for rodents, we use dryer sheets because mice hate them. I leave them in all my equipment after learning the hard way how destructive they can be on wiring.