Minnie Winnie Class C in cold weather

[budget]

any advice for staying in a 22m for a month in Nov. in western Kentucky? Now lets be real! My wife thinks we can.

[Eagle5]

Hi Budget,
I don't see any problem, as long as you have the optional Black & Grey tank heaters switched on during sub-freezing weather, and keep the coach inside heated to say about 55ºF or more. Also, a fresh water hose heater is good if you are hooked-up during freezing times.
Eagle5

[99dart]

Along with what Eagle5 said, you could place a 75-100 watt light bulb in areas that are more vulnerable to the cold. I have used one of these thermal cubes to turn on said bulbs when it gets too cold. You can find them at farm stores too.
https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovato.../dp/B0006U2HD2

[creativepart]

Your only worry about plumbing freezing is if you encounter mid-20's or colder for more than 30 hours continuously. A dip into the 20's over night will freeze your fresh water hose, so don't connect that, but it could never get your RV cold enough as long as the outside temps make it above freezing during the days.

This is especially true with you living in the RV and using it and the heater at night.

Those of us that travel to high elevations in the late spring see this kind of weather, even snow, regularly and it's never a problem.

[68SILVER]

Originally Posted by budget

any advice for staying in a 22m for a month in Nov. in western Kentucky? Now lets be real! My wife thinks we can.

My 31G has heat pads on the gray and black holding tanks and the fresh water is under the bed. I don't think I would have a problem. Don't know if your unit has the tank heaters .

[golden13]

I admit I'm extremely sensitive to the cold, and did my research about possibly living through a Wisconsin winter in an RV (temps from freezing on down to 40 REAL degrees F below Zero. Bottom line for that is, just DON'T. Kentucky is a maybe, even if you conquer the frozen pipe/hose problems. you also have to keep yourself warm enough, too!

[Eagle5]

I took a quick look at the AccuWeather forecast for Bardstown, Kentucky for the month of November. The coldest I saw was 24ºF on November 30th.
FYI; Eagle5

[Shedboy]

Have 22M, boondocked occasionally above 10K' in Rocky Mountains, night temp 20 deg.


1. Put drivers compartment curtain down so heater has less area to heat.
2. Waste tanks have never frozen even without tank heaters on.
3, Add foil backed 3/4" Styrofoam insulation to sides and interior of access door of water pump compartment, lift lid to exposed interior closet and leave closet door open at night

4. Likewise open under-sink cabinets at night.There are passageways for electrical and plumbing that connect the kitchen sink to the water pump compartment to the bathroom sink/toilet. The only way to access these "tunnels" is from the water pump compartment.
5. Put Camco vent insulating cushions in the skylights. The dog (organic heater) can sleep on them during the day.

5. Don't know how or why but the spool valve in the back of the china bowl toilet froze and it was very inconvenient. Now I force one of the above mentioned vent covers between the back of toilet and wall. (The toilet supply line is back there.
6. Use sleeping bags rather than bedding. See Teton Brand, be careful, the zipper gets stuck in the lining very easily.
7. Don't use slide outs, reduce area that heater has to heat.

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by budget

any advice for staying in a 22m for a month in Nov. in western Kentucky? Now lets be real! My wife thinks we can.

The Winnebago 22M is a great little Class C!

One thing I did notice from reading it's specs is that it's propane furnace capacity is 20,000 Btu. I would like to have seen the furnace be a bit larger - at least 25,000 Btu. That's the size in our 24 ft. Winnebabo Itasca Class C. One poster in the RV forums even has a 24 ft. Class C that came with a 35,000 Btu capacity furnace!

Generous use of your RV furnace while sleeping is the key to comfort and freedom from plumbing freezing in cold weather. We sleep in our Class C with the furnace set at around 65 degrees -> close to the night temperature we keep our residence at.

Keeping you Class C interior temperature up there in cold weather using the furnace is way superior to trying to use small electric heaters - even though you may be camping with hookups in the cold weather. The built-in furnace has mulitple outlets for good warm air circulation thoughout the interior, plus - very importantly the tubing from the furnace feeding those outlets is most likely running under the cabinets in the same voids as where the plumbing lines are laying (that's the situation our Class C).

Using the furnace generously, using the tank heaters, blocking off the ceiling vents, blocking off the cab area, and putting insulation on the inside of the windows during nights ... are the ways to camp in cold weather.

[Eagle5]

Hi again Budget,
I would like to mention that I did order my 22M with the double-pane windows, and they are great! This cover for the Cab windows is well-worth the $31, as it is insulated.
Thanks, Eagle5

[paof6]

We winter camp, on 30amp hookups, in the South Dakota Black Hills.
Favorite spot being the Spearfish SD city campground at $20/night.
All that has been shared is excellent advice so I'll just add;
The pad tank heaters only work to about +20 degrees--the dump valves froze at that. I thawed them using our forced air electric interior heaters with no damage to the valves.
We use 2 1500watt elec heaters--one forced air and one radiator style.We find these heaters give a much more even heat (more comfy) than the furnace AND you won't have to ventilate nearly as much as when using the furnace.
We only use our onboard water.
There is nothing like being out there and having the whole place to yourself.
Enjoy

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by paof6

We winter camp, on 30amp hookups, in the South Dakota Black Hills.
Favorite spot being the Spearfish SD city campground at $20/night.
All that has been shared is excellent advice so I'll just add;
The pad tank heaters only work to about +20 degrees--the dump valves froze at that. I thawed them using our forced air electric interior heaters with no damage to the valves.
We use 2 1500watt elec heaters--one forced air and one radiator style.We find these heaters give a much more even heat (more comfy) than the furnace AND you won't have to ventilate nearly as much as when using the furnace.
We only use our onboard water.
There is nothing like being out there and having the whole place to yourself.
Enjoy

Hmmm .... why do you have to ventilate whenever using the furnace?

I think: That it has two self-contained and not-connected-to-each-other separate isolated air flow systems - one for the warmed air that is heated by the flame box and circulated only within the interior, and one for the air that draws and exhausts to the outside for feeding the flame. Hence, I don't think there is any need for special ventilation when the furnace is being used.

Very importantly with the furnace in freezing temperatures - the tubes that lead from the furnace heating box to the outlets have warm surfaces. Since these plenum tubes are routed within interior areas under sinks and cabinets - they also keep warm the fresh water tank and plumbing lines within those interior areas.

[paof6]

All true Phil G.
The condensation build up from our normal living is the reason for the ventilation. Maybe our lifestyle differs when we are on electric heat as opposed to furnace but for us we have to have a lot more ventilation when heating with the furnace. Don't know why this is but there is a plenty more condensation buildup on our windows when using our furnace than electric.
Maybe somebody out there smarter than me can explain why this is so?
We camp down to overnight temps down to about +20 and the plumbing in the cupboards & basements hasn't been a problem. Yet. We do set our furnace at 60, even when on electric, in case the electric can't keep up (think a windy night in the 20's). The big advantage for us is how much more even the temp in our Minnie stays when on electric.
No blast of hot air followed by a cooling off period then another blast of hot air.

[paof6]

Eagle 5---Jealous of your double pane windows! We also use a windshield cover and find it works well but is a pain in the *** to fold up when cold.
We have also made a curtain to block off the cab.

[Ontario Don]

Hi - We tend to use electric whenever we can in cold temps because water vapour is a byproduct of burning propane. Condensation is greatly reduced if not using the propane furnace. It definitely is a balance, we find, between having all the plumbing runs kept warm by the propane furnace ducts versus not having the same heat penetration into the cabinet areas when using electric heat. I've put a couple of trouble lamps with incandescent bulbs in areas that I've worried about not being able to get that good heat from an electric heater, if we plan on using electric heat for an extended period.


Cheers,

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by Ontario Don

Hi - We tend to use electric whenever we can in cold temps because water vapour is a byproduct of burning propane. Condensation is greatly reduced if not using the propane furnace. It definitely is a balance, we find, between having all the plumbing runs kept warm by the propane furnace ducts versus not having the same heat penetration into the cabinet areas when using electric heat. I've put a couple of trouble lamps with incandescent bulbs in areas that I've worried about not being able to get that good heat from an electric heater, if we plan on using electric heat for an extended period.
Cheers,

See my post #12 above. There is no water vapor injected into the interior of an RV when the built-in propane furnace is being used. The flame of the propane furnace is fed by air brought in from the outside, and the exhaust products of the flame are ejected to the outside.

However, what you say about condensation is definitely true concerning use of the small ventless propane heaters folks use inside the coach when camping without hookups and not wanting to use their built-in propane furnace.

We are toasty warm in cold weather from our propane furnace and the condensation inside the coach (as seen on our single pane windows) is from our breathing, our cooking, and our showering. We would still get condensation from these sources inside the coach with use of electric heaters or a rooftop heatpump for heating.

Ventilation is what's required to stop the breathing/cooking/showering condensation buildup, but again ... there is no water injected into the coach from a propane furnace flame while using the furnace.

[Ontario Don]

Ok, thanks very much for the clarification.


Cheers,