4season Micro Minnie: Comfort Pkg - when?

vap0rtranz · 09-14-2022, 07:41 PM

When did Winnebago add the 4 season "Comfort Package" to Micro Minnie?

I found a '18 Micro Minnie 2106FBS but the snowflake/sunshine Comfort Package logo isn't by the door, so it is not 4 season ready?

One owner of a 2021a said water tank heaters weren't added until '21. 2021 seems really late to be adding tank heaters ...

khild1 · 09-15-2022, 11:32 AM

We have na 2018 2106 FBS and it is considered 3 season.

vap0rtranz · 09-15-2022, 07:46 PM

2020 is the 1st time I found "Comfort Package" on Winnebago's site. It's actually a blog post from Traveling Robert: https://www.winnebago.com/lifestyle/...s-micro-minnie

I did see a few late 2010s era models that have a different symbol by the door. The symbol were bears IIRC, and said something like "Heated & Enclosed". I assume those model years were really the 1st to get enclosed underbellies and heated tanks.

JoshBap · 09-21-2022, 04:50 PM

So when we were looking at buying our trailer (2019) we looked at a 2018. I believe the 4 season AND “off road” became standard in 2019 and was an upgrade in 2018. Those upgrades are rad and if you’re looking to camp year round, almost a must.
So the mini’s heated and enclosed tanks are not as good as I would hope. They aren’t heat pads. Essentially the bottom of the entire trailer is insulated and they put a vinyl cover to hold in place. For the heat part, they pipe a furnace vent down there. I really wish it was an electric pad and we’ve actually looked into getting pads installed. We’ve camped in 10deg at night weather and ran the furnace at 62 all night and that was fine. I typically will turn off the water pump and open all faucets just in case the pipes freeze. I’ve also opened any accessible areas and lined everything with reflective bubble wrap. Hope all this helps.
-josh

JoshBap · 09-21-2022, 04:51 PM

Oh, and ours has cartoon bear stickers next to the entry door.

vap0rtranz · 09-22-2022, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoshBap

Oh, and ours has cartoon bear stickers next to the entry door.

Hah

OK great so you've seen the bear stickers too

The new MM, with the new boring snowflake logo, do have switched heater pads.

Thx for confirming the year model. There's a few used Minnies around I've been looking at but I'm going to cut off the year at 2019.

**creativepart** · 09-22-2022, 08:16 AM

Kind of off topic…. But regardless of the heated tanks and clever marketing the myth of a true Four Season RV is just that, a myth. Travel trailers are certainly true 3-season capable and with some additional features can work in occasionally freezing weather. But the truth is you can not comfortably spend many cold winter days and weeks in a 4-season Micro Minnie no mater what Winnebago would like to suggest in their marketing.

vap0rtranz · 09-22-2022, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creativepart

Kind of off topic…. But regardless of the heated tanks and clever marketing the myth of a true Four Season RV is just that, a myth. Travel trailers are certainly true 3-season capable and with some additional features can work in occasionally freezing weather. But the truth is you can not comfortably spend many cold winter days and weeks in a 4-season Micro Minnie no mater what Winnebago would like to suggest in their marketing.

I get that. Not my 1st winter camping rodeo; just my 1st postings on this forum after lurking.

No RV is 4 season by some standards -- it doesn't matter if it's a ClassA, TT, truck, whatever.

An owner of a popular "4 season" RV repeated the claim by the manufacturer that their roof is R-40.

Well, that's not possible with RV construction. Roofs with foam block high density EPS are at best R-value of 3-4/in, or fiber batt at worst. To actually have an R-40, that roof would need to be 10-12" thick EPS. That's ridiculous. The math doesn't add up on the claim. So how do they get to R-40? Well, I noticed another "4 season" RV manufacturer was more honest and their spec sheet has a footnote that says the radiant foil wrap is "R-value equivalent".

Equivalent! So manufacturers conjure up R-value equivalencies to generate funny #s in support of "4 season" marketing fluff.

Those of us who camp when <32F know the limits of these vehicles. I will, however, take a 4" foam block roof over a 2" fiber batt roof because it means there's more insulation in that "4 season" roof that will save me on some propane bottles.

**creativepart** · 09-22-2022, 03:39 PM

Good you know he score. We see folks, brand new to RV life, that don’t realize that the manufacturer may be playing fast and loose with their terminology when they title something “4-season.”

These same folks are surprised that their RV is uncomfortably hot when camping in Death Valley during the summer.

We all have to learn the realities of RVing as we go along.

NV_Camper · 09-23-2022, 10:10 AM

The first trip we took in our 2022 with the "comfort package" it got down to a windy, snowy, 4 degrees and it did about as good as to be expected. I was worried about the fresh water drain but it came through ok without being covered. I would love to get that tucked under the cover as a mod, but probably will just go with a hose bib cover moving forward. Not sure why they spent the time getting everything else water related tucked up but left a tiny plastic valve hanging out to freeze.

More for anyone as a novice to 4 season use than the OP, the tank heaters are nice, but don't discount the ducted heat into the basement, it really doesn't take much to keep things from freezing. Also, I've noticed on our model, 2100BH, all the plumbing is run above the floor in the conditioned space which was a bonus in my opinion.

Marine359 · 09-24-2022, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creativepart

Kind of off topic…. But regardless of the heated tanks and clever marketing the myth of a true Four Season RV is just that, a myth. Travel trailers are certainly true 3-season capable and with some additional features can work in occasionally freezing weather. But the truth is you can not comfortably spend many cold winter days and weeks in a 4-season Micro Minnie no mater what Winnebago would like to suggest in their marketing.

Huh?!! Creativepart smoking something?

This year in shoulder season, with snow, we spent about 14 nights of a 55 night coast to coast trip, camping in our Micro Minnie in temps well below freezing at night, warming to 40s to 50s during the day. 6 nights boondocking, and 8 nights with hookups. I won’t count the hookup nights because we used a small ac ceramic heater those nights, which actually will keep the camper warm without using the furnace. 6 nights boondocking using propane furnace. We were perfectly comfortable the whole time with thermostat set to 60 degrees. We carry a third 20# propane tank so we don’t run out. Bottom line is the Micro Minnie is definitely not a 4 season camper, but we can confirm it is quite comfortable in sub freezing temperatures boondocking, or with hookups. Micro Minnie’s have small interior volume, and pretty good insulation, so they are easier to keep heated than you might think.

backtrack15 · 09-24-2022, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NV_Camper

The first trip we took in our 2022 with the "comfort package" it got down to a windy, snowy, 4 degrees and it did about as good as to be expected. I was worried about the fresh water drain but it came through ok without being covered. I would love to get that tucked under the cover as a mod, but probably will just go with a hose bib cover moving forward. Not sure why they spent the time getting everything else water related tucked up but left a tiny plastic valve hanging out to freeze.

More for anyone as a novice to 4 season use than the OP, the tank heaters are nice, but don't discount the ducted heat into the basement, it really doesn't take much to keep things from freezing. Also, I've noticed on our model, 2100BH, all the plumbing is run above the floor in the conditioned space which was a bonus in my opinion.

You may want to visually confirm that a heater duct runs down through the floor. Winnebago advertised it as a feature in 2021 and my 2100BH had no such duct. Only one duct ran to the bathroom. I believe the tank heaters were a replacement for the duct… but all that being said, it would be easy to add.

NV_Camper · 09-25-2022, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by backtrack15

You may want to visually confirm that a heater duct runs down through the floor. Winnebago advertised it as a feature in 2021 and my 2100BH had no such duct. Only one duct ran to the bathroom. I believe the tank heaters were a replacement for the duct… but all that being said, it would be easy to add.

It’s been visually confirmed!

We generally take a few winter trips so that was an important part of my initial inspection. It seems Winnebago changed their mind as the heat register under the shower just has a cover plate and behind that the duct has been routed into the floor.

backtrack15 · 09-26-2022, 07:34 AM

Thanks for letting me know. Nice work checking things thoroughly.

I believe prior to the 2021b models, they split the duct headed to the bathroom and sent one branch under the floor and one to the register under the shower. The initial 2021b models went to the register under the shower only. Now it seems they’ve gone with under the floor only. Funny. They are always changing something.