Now that the cold weather has finally arrived here in New England, as I was sitting by the fire, looking out at our Excella, all put away for the winter, I got to thinking; what is the coldest anyone has camped in their AS?
Was it still warm and toasty inside? Did the heat run constantly?
__________________
Life is Good-Camping all around New England
Good people drink good beer-Hunter S Thompson
Note: the furnace has been removed from the Caravel.
This past weekend, going from Colorado to Vegas by way of I-40, for two days the temps never got above 20 degrees F. Late night temps as low as 1, and maybe lower in the wee hours. Did one night with a Mr Heater propane heater on low--very comfortable, and another at a hookup with two ceramic heaters on low--very comfortable also. Have found since then that one ceramic heater on low does fine down to something below 15 degrees (recognizing that the Caravel is a small living space), but I used to do the same with the Overlander and one ceramic heater on high.
The big concern is to remember to pour a little antifreeze in the sink drain every night. My Caravel has a lower drain trap, which takes care of the shower drain, but it's in line with the drain from the sink. If that trap freezes, it takes a little bit of magic to get it thawed out if the outside temps don't ever get above freezing (box, duct tape, propane heater).
If you've got copper pipes, like I do (and which will soon be PEX, just like in my Sovereign), and they are back in the rear access space, I open the pipe drains if the outside temp is going to get close to 20. Above 25 I don't worry too much, depending on some heat migrating into that space from the living space.
One lucky thing--the toilet wasn't competely drained and the water inlet valve was frozen solid to the point that the foot lever would hardly move at all. I just knew the valve was toast, but it finally thawed out and isn't leaking. After freezing that valve and busting it three times in a row (not all in the same AS--hey, old dog here, no new tricks) I was sure it was a goner.
I live in my 31 ft. Airstream all summer starting May 1st at Thompson Manitoba, Canada. This is north of the 55th parallel. I have experianced minus 15C. 30 lbs of propane lasted about 3 days. The floors were really cold on the tootsies. You have to have water in the tank as the water feed line will freeze.
We were in the Texas panhandle for two nights at about 14. Used the furnace and stayed warm and toasty. Used the fresh water tank for water and tank heaters (22 CCD) to keep all else warm.
I was surprised at just how well the heater worked at the 29 Palms Rally last weekend. I turned it on about halfway as I sat inside and watched the snow fall. It was so warm inside at night I had to turn it down so I could sleep.
Quick Links
Linear Mode
