Winter camping, Vents open or closed?

[Willwalt]

Okay, I have looked high and low for this and can only find advice for winter storage. I want to know about winter camping!

Should we camp with vents open for circulation or closed to help keep the heat in? I know pretty well our Bambi has enough "natural" ventilation via the doors and other openings. Do I need to crack the roof vents too? This begs the range hood fan question too. We love cooking, if we need to run the hood fan, should we open something to provide that air? If the roof vents are cracked I can sure feel the air being sucked in that way.

Thanks for any tips. . .

2010, 19' Flying Cloud

[n2916s]

You will need to keep a vent open most of the time just to vent all the moisture that you exhale and that is produced by cooking/showering/cleaning . A little experimentation as to how much ventilation you need will soon have you dialed in.
A lot of moisture beading up on the inside of the windows means not enough ventilation. Extreme shivering probably means too much...

Enjoy the journey,

Mike

[HowieE]

I leave the roof vents open all year round. As noted above moisture has to have an exit or condensation will happen.

Unless you are cooking fish, which we never do, the shouldn't be a need for the hood fan as the heat generated will vent through the roof vents.

If you have a catalytic heater the vents open are a MUST.

[Willwalt]

Simple enough, thanks for the advice!

[crisen]

If your cooking anything with liquid in it you need the the range hood vent open. Extreme case think pasta and all the moisture you would be putting into the trailer w/o it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Airstream Forums mobile app

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by crisen

If your cooking anything with liquid in it you need the the range hood vent open. Extreme case think pasta and all the moisture you would be putting into the trailer w/o it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Airstream Forums mobile app

If you're cooking with PROPANE, use the range hood exhaust fan. I got one of those induction burners which makes winter cooking less problematic. for instance I can heat water for tea or coffee to 210 degrees - just below boiling - so steam is kept to a minimum. Boiling pasta - yep - I'd use the exhaust fan either way.

Paula

[JackDog]

Right after we purchased our Bambi Sport I installed a MaxAir vent cover. With it's smoke color it looks great against the silver skin.

You can leave the vent open all the time since even in a heavy rain virtually nothing gets in. Traveling during hot weather leaving it open allows air to circulate inside the AS and in cold weather it allows moisture to escape and not get trapped inside the trailer.

Its a cheap and easy upgrade that adds to the value of the trailer.

Jack Dog in
So Cal

[eliset123]

We added a maxx vent cover as well and are Happy we can leave the vent open most of the time. I like to crack the kitchen window open when it's cold and keep the top vent cracked as well depending how cold it is. I have not camped in anything colder then 30.

[JackDog]

That's one of the features that AS really messed up on when designing the 16' Bambi Sport.

That and a fantastic fan that doesn't pull and push air out through the roof vent. I'm already making plans to change out the factory unit with one that does both.

I also had to have installed a manual switch outside for the frig fan. Even in 55 degree weather the fan ran about 90% of the time.

Even with these small irratations we love our little tin can and enjoy every time we take it out on a road trip.

Jack Dog in
So Cal

[Len n Jeanne]

We do 3-season camping, and pretty much always leave the roof vent open ajar when camping, to vent the condensation. It's not fun waking up in the morning to the sight of water trickling down the inside of the walls. Depending on your configuration, you might prefer to open a side-window, instead. We are also particular about leaving wet towels, jackets, bathing suits, &c outside on a line or spread out in the back of the truck, to reduce the inside humidity. We also cook with the fume hood fan running, so that the air monitor doesn't start screaming at us.

With a power source in not-to-cold weather, we take along a small electric space heater. For really cold weather we run the furnace at a very slow setting.