Desert Climate

[Meehan]

Hi,

Does anyone here full time Airstream in a a desert climate? I am thinking of buying land in Arizona and placing one on it.

I appreciate all responses.

[ArtStream]

I full time, but leave the south west in the summer.

Pole barn for shade
With enough solar you could run a swamp cooler.
Water, are u planing to put in a well.
Septic tank, leach field? local regs.

Michael

[Meehan]

Michael,

Thank you. I am looking in northern Arizona - Williams, and other areas.

Pole barn or sail shades. Would love to go with solar. Off grid.

Well & septic.

[Lumatic]

There's desert and there's desert. Down in south AZ near Tucson you've got 120+ degree days in the summer. Williams is in northern Arizona at the edge of national forest, at the bottom of 10-12,000 ft mountains. They actually get winter. Way up north there is also a lot of desert such as in Idaho.

[silverback]

I would recommend getting above 6K feet in AZ to beat the heat. We summer at the Airstream Park in Show Low/Lakeside which is ~6600 feet (Mogollon Rim /White Mountains area). It can still get up in the 90s but nights cool down to the 60s and we get more rain. It is also very dry in the Southwest so you need to maintain window seals at least annually.
-Ken

[Gene]

We are at 6,837' in Colorado and this is also high desert. Low 90's in summer sometimes, can get down to -10˚ in winter in the morning. This area is similar to Williams, though it may not get quite as cold, but it's still real winter. Not only do you need shade, and piñon trees don't provide much, you need a 4 season trailer or you need a propane well as well as a water well.

Well, people winter in Airstreams and survive quite nicely, but you will have quite a propane bill. If you have a model with lots of windows, you will be looking for ways to seal them as well as the fan and skylight to save heat. If you are counting on a solar panel on the trailer to electricity, you will have to sweep snow off and it probably won't be enough power for fulltiming—furnace fan alone will suck amps. Winter sun doesn't shine as long just when you need it. I'm not saying you can't do it, but it will be a test. There are 4 season trailers with more insulation and thermopane windows—Arctic Fox is one brand.

We fulltime in a house and watch the intense mountain sun shrink seals on the roof of the trailer. It's not just window seals in this climate.

Gene

[Mike Leary]

We summer up north, move east and south in October or so, then down towards Flagstaff until the snows come in and then move to Ajo for the winter. This year around the end of march, the temps were in the ninties in Ajo and even our dual roof air could not keep up. Here's Flag just before we bailed south.

[Bluto]

Gene,
Is Artic Fox still in business? Seems I read someplace that they are no longer around, I'm not sure about that though.

[Gene]

Northwood Mfg's website is still active. They make Arctic Fox. There was also another, newer company, that has thermopane windows and appears to be using vacuum bonding and aluminum to make panels for their RV's. It was on some thread lately, but I can't remember the name—Earth-something.

Gene

[Phoenix]

Check historical temperatures for Williams or Flagstaff on www.weatherunderground.com or other weather Web sites. I think the elevation is a little under 5,000 feet, and will be nearly the same as Flagstaff.

Flag sees all four seasons, and the winters are cold with some snow, but not like the Colorado Rockies. Winter temperatures seem to be vary a lot during the day, depending on what's happening, with night time lows below freezing. However, I don't recall it getting below the teens to mid-20's on the coldest nights. Watch out for Arizona drivers in the snow; they don't have much experience in the stuff.

Summers are probably low to mid-90s during the day and mid-60s at night, also depending on the weather. Monsoon thunderstorms really cool down the air fast.

Beautiful area; good luck...