Winter living in the Grand Canyon

[Phoenix]

Phoenix television news said Grand Canyon temperature dropped to -14F last night. -- How are you guys doing up there?

By the way, "Oops", "Goo Gone" and similar products will take off about any residue, and your finger tips. However, be careful using this stuff, as it contains hazardous chemicals, including naptha, xylene, toluene and some other nasty stuff. Besides not getting it on your skin, also be careful of inhaling fumes. I'm guessing it probably causes cancer, too.

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Phoenix television news said Grand Canyon temperature dropped to -14F last night. -- How are you guys doing up there?

By the way, "Oops", "Goo Gone" and similar products will take off about any residue, and your finger tips. However, be careful using this stuff, as it contains hazardous chemicals, including naptha, xylene, toluene and some other nasty stuff. Besides not getting it on your skin, also be careful of inhaling fumes. I'm guessing it probably causes cancer, too.

Pretty chilly for the last couple of nights. I think around -2 or so here in the camp. We are holding out pretty well..condensation is better controlled, though still an issue. Sun during the day helps to heat the trailer and the furnace runs a lot at night. Last night I supplemented with electric to keep it toasty. (60f).

I am having hot water problems that are not associated with the cold. We are discussing whether we will be using the campground bath house or face moving the trailer to Flagstaff to have the hot water tank replaced. (Remove skirting and replacing). I can't do anything until it warms up a bit, so for now it looks like $2 showers at the Mather campground.

It could be worse. If I had not been watching pretty close I would have had lots of hot water in the house..on a night when the temperature is supposed to be the coldest in 30 years..not a good outlook. So, I bypassed the hot water tank and drained it. "Better safe than sorry" some wise man said!

[handn]

Amen to masking tape. I used duct tape around my jalosie windows a year ago and the mess is still visible.
I am interested in your propane consumption. How long do you get on a seven gallon bottle? Here in San Carlos Sonora, the furnace is going on a couple of times a night. It is set at 68. Last year it went on once. t is very cold all across the SW.
We are going to Tucson tomorrow. Will stay at the Windmill and leave the AS in storage. Am I a whimp or what?

[jdalrymple]

Thanks for nice thread on living in the cold.


Lots of good information here.


Regards,

JD

[Gene]

It is supposed to be -7 here tonight (Mon. morning) and -8 Tuesday morning. It hasn't been above 32˚ except for short times on 2 or 3 days in the past 4 weeks. I've seen cold snaps like this before with colder temps (-20's and -30's), but not in many years. It is supposed to get up to 25˚ later in the week.

Sorry to be hear about the sick water heater. I guess you could boil water for sponge baths, but then you increase condensation.

Gene

[dekew]

Hi Deauxrite - Excellent Thread!

We're in Seattle where temps dipped to a balmy-for-you 18 degrees last night. About the only prep we've done is to heat tape our fresh water hose as have you. Given the low temp drop last night, I learned a lesson that some of you may already know. Anything with water in it will freeze, including y-splitters Luckily, we didnt have any damage, but the y-splitter is shot.

The other thing i wanted to mention - we also had a lot of trouble in our 27FB with condensation around the front wall as well as cold air coming up from under the mattress through our "garage" storage area. I thought about insulating the storage bin, but we wanted to keep it functional and insulation would possibly interfere with opening the door often. So, we gave this fan from West Marine a try. It's pricey, but since putting it in our storage are almost a year ago, we've had very little condensation or drafty problems from our storage area.

One last point on the mattress - be sure to check for too much moisture around your bed. After finding some mold on our factory mattress, we made a major upgrade to our bed this year, installing risers to allow air to circulate underneath. Just one more thing for you to watch out for and worry about as a full time Airstreamer

Thanks again for logging your experience, and continued good luck to you on your winterstreaming!

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

It is supposed to be -7 here tonight (Mon. morning) and -8 Tuesday morning. It hasn't been above 32˚ except for short times on 2 or 3 days in the past 4 weeks. I've seen cold snaps like this before with colder temps (-20's and -30's), but not in many years. It is supposed to get up to 25˚ later in the week.

Sorry to be hear about the sick water heater. I guess you could boil water for sponge baths, but then you increase condensation.

Gene

We woke to -7 here. I knew it was cold because the furnace ran most of the night. Good news was that we still had heat and running water..no hot water, but hey..count blessings when it is this cold.

Went to Flagstaff today and picked up a new hot water heater. I won't be able to install it for several days..it is just too cold to turn off propane to the trailer for the length of time it is going to take to replace the tank and test it. Showers at the campground for another week!

This hot water tank is installed with PEX fittings. I am hoping that the PEX will make the installation easier. We will see. I plan to do a video of the tank replacement..maybe it will help somebody else down the road.

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by dekew

Hi Deauxrite - Excellent Thread!


The other thing i wanted to mention - we also had a lot of trouble in our 27FB with condensation around the front wall as well as cold air coming up from under the mattress through our "garage" storage area. I thought about insulating the storage bin, but we wanted to keep it functional and insulation would possibly interfere with opening the door often. So, we gave this fan from West Marine a try. It's pricey, but since putting it in our storage are almost a year ago, we've had very little condensation or drafty problems from our storage area.

One last point on the mattress - be sure to check for too much moisture around your bed. After finding some mold on our factory mattress, we made a major upgrade to our bed this year, installing risers to allow air to circulate underneath. Just one more thing for you to watch out for and worry about as a full time Airstreamer

Thanks again for logging your experience, and continued good luck to you on your winterstreaming!

Thanks for that. We have also had some issues from the front storage area. In our case, I insulated that compartment with pink fiberglas..lots of it! It makes it unusable, of course, but we are dealing with that in other ways.

The new foam around the entrance door is working well. Right now it is the curved windows that require mopping because of the condensation. It looks like that may just be the way it is for the next couple of months.

Propane is not too big of an issue for us because the local gas company installed a large (50 gallon)? Tank. They come by every two weeks and fill it..all I have to do is pay the bill Our current rate of consumption is around 16 to 22 gallons every two weeks. The rate of consumption varies dramatically depending on the temperatures. This will be a big two week period since it has not been above freezing and night time temperatures are at or below zero.

For others that might need to know..the furnace will keep the trailer at around 56 degrees when the outside temperature is between zero and 10 above. With last night dipping below zero, I added electric heat (1500 watts) and the trailer was still at 55 when I crawled out from under the electric blanket.

Without the skirting...I really do not think that the trailer would be comfortable.

[slowmover]

I haven't had the propane system pressure-checked on my new-to-me 1990 Silver Streak. So I bought a DYSON hot + cool electric space heater on the advice of a thread around here. Price shock is to be ignored. This thing is, hands-down, like no electric heater you've ever had.

Be careful!!

.

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

I haven't had the propane system pressure-checked on my new-to-me 1990 Silver Streak. So I bought a DYSON hot + cool electric space heater on the advice of a thread around here. Price shock is to be ignored. This thing is, hands-down, like no electric heater you've ever had.

Be careful!!

.

Thanks for that. I am looking into the Dyson. We need a better solution than an electric supplement. -14 is too cold for the furnace and an electric supplement. We are early in the winter and more cold weather is to come..better heating is necessary here.

[Gene]

Jerry, it is finally warming up here. Supposed to be 41˚ today and tomorrow, but close to zero at night. Then 30's. You may be able to put the water heater in now.

Gene

[Alumaholic]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

I haven't had the propane system pressure-checked on my new-to-me 1990 Silver Streak. So I bought a DYSON hot + cool electric space heater on the advice of a thread around here. Price shock is to be ignored. This thing is, hands-down, like no electric heater you've ever had.

Be careful!!

.

I am almost embarrassed to mention this on Deauxrite's thread, but we have had some cold weather in Mesa this winter. Okay, okay, so it just got down to 24 degrees. I know that's not -14, but I'm a whimp.
So, I need a better space heater too, REDNAX. Are you recommending the AMO4 model Dyson?
How noisy is it?
Can you sleep with it in operation?
If this is the right model, and it's quiet, I intend to order one today.

[deauxrite]

Woo Hoo! Is is 23 this morning (heat wave) and is supposed to be 43 this afternoon. I have gathered all of the parts and will get the new hot water heater installed today. The forecast is for a high of 50 by mid week. We still have a fair amount of snow on the ground and the secondary roads in the park still have ice patches, but things are a lot better than the -14 and whiteout conditions that we had just a week ago. I have been involved with a photography workshop this week. It is very interesting and we have been very fortunate to have it this week. Sun rise and sun set on the rim and trails is cold..but much better than last week.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Alumaholic

I am almost embarrassed to mention this on Deauxrite's thread, but we have had some cold weather in Mesa this winter. Okay, okay, so it just got down to 24 degrees. I know that's not -14, but I'm a whimp.
So, I need a better space heater too, REDNAX. Are you recommending the AMO4 model Dyson?
How noisy is it?
Can you sleep with it in operation?
If this is the right model, and it's quiet, I intend to order one today.

DYSON Hot Heater

This is "winter Texan" territory. So days below 40F are few, and temps are more likely 48F to 60F during January. Still, I like 65-70F. The new-to-me TT is a big 35'. The DYSON has been easily able to keep temps in the comfortable range even without roof vent insulation, interior storm windows, etc, on an old TT where upgrades have not been done. As to quiet, I am not bothered by the white noise. The sound of the roof A/C is a constant for us (9-months plus) and it is much, much noisier. As in the linked thread I "aim" the heater depending on whether sleeping in rear bedroom or awake and reading in front lounge.

but things are a lot better than the -14 and whiteout conditions that we had just a week ago.

Good. Drama is overrated past a certain point.

.

[mandolindave]

In my experience Pex is easy to install, but not so easy to remove. When replumbing your water heater, you might want to try using a hair dryer on the Pex lines before trying to remove the old fittings. I had a heck of a time removing a broken plastic Pex fitting.

[mandolindave]

In the month of May,twenty some odd years ago, I woke up in just a sleeping bag near the Bright Angel Trail, covered in three inches of snow. It was 90 degrees by the time I hiked to The Phantom Ranch that afternoon. Sorry, I know this doesn't help you. Just know that as a forum member, I am proud of you, and send you good Karma. MD

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by mandolindave

In the month of May,twenty some odd years ago, I woke up in just a sleeping bag near the Bright Angel Trail, covered in three inches of snow. It was 90 degrees by the time I hiked to The Phantom Ranch that afternoon. Sorry, I know this doesn't help you. Just know that as a forum member, I am proud of you, and send you good Karma. MD

Thanks for the good karma...it looks like it may have helped. The high today was 46 and I had the new hot water heater in and woking by the time that it reached 40 outside. I had a few issues with the installation but for the most part it was pretty uneventful. I did make some video of the installation and will post it when I get it trimmed up and presentable..maybe it will help someone else do the job.

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by mandolindave

In the month of May,twenty some odd years ago, I woke up in just a sleeping bag near the Bright Angel Trail, covered in three inches of snow. It was 90 degrees by the time I hiked to The Phantom Ranch that afternoon. Sorry, I know this doesn't help you. Just know that as a forum member, I am proud of you, and send you good Karma. MD

It is really interesting how fast things can change here. Wake up one morning to 20 degrees and snow...today it was sunny and 55. We had the door open and windows opened and got things aired out some.

I did post a video on youtube of the hot water heater installation. Maybe it will help some one else get the job done.

Hot Water Heater Installation.mp4 - YouTube

[PhilipKS]

Originally Posted by deauxrite

It is really interesting how fast things can change here. Wake up one morning to 20 degrees and snow...today it was sunny and 55. We had the door open and windows opened and got things aired out some.

I did post a video on youtube of the hot water heater installation. Maybe it will help some one else get the job done.

Hot Water Heater Installation.mp4 - YouTube

Nice video! Well done, thanks.

[TWaugh]

Enjoyed the video. 2 and 1/2 hours???. With my luck and plumbing it would probably take me 2 and 1/2 days.