Full Time, Now in a 2014 Flying Cloud

[Photobum]

love those pictures....

[StreamlineAK]

We are officially staying the winter this year. I opted to do a straw skirting wrapped in a vapor barrier. So far so good! No wood stove this year.
[IMG]DL279323.jpg by waywardcatphoto, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DL279327-Edit.jpg by waywardcatphoto, on Flickr[/IMG]

[lbdesign]

Wow. How much propane are you burning for heat? I fulltime winters in southern California and could not imagine doing it in <32° weather.

[StreamlineAK]

Originally Posted by lbdesign

Wow. How much propane are you burning for heat? I fulltime winters in southern California and could not imagine doing it in <32° weather.

I honesty think it's not too bad. I purchased a 100 lb (about 25 gallon) tank for propane and I fill it every two weeks. It costs about $100 to fill. By Alaska standards, thats really not very pricy. I did have an heater emergency and had to replace the sail switch, but other than that all is well. It has been a very mild winter, but we have had negative temps and they were no problem. Water tanks have not frozen. I purchased a dehumidifier, and that has really helped the condensation issue. Happy with winter trailer life.

[PhilipKS]

It is 2 degrees where I'm at right now. I leased a 100 gallon tank for the winter ($45). I've filled it up 3 times now. Advantage of a big tank is the delivery guy charges me the same as a house, so far roughly $1.50 per gallon average. Can't imagine trying to winter paying the RV Rates ($3.39 last I checked, but that was before the drop). At this point, using a lot of propane is still cheaper than relying on electric heaters (my neighbor's electric bill was $240 for 30 days).

I'm not sitting on a nest of hay (not allowed here). I can 'box in the bottom' if I cover it with tarps. They won't let me use the silver foam insulation ("looks tacky"), so I'm living without. While it would help, the really cold nights are the exception here, with lows usually in upper teens and twentys. It is the cold wind which defeats the heated water hose, and that is usually at the connection, despite the insulation attempts. Keep your lower cabinets open and air circulating if you are worried about your tanks, and disconnect water supply during the coldest snaps.

[janeinthemtns]

Every time I see straw bales used for skirting it worries me. How are you going to keep the moisture accumulating in the straw bales from molding your AS? I farm hay and have used straw bales for a number of things on the ranch. Unless up on pallets and under a shelter, they always mold. Tarps sweat and blow off. Good luck with that. Like CO, we have a 50degree temp change between day and night. The mold could jump through your whole trailer up into the insulation, closets and where ever there is any moisture. Since you are using propane which creates moisture problems, even with a dehumidifier, I wouldn't trust it.

[lbdesign]

I use a small dehumidifier during the winter months as well, and find it essential. I think everyone should have a dehumidifier if they are doing any thing more than brief summer trips. Pity it takes up so much space and makes so much noise.
My unit is a NewAir AD-250 25 Pint Portable Dehumidifier ordered on Amazon. I also tried a thermoelectric unit, but it didn't collect any water at regular room temperatures.