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3wd67rg · 11-20-2015, 11:25 AM

Bold, when my adult children were babies and threw the covers off at home, (we couldn't afford to use the heat at night), or we went camping and they climbed out of their sleeping bags, I had them wear two pair of PJs and a pair of onsies to bed. One pair of jersey type footie pajamas, and a pair of footie blanket pajamas over that, the onsies were the first layer of course. You just have to buy your blanket PJs a size bigger to go over everything. I used to try and put beanie hats on them too, but they never stayed on. The baby always slept in bed with us for the first six to nine months and was never in danger of being cold at night,(we spaced them almost three years apart so we never had more than one baby at a time there), it was always the next year or two, sometime around four they learn to keep their covers on or at least pull them back over themselves.

3wd67rg · 11-20-2015, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avionstream

Usually the gas heáters will work very well. Sorry you had a problem with yours. Those electric heaters work good as long as you have hookups or a generater.

You would be the very first person to say so. Everyone else I have chatted with agrees with me, Airstream heaters just don't work well enough to actually heat anything up. We threw ours out with the trash.

You are correct about needing hookups or generator for our electric heater, that is exactly how we handle it. Chris says if we ran the generator all night long to run it, it wouldn't cost us more than a gallon, two at the most. But we don't run the heater at night, we sleep under quilts and blankets instead. Our little heater is one we bought from Camp World, it looks like a wood burning stove. I bought one like it for my little granny flat house here in Vista back in 2012 and it works just fine. I looked at a LOT of different heaters, read a TON of reviews, and then looked for the best price. I needed to heat up my whole little house, it doesn't have heat. It's the original house built on this piece of farmland back in the '40s. The one that I bought for the AS last year was less expensive than the one for my house, and it has a knob to turn the heat up and down. I like being able to have more than two temperatures, and it makes the place all toasty pretty quick.

paulken · 11-20-2015, 01:12 PM

I use diesel in my truck and keep thinking that if I had the extra money I would install a Wallas XC Duo for a stove and backup heater.

Also would like to put in the Wallas oven and a cabin heater.

xrvr · 11-20-2015, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PammieSue

You would be the very first person to say so. Everyone else I have chatted with agrees with me, Airstream heaters just don't work well enough to actually heat anything up. We threw ours out with the trash.

You are correct about needing hookups or generator for our electric heater, that is exactly how we handle it. Chris says if we ran the generator all night long to run it, it wouldn't cost us more than a gallon, two at the most. But we don't run the heater at night, we sleep under quilts and blankets instead. Our little heater is one we bought from Camp World, it looks like a wood burning stove. I bought one like it for my little granny flat house here in Vista back in 2012 and it works just fine. I looked at a LOT of different heaters, read a TON of reviews, and then looked for the best price. I needed to heat up my whole little house, it doesn't have heat. It's the original house built on this piece of farmland back in the '40s. The one that I bought for the AS last year was less expensive than the one for my house, and it has a knob to turn the heat up and down. I like being able to have more than two temperatures, and it makes the place all toasty pretty quick.

Actually I've never heard anyone complain about the stock AS furnace. Guess I travel with a different crowd. Good camping.

BoldAdventure · 11-20-2015, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avionstream

Actually I've never heard anyone complain about the stock AS furnace. Guess I travel with a different crowd. Good camping.

I agree, I don't have any complaints other than it currently doesn't work

But it's worked fine for us up until that point.

3wd67rg · 11-20-2015, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulken

I use diesel in my truck and keep thinking that if I had the extra money I would install a Wallas XC Duo for a stove and backup heater.

Also would like to put in the Wallas oven and a cabin heater.

Wallas | XC Duo | XC Duo | Easy and warm camper travelling

Pretty interesting, and thank you for showing us something different! Our AS Classic 325 Motorhome runs on gas, the Chevy Big Block Engine. When I was younger the price of Diesel was consistently lower than gasoline, but now they pretty much run neck and neck, sometimes diesel is even much more expensive. I do realize though, that diesel engines run more efficiently. If you do install one, and use it to heat your Airstream, please come back and tell us how that works. It says for small campers and shows a pic of a appears to be a Van type camper so I'm kinda leery.

xrvr · 11-21-2015, 06:15 AM

Hope you get the furnace fixed. In your situation it must be very uncomfortable not to have it. Should be a simple solution, just don't know what it is. Any chance if getting closer to town and maybe finding any rv place to work on it? A furnace us a furnace and a good tech should be able to at least troubleshoot it. Under warranty is good but being warm is essential. Even if you have to pay to fix it, it might be worth it. Good luck, keep the kids warm, I know you will.

Gearheart · 11-26-2015, 12:19 PM

Smokeless Joe had a 24 Argosy that he put a diesel powered stove and water heater into. The water heater was mounted on the A frame along with a diesel tank. He used the water to heat the flooring having installed pipes above the sub floor and then a new floor above the pipes. A circulating pump, outside of the coach, completed the install. That allowed him to ditch the furnace and also the propane. He towed with a Mercedes diesel van so fuel was not an issue.

Steamy1 · 12-01-2015, 06:33 PM

I don't have a spare tire or the carrier on the Airstream.

BoldAdventure,
Could you please elaborate on your decision not to carry a spare? I think any weight reduction, especially on the tongue, is desirable. I have thought about leaving the spare at home but could not quite come to terms with it and remove it.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

BoldAdventure · 12-01-2015, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steamy1

I don't have a spare tire or the carrier on the Airstream.

BoldAdventure,
Could you please elaborate on your decision not to carry a spare? I think any weight reduction, especially on the tongue, is desirable. I have thought about leaving the spare at home but could not quite come to terms with it and remove it.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

I've done so in depth on my "Help me upgrade to 16 inch rims" thread. But basic premise is, 16 inch Michelin LT tires aren't prone to blow outs. Blow outs are 90% preventable. This leaves road hazards as the major source of flats. I carry compressor, tools and tire patch kit (mushroom style) and stem kit. I'm comfortable doing this. 22K miles driven, no issues so far. Lastly, the Airstream tandem axle per the owners manual says you can drive with one tire off at low speeds. Finally, road side assistance. It's a bit of a gamble, but I feel the odds are favorable if the risk is managed properly with care of tires.

I probably won't carry a spare until we go to Alaska, at which point I will.

dkottum · 12-01-2015, 10:38 PM

We travel during the fall-winter-spring months so propane is often used for heat. It would be nice to have more than the two 30 lb tanks.

So without the spare tire and carrier (which I agree with), I wonder if there is a way to install a horizontal propane tank in that space, with connections to the propane system?

idroba · 12-01-2015, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Lastly, the Airstream tandem axle per the owners manual says you can drive with one tire off at low speeds.
I probably won't carry a spare until we go to Alaska, at which point I will.

Airstream has said that for many years, but since it puts the load of both tires on to one, it drastically overloads that the remaining tire, making it much more prone to failure at a later time. Of course going very slow is a big help, but that is not really possible in many situations.

The only time I had to do it was in the Yukon many years ago, when I had already used my spare. I didn't know very much about tires then either. I don't remember any consequences but I didn't keep much track of each tire then.

switz · 12-03-2015, 10:01 AM

If tongue weight is an issue and one is towing with a truck, the trailer spare could be placed in the front of the truck bed.

BoldAdventure · 12-03-2015, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by switz

If tongue weight is an issue and one is towing with a truck, the trailer spare could be placed in the front of the truck bed.

That'd work for me, but with the way some talk about room in their trucks, I dunno.

With my battery upgrade, going to even steel 40lb tanks shouldn't pose a problem for me.

Steamy1 · 12-04-2015, 07:25 AM

My 6-volt Lifeline batteries have added weight to the tongue, but I have tried to mitigate this by switching to aluminum tanks. I think removing the spare is a viable option to shave off more weight after reading BoldAdventure's experience. Thanks,

dkottum · 12-04-2015, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by switz

If tongue weight is an issue and one is towing with a truck, the trailer spare could be placed in the front of the truck bed.

Good suggestion; another way to add 20 lbs propane without impacting tongue weight is to carry a 20 lb aluminum propane tank in the truck bed.

Yes these should be carried forward of the truck's rear axle (along with other gear in the truck bed) when possible to lessen the load the weight distribution bars must lift. Less weight in this area and less weight on the tongue allows lighter w.d. bars and less tension applied to them. Our experience is lighter weight here results in a softer ride for our Airstream and for us in the truck.

Of course any suggestion to lighten trailer tongue weight must be qualified with the need to have at least 10% of trailer weight on the tongue, and as Airstream requires this tongue weight must not exceed 1,000 lbs (check your Owners Manual).

I believe an effort should be made to keep heavy equipment over or between the Airstream and truck's axles, rather than loading the ends, for better stability.

switz · 12-05-2015, 07:52 AM

That 1,000 pound restriction sounds good 20 years ago with the much lighter trailers but becomes an issue with the current 28' models with a factory 2016 literature tongue weight of 976 pounds before any hitch is attached or propane is put into the tanks. Since the factory numbers are low to begin with, that model trailer tongue would always be overloaded.