Alaska Winter in my 1968 Streamline Empress

[StreamlineAK]

In the name of science, this is my offical Alaska tin can living thread. The snow is here.

I am AMAZED at how $30 worth of foil sided bubble insulation can do. No woodstove installed yet, just a Mr. Heater Catalytic Heater. So far, it got down to the 20's and all is good (no freezing). Luckily, it will warm up again to give me a little more time to properly winterize before the real cold happens.

[RoadHungry]

Good luck to you. I've spent many winters in AK but never one in the can.

[AWCHIEF]

That is just painful to look at. You are a better man/woman than I am. Good Luck

[Foiled Again]

HOLY CRAP! Man/Woman - I'd do it too AFTER I built a garage or shed!

Prarie survival - hay bale building!

HAY Bales stacked 9 Feet high on one side - 14-15 feet on the other - slant walls on front/rear end - leave 3 feet distance between Streamline and hay on all sides - make rafters for roof, lay 1" x 6" lathe at a 90 degree angle from rafters, leave 1/4" gap between lathes & allow heat from furnace, etc to melt snow buildup via lathe gaps.

Small igloo door in, about 3 penetrating "windows" (6" pvc pipe) to allow for more air circulation ....furnace pipe out top to carry off carbon monoxide.

ANY KIND of second layer shelter would help though in Alaska you have to pitch the roof to dump snow or risk collapse - even without a roof, shield walls to break the wind would help. With your current setup, be prepared to clean snow off frequently - even every two hours in blizzard conditions.

Good luck, be CAREFUL. Paula

Good luck

[RangerJay]

Originally Posted by StreamlineAK

In the name of science, this is my offical Alaska tin can living thread. The snow is here.

I am AMAZED at how $30 worth of foil sided bubble insulation can do. No woodstove installed yet, just a Mr. Heater Catalytic Heater. So far, it got down to the 20's and all is good (no freezing). Luckily, it will warm up again to give me a little more time to properly winterize before the real cold happens.

"In the name of science" you are conducting quite an experiment - you are going to learn a lot - and I'm sure some of it the hard way .... you don't say if you've lived through an Alaskan winter before - but I can tell you that minus 40 degrees is not camping weather - and I live a long way south of Alaska .....

A secondary structure is a great suggestion for mitigating the serious cold - but make sure you consider how to safely vent your propane appliances to outside that structure - and also to vent the air in your trailer - you will want to invest in more than 1 carbon monoxide detector .....

Good Luck.


Jay

[urnmor]

I hope you have a warm sleeping bag.

[StreamlineAK]

For the record: I am a native Coloradan and I have wintered in AK with wood only heat in a dry, should have been condemned cabin (last year) with record snow. The streamline has seen many Alaskan winters without any care, so we both have a resume. Also, the science thing is a joke. This really is an upgrade from my cabin of last year.

I noticed there is a lot of discouragement against trailer/ tin can wintering on here, so this is my effort to show the opposite for those thinking about full timing. After asking around, there are many folks living in campers/ trailers/ rvs year round up here, even without wood stoves. I was really surprised to see discouraging posts about full timing through winter in much milder climates. If it can be done up here, anywhere in the lower 48 should be easy. Yes, it is a different lifestyle than someone in the suburbs in a McMansion, but, by no means is it impossible.

I love taking pictures, so expect picture updates!

[Kosm1o]

I have just subscribed to this thread to keep up with your winter experiences. Whereabouts is your trailer. And what do you do in the winter?

[crisen]

Here in Fairbanks we say Anchorage is only 15 minutes from Alaska by Super Cub.

In all seriousness keep up the photos, looking forward to hearing how it is going.

[Wabbiteer]

Get a wooden stick-built mud room thrown together as a porch & airlock - at the least it will keep you from tracking additional sources of humidity into the eggshell and give you a storage locker for winter wear.

Keep the door gaskets well siliconed, the last thing you want is ice welding it shut. Some of the photos of frozen waterfalls of ice dripping off windows and window frames from humidity freezing out were impressive...

I'd bet 50% of your heat loss will be through the ceiling, with another 25% from the windows/frames. I haven't, but always wanted to try, inexpensive mexican horse blankets either tacked loosely to the ceiling or hung as a false ceiling to help stall heat loss and slow down drafts. The two missteps I see of doing that is the added fire hazard & hidden condensation.

That hair-drier-plastic-shrink-film inner storm windows on a 1/2" or 3/4" strip foam standoff rings around the windows would definitely pay for itself, if not just by the joy of tearing the stinking things down one at a time as Spring weather starts coming on strong.

[TinLoaf]

There have been a few threads journaling life over winter in an RV and they have been fascinating. There was a couple who spent the winter in Vermont with a small yacht wood stove and solar power. That was a fun story to follow and they did great.

A lot of us dream of selling the house and moving into the trailer, so we'll be eagerly following your thread.

[AldeanFan]

I always love seeing these posts,

I often think that if life gets too tough for me I could always escape and go live in the trailer. All the Stuff I have around me is really just adding stress for no good reason. What a great experience to survive with so little space and stuff in such an extreme climate!

[StreamlineAK]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

Keep the door gaskets well siliconed, the last thing you want is ice welding it shut.

I had issues with this in the cabin, it could only be worse in the trailer, good call!

I am just outside Anchorage, at about 1,000 ft above sea level. The streamline has already survived 4 100+ mph wind storms in this spot. I work full time in Anchorage.

Windows I think are the biggest concern. I have made foil bubble wrap covers for the dark times, and I have some other ideas for further instation with the clear insulation in addition to the bubble foil. The woodstove should really bring down the humidity, as well just the temperture as it gets colder. Once January comes around and it is -20, there isn't a lot of moisture. I wintered in a 18' 'regular' trailer in Colorado at 8,000 ft, I didn't do any insulation besides straw bale skirting, and I don't remember much of a condensation issue, but it was cold! Right now there is condensation, but it is just annoying, not a major issue.

The woodstove I bought is coal approved, so I should be able to keep it going at all times. The miners made it through winter in tents with coal!

[flyfishrra]

Love it Streamline! We are full timing as well here in Colorado! We had a pretty wicked wind storm last night and came through just fine! Love to see your pics and see your progress. We are also having concerns with windows, doors, and other heat loss areas. Have ordered all new window and door seals already and am planning on hay bale skirting soon. Would love to swap ideas and stories!
ps. my parents live in Tok and work in Fairbanks!

[StreamlineAK]

Originally Posted by flyfishrra

Love it Streamline! We are full timing as well here in Colorado! We had a pretty wicked wind storm last night and came through just fine! Love to see your pics and see your progress. We are also having concerns with windows, doors, and other heat loss areas. Have ordered all new window and door seals already and am planning on hay bale skirting soon. Would love to swap ideas and stories!
ps. my parents live in Tok and work in Fairbanks!

Very Cool! Story/ idea swap is a must! Aren't windstorms fun?

This week nights have been getting down to the teens, and we still don't have our woodstove in yet OR the skirting, but the Streamline is doing pretty good. Biggest problem, the door freezing shut. I believe some better weatherstriping and colder temps will resolve the issue. Right now we still have a lot of non-frozen water around, and I believe that is getting in the door seal. Stuff in the closests is kinda wet from condensation. But both have been pretty minor.

My plan for the skirting: Insulfoam board, then straw bales surrounding (on the outside) to protect foam from wind, and two heat lamps underneath to keep the chill off. We found that strawbales alone, in Colorado, didn't quite cut it, BUT I think we could have done a better job not allowing for air gaps.

I should note, although, the water is disconnected for the winter, I believe we could keep the trailer pipes from freezing, but our water source (a hose) is just not going to make it. Already frozen solid. I don't think heat tape/ insulation is going to cut it.

I will post some pictures of the skirting when I get it up next week.

[bolerama]

Looking forward to seeing your pictures. Good for you. I wish I had your courage.

Lisa

[Fly at Night]

Jeeze, this is just like Into the Wild (with a happier ending).

Into The Wild - Theatrical Trailer - YouTube

The book is better.

Please keep this thread going. It's intriguing! The one thing that I would find difficult is no running water in trailer. I could manage with a bucket for a loo, but how are you managing day-to-day washing of dishes, body, hands etc?

Originally Posted by AldeanFan

I always love seeing these posts,

I often think that if life gets too tough for me I could always escape and go live in the trailer. All the Stuff I have around me is really just adding stress for no good reason. What a great experience to survive with so little space and stuff in such an extreme climate!

Same mindset here, AldeanFan.

[195Pilot]

Originally Posted by TinLoaf

There have been a few threads journaling life over winter in an RV and they have been fascinating. There was a couple who spent the winter in Vermont with a small yacht wood stove and solar power. That was a fun story to follow and they did great.

A lot of us dream of selling the house and moving into the trailer, so we'll be eagerly following your thread.

I've got a lot of kin folk that dream of selling their trailer and moving into a house.
Good Luck,
Keep us posted
Jack

[flyfishrra]

Originally Posted by StreamlineAK

Very Cool! Story/ idea swap is a must! Aren't windstorms fun?

This week nights have been getting down to the teens, and we still don't have our woodstove in yet OR the skirting, but the Streamline is doing pretty good. Biggest problem, the door freezing shut. I believe some better weatherstriping and colder temps will resolve the issue. Right now we still have a lot of non-frozen water around, and I believe that is getting in the door seal. Stuff in the closests is kinda wet from condensation. But both have been pretty minor.

My plan for the skirting: Insulfoam board, then straw bales surrounding (on the outside) to protect foam from wind, and two heat lamps underneath to keep the chill off. We found that strawbales alone, in Colorado, didn't quite cut it, BUT I think we could have done a better job not allowing for air gaps.

I should note, although, the water is disconnected for the winter, I believe we could keep the trailer pipes from freezing, but our water source (a hose) is just not going to make it. Already frozen solid. I don't think heat tape/ insulation is going to cut it.

I will post some pictures of the skirting when I get it up next week.

Yeah windstorms are a blast! Just not at 1am! hehe didn't get much sleep.
Our water is never connected all the time. We are at my brothers place and he has plenty of room for us. We have a portable dump tank, full time electric, but have to run a hose to fill up the water. It is about 200 ft to the water spout on his house.. Little far for a hose to be strewn across the ground, especially in the cold. Still trying to figure out how that will work in the winter but we will see. Pretty sure we can skirt how you will and be fine with our pipes and tanks but still contemplating it all.

Few cold days and nights so far.. averaging in 30-20s at night. No issues so far. No freezing doors or anything. It is so dry here all the time though I doubt moisture will be to much of an issue. Can't ever keep any moisture in your house in the winter.

Brother wants straw bales for halloween so might pick some up for him and then use them when he is done for the trailer.
Is it best to get foam board from HD or Lowes or something? Not sure if there is a cheaper place around.

[StreamlineAK]

but how are you managing day-to-day washing of dishes, body, hands etc?

Well, I have a lot of experience in this, the cabin I lived in for the past year before moving into the Streamline was dry, meaning, absolutely no water or septic. It is actually fairly common in rural Alaska. For dishes, we let the grey water out, and wash very sparingly with a 2.5 gallon jug that we buy or fill at a neighbors. I personally sanitize the silverware on the stove with a little heat before calling it done. Also, I recommend watering down the dish soap so it takes less water to rinse it off. Some "dry" cabin people rent a port-a-potty. We did that last year. It is NO FUN to go outside to do your business at -20. On the plus side although, that is how I would catch glimpses of the northern lights. So we are using an rv portable potty, and dumping it at rv dumps and it lives happily INSIDE the trailer.

I've got a lot of kin folk that dream of selling their trailer and moving into a house.

Touche.

Is it best to get foam board from HD or Lowes or something?

Yep. Here it is $8/ sheet for foil backed foam (about 2.5" thick?) and they are pretty big sheets. My plan is to cut the sheets to the proper heights and tape together to further seal out wind, and make a couple of "door" sheets to access the heat lamps if needed.