Cold Weather Preperation

[tjh@reagan.com]

Hello All,

My wife and I are fulltime RVer in a 2019 Redwood 3942 FL. I have read all the information available on winter camping in a Redwood. I just am looking for those with experience to see if I have done all I can for a comfortable winter.
We will be staying outside of Chicago IL where it gets below zero for extended times. In preparation of the exterior I have a skirt to go around the bottom of the unit less the slides. I will put Styrofoam insulation on the floors of the slides. II will place two space heaters under the skirt to keep the area warm. I installed 110-volt tank heaters on all four tanks. I will fill the tanks with10 gals of water after dumping and keep the heaters on so the tanks can act like a radiator to help keep the under belly warm. I also added additional insulation where I could in the underbelly to help. Because of the chaotic way the water lines are laid out I couldn’t insulate them but I did put insulation between the frame and piping to keep them away form the metal. I am going to seal all holes where the piping comes in under the sinks and shower and plug holes going into the frames where the hydraulics pistons enter the frame. I will put an electric heater in the basement to keep it warm at all times. For the Interior I will use the furnace and keep it at 65 degrees and supplement it with the fireplace and a space heater.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Tom and Carol

[mhs4771]

Get the Local Propane Company to bring in at least 1 or maybe 2 100 Lb Propane tanks to use, otherwise you'll be spending lots of time at the Propane Refill Station.

[travelin' texans]

I 110% agree with Michelle! My 30lbers would last 3-5 days in extreme cold. I think I would also lay 2" styrofoam on top of the slides as well as the bottom.

[tjh@reagan.com]

Thanks, I have a 200 gallon propane tank at my site. I also will shut off the water supply to the useless icemaker as soon as I can find it. It is not located under the sink.

[Ford truck guy]

Originally Posted by tjh@reagan.com

Thanks, I have a 200 gallon propane tank at my site. I also will shut off the water supply to the useless icemaker as soon as I can find it. It is not located under the sink.

The shut of on my 2020 3991RD is in the rear of the small bottom drawer under the oven.. Pull the drawer all the way out and you will see the shut off valve

[tjh@reagan.com]

Thanks for the info on the location of the shutoff for the icemaker, I found it there. I guess I am to practical, I thought you would put it a shutoff somewhere where it is heated and before the water line went outside of the belly so you could shut off the water before it was exposed to freezing weather. Now I have to figure out how to shut it off somewhere in the belly or the basement. Any Ideas?

[Borkfarm]

Snow can help insulate. Shovel snow against your skirting and it will help insulate against the wind and cold

[piper guy]

Get a heated water hose and also when it gets really cold, like below 20, keep your tanks closed and wrap the gate valve with insulation. Gate valve can freeze and not be able to open unless heated with a warm air heat gun ( don't ask how I know this).

Other than that, sounds like you're pretty well set. Our redwood has been through 10 degree and 50 mph winds blizzard in South Dakota and did fine. This will b our second winter in Page, AZ in the high desert country. We don't get much snow but can see temps in the 20's for shorter periods and the coach does fine.

Agree with Michelle about getting with the local propane company and getting at least one hundred pound tank. You'll also need a longer pigtail for it but they can also supply that in custom lengths.

[katherine]

We also put vent insulators in all the max air vents. Just a little extra to help keep the heat in. Might want to consider a heated hose and hard sewer line also.

Good luck!

[Trailer1234]

Originally Posted by tjh@reagan.com

Hello All,

My wife and I are fulltime RVer in a 2019 Redwood 3942 FL. I have read all the information available on winter camping in a Redwood. I just am looking for those with experience to see if I have done all I can for a comfortable winter.
We will be staying outside of Chicago IL where it gets below zero for extended times. In preparation of the exterior I have a skirt to go around the bottom of the unit less the slides. I will put Styrofoam insulation on the floors of the slides. II will place two space heaters under the skirt to keep the area warm. I installed 110-volt tank heaters on all four tanks. I will fill the tanks with10 gals of water after dumping and keep the heaters on so the tanks can act like a radiator to help keep the under belly warm. I also added additional insulation where I could in the underbelly to help. Because of the chaotic way the water lines are laid out I couldn’t insulate them but I did put insulation between the frame and piping to keep them away form the metal. I am going to seal all holes where the piping comes in under the sinks and shower and plug holes going into the frames where the hydraulics pistons enter the frame. I will put an electric heater in the basement to keep it warm at all times. For the Interior I will use the furnace and keep it at 65 degrees and supplement it with the fireplace and a space heater.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome.
Tom and Carol

You can heat trace the water hose to RV

[gossamar]

...Where at by Chicago....I am only a few hours away in central IL....

[XCMARK]

If and when you get a hose / park water freeze up its always good to have a tank full of fresh water in the RV! at that point its something you need to fix but its not a right NOW fix , you can just turn on the pump and fix it when its slightly warmer. Keeping the basement warm is a must put a temp probe in there and monitor how warm it its by one of those weather stations that are capable of two of more sensors. Inside temp / RH is also very important to know where the humidity is at , you want to maintain 35~45% indoor RH. If it get to wet you need to vent air or too dry you need to add moisture to the air by a humidifier. your windows will stay fairly clear if its dry but your sinus will not like the dry air and you may end up is a sinus infection. Above 50~55 % RH you can get mold so try to keep your RH under control.

[tjh@reagan.com]

I want to say thanks to everyone who contributed to our questions. Well we are in Illinois for the first big freeze and survived nicely. The last couple of nights have been in the low teens and no issues. I have skirted the unit and then placed two heaters 1500 watts under the frame. I have run one until it gets below 15 then I go to two to be safe. I have logged the temperatures so I listed the coldest ones for those who may be interested.

Outside Temp 12.4 / Water Compartment 46.9 / Inside Belly by axles 41.5 / Under Skirted Area 56.5 / Two heaters at 1500 watts each