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Winterizing for Fulltimers

Yahoo Message Number: 7469
I've seen lots of posts on winterizing for storage, but certainly there are those non-snowbirds who have endured winters in their CCs without having to run their furnaces 24/7. I'm not talking winters in Montana, but rather where it doesn't get colder than say, 20 for longer periods than a few weeks.
Do basement heaters work? What kind? What about skirting?
We're just starting our first year full timing, and are already missing the seasons, but don't want to leave the comfort of our CC and the fulltiming lifestyle. Maybe just one December on Vancouver Island will send us shivering back south, but if we can learn from other's experiences, mayby not.

Anybody living up north in their CC right now?

Dick & DeVonne
2000 Allure #30519
Temporary in Tampa

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7472
Dick,

I'm a full timer working and living in NJ. Last winter I spent the worst winter in 40 years in my coach and as long as the furnace works you will have no problems. My water pump froze once, and I had the good fortune not to havy any damage. The application of a hair dryer quickly got it going again. This happened after more than three weeks of below freezing weather and because I forgot to leave the water dripping that night. As to skirting, I chose not to and thought it was not needed. The coach is well insulated and is not drafty at all. We are at a camp site that does not charge for electricity so we run 2 electric heaters inside the coach to keep fuel consumption down. Last winter I lost both interior heating zones and managed to keep the interior warm with the electric heaters. The coldest things in the coach are the counter tops that are attached to exterior walls and all of the tile flooring. The coldest spot is by the front entrance. My Hurricane heating system has over 1500 hours on it and has had all of the latest upgrades available as of late October of this year.

Regards
Jose'

03 Allure 30863
Jose Ferrer
06 Magna Rembrandt #6568
Towed 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid
Cat C13  with Allison Transmission
Hydralift, Blue Ox Avail tow bar

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7473
We left NYS in mid Oct and have travelled across the US on a northern route as I had appointments at CC for Dec 2. These coaches are not made for freezing temps. Milder temps down to the 30's are okay but the colder it is the more difficult it is to keep warm. Beware your ice maker too and make sure you drain it. I lost my blue valve as I did not winterize it. We spent a week at Hart Ranch in SD waiting out a storm. Temps were down to 5!!! The inside of the coach stayed okay but near the front door remains coldish. The back bedroom, with the addition of a good down quilt, was quite comfy. If you will be staying in a moderate climate such as Vancouver you should have no trouble. I would not recommend Montana or such similar places!

-- "Richard Stearns" evierudie@...> wrote: I've seen lots of posts on winterizing for storage, but certainly there are those non-snowbirds who have endured winters in their CCs without having to run their furnaces 24/7. I'm not talking winters in Montana, but rather where it doesn't get colder than say, 20 for longer periods than a few weeks.
Do basement heaters work? What kind? What about skirting?
We're just starting our first year full timing, and are already missing the seasons, but don't want to leave the comfort of our CC and the fulltiming lifestyle. Maybe just one December on Vancouver Island will send us shivering back south, but if we can learn from other's experiences, mayby not.

Anybody living up north in their CC right now?

Dick & DeVonne
2000 Allure #30519
Temporary in Tampa

">Country-Coach-Owners-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7474
From: joseferrer@...>
(snip) > we run

Quote
2 electric heaters inside the coach to keep fuel consumption down.
This might very well be obvious to you, but that may've been the reason your water pump froze. Because while the electric heaters may keep the interior warm, they're not doing anything to warm the utility bay in which the water pump is located.

Dick (& Geri) Campagna
'98 36' Intrigue #10571
Mfd: 11/97

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7475
Dick,

Your right about the electrical heaters, however my problem was self inflicted. Had I not forgotten to keep the water dripping the water line and water pump would not have frozen. Ever since I learned the dripping water trick I did not have a problem with frozen lines or pumps. On a few occasions the overnight temperatures got down to near 0' F. You'd be suprised at how many people are in camp sites around me and have been doing this for longer than me in equipment that is not as modern as mine.
FYI - Before I bought my coach I had an in depth conversation with Country Coach about how and where I intended to live. They claimed that these coach's have been tested to keep everything from freezing down to 5' F for an extended period of time if you keep your thermostats at at least 55' F. I am a believer. This will be my second winter in NJ am more comfortable about spending the winter in the Northeast.

--

Regards

Jose' Ferrer
Jose Ferrer
06 Magna Rembrandt #6568
Towed 2017 Ford Fusion Hybrid
Cat C13  with Allison Transmission
Hydralift, Blue Ox Avail tow bar

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7478
Quote from: Richard Stearns
> Anybody living up north in their CC right now? >

Dick & DeVonne
2000 Allure #30519
Temporary in Tampa

Dick,

I spent all last winter in my Allure while I rebuilt a home. Here in Central Penna it was quite cold for most of the winter. My biggest problem was trying to keep the water supply hose from freezing. I tried the running water method to keep it from freezing. It was so cold outside that it still froze. I ended up filling the fresh water holding tank in the coach and refilling it as necessary. I had the thermostat set at 70 degrees and we were comfortable. The furnace provided heat to the bays and it was amazing to me at the amount of heat I noticed in the bays when I needed something from them.

The next biggest problem was condesation on the windows. Living in the coach with my wife and cooking provided a lot of moisture inside the coach. We used towels to help collect the condesation and keep it from making streaks/stains on the window treatments.

If you keep electrical power to the coach, you will not have a problem.

Dave G.

2000 Allure #30491
Millheim, PA

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7479
-We spent a winter fulltiming in our last coach. The first thing that the park manager had us do when we moved in was to put heat tape on the water hose from the faucet to the coach. We never had a problem.

John and Merilee
99 Intrigue

02 Grand Cherokee

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7480
From: "David G. Grazier" dcgrazier@...> (snip) > The next biggest problem was condesation on the windows.
Did you try leaving a window or vent open a little? Gotta get rid of that moisture somehow. Some even use a small dehumidifier in and draining into the shower, for example (while you're not using the shower, of course ).
Sources of moisture always include our exhaling breath, and in the winter include tracking in snow and having wet clothing. Actually, the problem is the same as in your coach's refrigerator. We always dry things off before putting them back in the reefer to increase defrosting intervals. And seal everything tightly.

Dick (& Geri) Campagna
'98 36' Intrigue #10571
Mfd: 11/97

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7482
Have been, put your slides in a night, put insulation for the front windshield in place, I used to get two weeks from a tank of propane, with temperatures at zero at night in Durango, colorado. TOM, 98 Allure, 30255

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7493
Quote from: tjf2000us
-We spent a winter fulltiming in our last coach. The first thing > that the park manager had us do when we moved in was to put heat

tape

Quote
on the water hose from the faucet to the coach. We never had a > problem.

John and Merilee
John and Merilee,

I tried the heat tape when I had 25 feet of hose. It worked if I also wrapped the hose and tape with insulation. However, during the construction, I had to switch locations for the water supply faucet.
The length was over 75 feet. I did not want to purchase any additional heat tape for all of this hose.

Thanks,
Dave G.

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7494
Quote from: Dick Campagna
> From: "David G. Grazier"

(snip) > The next biggest problem was condesation on the windows. > > Did you try leaving a window or vent open a little? Gotta get rid

of that

Quote
moisture somehow.

Dick,

We tried the open window to vent the moisture. However, the cold weather was too much for us. We opted to use towels to collect the condensation.

My apologies for misspelling condensation in my previous post.

Thanks,
Dave G.

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7495
This may sound crazy.

I found this helps because I live in my coach in the cold and perhaps you could try this.
When I shut down from driving I leave the heat/ac selector knob in the defrost position and when the condensation starts to build up I turn on the vent fan in bathroom or over the kitchen area and you will be surprised of the amount of air that is pulled through the defrost vents over the front windshield.
I found this out by accident because I left the heat/ac selector knob in the defrost position and just happened to have the fantastic fans running and happened to go to the front of the coach and air was flowing out of the defroster vents and I thought I had left the coach defroster switch on, or I had a bad switch under the dash, but it was the fantastic fans pulling air through the defroster system.

It does help.
Gary Bettig

2002 Intrigue 11451

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7512
Gary, thanks for the suggestion regarding the defrost/vent when parked. We will give it a try. Happy Holidays, Dale
 

Re: Winterizing for Fulltimers

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7517
Don't forget to adjust the thermostat temperature setting in the water bay. There is a knob usually located somewhere near the water pump that adjusts the water bay temperature. The Hydronic Heat system monitors all the thermostats in the coach - in my case there are 3; zone 1 and 2 are on the Comfort Control and zone 3 is controlled by the knob setting next to the water pump. We keep the water bay (zone
3) set at 45 to 50 degrees. I like at least 15 degree safety factor
to protect my water bays. By turning on the Central Heat Control switch when the temperature drops near freezing, the bays are protected. If the temperature drops below 45, the hydronic system will kick on and heat the water bay even if you are using another heating source in the living space (like the small electric heaters that another user mentioned). We camped for a about 6 weeks in temps that ranged from 40 degrees F down to 9 degrees F. Our coldest night hit 9 with a wind chill of 10 below. We hate winter and I hope we never have to camp again in weather like that.

Hope this tip is helpful to those camping in cold weather.

Robert

2003 Intrigue

Quote from: Richard Stearns
> I've seen lots of posts on winterizing for storage, but certainly > there are those non-snowbirds who have endured winters in their CCs > without having to run their furnaces 24/7. I'm not talking winters
in Montana, but

Quote
rather where it doesn't get colder than say, 20 for longer periods
than a few weeks.

Quote
Do basement heaters work? What kind? What about skirting? >

We're just starting our first year full timing, and are already
missing the seasons, but

Quote
don't want to leave the comfort of our CC and the fulltiming
lifestyle. Maybe just one

Quote
December on Vancouver Island will send us shivering back south, but

if