RVing in -10 Degrees: Best RV Winter Camping Tips

RVing in -10 Degrees: Best RV Winter Camping Tips

It wasn’t the best weather timing to move out of the park house into the camper, and we rushed the preparations for the camper. The RV was parked at Josh’s dad’s house over winter.

Therefore, we spent our first winter in the RV stationary in Northern Illinois. During the winter, there was a polar vortex. RVing in cold weather taught us a lot of lessons, and we wanted to share them with you!

The most important thing we did to prepare for winter RVing was to install RV skirting. The skirt protects and warms the underbelly in winter. It prevents cold air from getting trapped underneath the tank, which keeps its interior warm.

We researched a lot of skirting options. There are people who buy premade skirting, and there are others who make their own using foam boards or recycled billboard vinyl. We wanted something that we could reuse and store easily and was relatively inexpensive.

The skirting of our RV was made from concrete curing blankets. It cost us $107.76 to buy two 6′ x 25′ curing blankets. The blankets were attached using marine grade snaps to facilitate reuse in future years.

The socket part worked perfectly when we attached it to the RV, but we were a little nervous. The skirting needs to be removed carefully to avoid pulling apart the snaps, but we are hoping it will be a simple process to install next winter.

The morning after the first freeze, there was no running water. It turned out to be only one spot in the hose as Josh suspected. There is a connector there with an upward angle. We were able to thaw out that spot with a heat gun, allowing the water to flow again.

A trickle was also left on the tub faucet to keep the water moving, preventing any additional treatment. A heated hose was installed to solve this problem permanently. We considered buying one, but the cost was so high that we were unable to justify the cost.

As a result, Josh got heating cable to make his own. He simply taped on the heating cable and added some foam at places to get the job done. It would be better if the heating cable was woven around the entire hose for its entire length.

Our worst weather in early January prevented the hose from freezing, so we switched to filling the tank and using the water pump instead.

As a result of a surprise cold snap in February, our hoses froze again on a couple of mornings. As the daytime temperatures had warmed and the sun had returned, they thawed out quickly.

The RV furnace handled the temperatures well, except for a broken fan that needed to be replaced. Our house is always kept around 68°, and the camper stays comfortable even during the coldest weather. As an RV owner, we were concerned about the cost of propane and the amount of propane we’d use. 

There were several options for supplemental heat, including ceramic heaters, oil-filled heaters, and infrared heaters. In Josh’s dad’s basement, he found almost the same oil filled heater we were going to buy.

As a result, I didn’t have to run the furnace all day to keep the edge down. As a space heater, it is supposed to be safer. We also enjoyed being able to warm up our clothes in the morning. This heater will be used for shoulder seasons in the future to save on propane.

As well as a small ceramic space heater, we also kept a small one on the kitchen counter. When we entered and exited the RV, we didn’t experience cold drafts. In winter, some RVers completely rely on electric heaters, and we might have to do the same if we were staying in an RV park that included electric.

As we were staying at Josh’s dad’s and didn’t want to run his electric bill up, we used propane and electric to cut down on costs. There is a concern with space heaters, and one way to mitigate it is to run an extension cord directly to the post instead of plugging them into the RV wiring.

As a prevention measure, we wanted to be able to monitor temperature in and around the camper. As well as the thermostat, we have also added sensors that let us monitor the indoor temperature from our thermostat.

There were sensors outside, inside, and around the underbelly. As you can see in this photograph taken in January, it was 68° inside the RV, 0° outdoors, 46° along the underbelly’s edge, and 52° in the center.

Our winter was most difficult in January. In the third week, we experienced a severe cold snap followed by a 7-inch snowstorm. During this time, Jen was still working her in-person job at her local community college, where three emergency closures occurred in seven days because of bad weather.

As a result of the cold, our propane tanks weren’t working properly. Propane doesn’t freeze until -306°, but when it’s extremely cold, it contracts. As a result, the volume in the tank will decrease, and the pressure will also decrease. As a result, we rotated tanks and let a set warm up inside after we found two extra tanks in the garage.

We were also concerned about the cost of propane. The propane was being filled up almost every other week at Tractor Supply. In the end, we ended up spending a lot of money, but during the rest of the year we barely used any propane, so it evens out. Wintering in a cold area does require you to be aware of and budget for propane costs, but it’s not a deal breaker.

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