This winter has been a bit colder and nastier than in the past few years due to several very windy arctic cold spells with one going on right now. Our present temperature is 1 F. Our low last night officially was -4 F but according to our thermometers it was -20 or better out by Bear Mountain. Our high yesterday was 9 F with lots of winds gusting to about 30 mph with snow. Made for some very icy wind chills. Today is a warming trend. We are to get up to a high of 20 F with lows of 14 F.
When the temps get below freezing I start running my RV furnace to keep water lines from freezing. I have electric heat blankets on my holding tanks to keep them liquid.
But running the propane furnace can get expensive. It's quite possible to winter without using one's water system if you use a portable water container/s and just heat water on the stove or in the microwave or use the coffee maker for enough hot water to wash a dishpan full of dishes. You can suspend a camp shower in the shower filled with warm water for a really nice shower without having to use the water system or simply fill a bucket with warm water for a nice sponge bath.
I think for the rest of the winter I will set up my small space heater in the basement on low to keep those water lines liquid in lieu of running the propane furnace and run my other small electric ceramic disc heater along with my Wave 8 to heat the upstairs. That will really save on the propane bill for the rest of the winter by not running the furnace which wastes heat since it heats the outdoors.
New Mexico RV neighbor Bill heated his Cougar 5th wheel using only his electric space heater and one stove burner set on low. The other night my electric cord connection shorted out and I didn't have a spare cord so I couldn't run anything other than 12 volt electric and didn't want to drain my coach batteries using the furnace. The lows that night were about zero. So, I adapted Bill's system to my situation. I turned my Wave 8 propane heater to High and turned one stove burner to high. That kept my coach at about 68 all night in spite of a cold wind. If things were colder I could have turned on the oven or more burners as needed. In my RV there is enough outside air exchange I don't have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning. Your situation might be different so you should monitor that carefully and have a CO detector.
If you don't have the electric heat blankets or are off the grid it's a good idea to pour some of the pink RV antifreeze into each of the drains after dumping the holding tanks each time and keep adding a little as the tanks fill up. That will keep things from freezing in the tanks. If you do have a freezup in the tank or drain Alan Sills has a good solution in his new video. He also shares how he avoids using much propane in his coach, about 100 gallons for 2 months. He is parked at Steamboat Springs, Colorado again this winter. Take it away Alan: Unique Solution To a Clog in the Gray Water System
Ever wonder why the weather may be changing? Here's an interesting review of Earth Changes:
Signs of Change . Don't let the day of the Lord overtake you like a thief. Check out this timely message from Jack Chick: Somebody Angry?
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