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Hi, a new member here in need of advice. Anyone have suggestions for winter living. We are ditching our home for an rv/bus starting in a couple weeks. Our set-up has a shower etc. but we live in Alaska.
Any advice for keeping water tanks/hoses operable in sub-zero conditions?
Thanks!
Any advice for keeping water tanks/hoses operable in sub-zero conditions?
Thanks!
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Unsu...
Re: Winter living advice
Tue, October 10, 2006 - 4:36 AMMove to Arizona?
I spent a winter in the Colorado Mountains in an old 5th wheel. You can get electric self adhesive warming pads for holding tanks and a heat tapes for water/sewer lines also this stuff www.gaiam.com/retail/product/56503 is a nice touch on the underside and wrapped on the pipes as is putting a skirt around the rig.
Where I was it would get down to -20F at night and up to 0F in the day - heat wave compared to some parts of Alaska, but nothing froze solid or got damaged.
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Re: Winter living advice
Tue, November 7, 2006 - 10:06 AMWow. I'm from Alaska but I go south for the winter.
When I was younger I did live in a pull-behind and a pick-up camper (w/o the truck LOL) but never had running water. Are you able to be in the same spot all winter? If so I highly recommend piling snow all around/over your RV. Snow is super insulation. When I lived in a little pick-up camper I buried it in snow and I could heat the thing with a few candles or a little propane torch. Space blankets are also awesome, to line the inside and outside of your RV with. Oh, and there are these medical grade water bottles... you can get them at medical supply stores and some camping stores (the bike place in Soldotna has them - Beaver Sports in fbx doesn't) anyways they're super insulative and you can put boiling water in them and take them to bed and they won't burn you and will still be warm in the morning. Always leave your water dripping just a bit to keep it from freezing, and if you have electricity I would go for some heat tape. -
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Re: Winter living advice
Tue, November 7, 2006 - 6:12 PMClearly I'm not as smart as you, for heading south that is. We ended up finding a killer deal on a funky old motorhome with electric etc. and as much as I wanted to do it without electricity, it is our best option now.
We are doing the heat tape along water lines; and using 2" foam board to build an enclosure around our black/grey water holding tanks, and putting a little heater in there. Even with this we are having problems, and may need to invest in tank heaters. It is already getting down to 10 below zero here. Or, we may just shut all the water down and try to deal via other arrangements. I agree about the snow being great insulation and am building a wall that I can kind of back the rig into and use as a windbreak. Time to hunker down for the winter! -
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Re: Winter living advice
Tue, November 7, 2006 - 7:36 PMYou can get tank heaters for cheaper at feed stores than RV stores - check out the ones they use for horse water troughs. I would just forgo the water tho. It's really a pain to fix if breaks.
Good luck...
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Unsu...
Re: Winter living advice
Wed, November 8, 2006 - 1:38 AMDon't forget the skirt and the heating devices go best inside of whatever you insulate with. -
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Re: Winter living advice
Wed, November 8, 2006 - 10:34 AMGood call on the water trough heaters, hopefully that will work. We both have pretty regular jobs right now so water is a big plus for us.
On a side note, After hearing our plans to downsize and move into our new home on wheels, I had several people I work with ask me "if everything is alright, or if we need help to get back on our feet...is there anything we need to talk about " etc. etc.
Do other people get this a lot? Is it really that odd?
Or maybe we know something they don't!
SIMPLIFY! -
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Re: Winter living advice
Wed, November 8, 2006 - 11:19 AMYep, I have. What's worse is when they don't say anything, you just see it on their face, yeech. -
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Re: Winter living advice
Thu, November 9, 2006 - 10:26 AMfunny you should mention that, i am in the process of selling everything i own except for 2 weeks worth of clothes, two jackets and my laptop so i can buy a boat and live onboard. you should see how many people think im crazy and tell me why i shouldnt do it even though most of them have never been on a boat. if i lost my job right now i would be screwed since i am paying 3/5 of my take home on an apartment, once i make the transition i will be saving 700 dollars a month more take home money. I dont care how much a new sail costs or that bottom paint requires a haulout as i will be 700 dollars richer every month. i would say unless you have children downsizing can save you money and lead to a more fulfilling life, you will probably eat healthier as well. combine with a little extra excersize due to lack of convienience and you will live longer and feel healthier. can we say smarter living? -
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Re: Winter living advice
Thu, November 9, 2006 - 10:49 AMSounds excellent to me Rick! I know several people who live or have lived on boats and they love/d it. I used to think about doing that when I was younger but beach communities were just too crowded for me which is how I became a desert rat (ah, solitude). -
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Re: Winter living advice
Thu, November 9, 2006 - 3:58 PMlori, the one thing you must remember about living aboard is have everything stashed so you can get off work friday and be at an island by yourself by midnight.
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Unsu...
Re: Winter living advice
Fri, November 10, 2006 - 2:56 PMMy favorite line was "I'm ramping up for retirement."
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Re: Winter living advice
Sun, November 12, 2006 - 4:56 PMI get it allll the time. Especially because I live in a run down old school bus instead of a fancy nice RV. I feel bad about it sometimes, when people cut me deals and undercharge me assuming that I'm broke (which, relatively speaking, I usually am, but I also have the ability to make money pretty fast).
Once a friend and I were fighting over who was going to pay the bill in a restaraunt. She said, "You live in a bus, I'm worried about you, let me pay." I said "I live in a bus, I have no bills, let me pay." I ended up paying. :-)
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