Suggestions for Cold Weather Camping?

[Lin]

We have lived in our last bus both outside and in a building.  The building takes it hands down. but that is not always an option.  How far down does the ground freeze?  Maybe you could bury most of your hoses.  

[Don4107]

Is the property you are watching suppling the power?  That would make a big difference in the way I would attack the problem.  If they supply it then some heaters in the bays and living area with plenty of heat tape and insulation.  Be ready to use the genset if needed.  If conditions allow I would put some Styrofoam around for skirting including the wheel wells.  Don't know much about moisture control since we live in a dry area.

Good luck, enjoy the winter!

Don 4107

[bigtim44]

We are coming up on our second winter in the bus ,last winter was a cold one with weeks of below freezing temps.
We used a light bulb in the spigot enclosure,heat tape on the hose from the spigot to the bus with pipe insulation taped around it,an electric heater in the rear bay where the tanks are,then 2 more electric heaters in the bus itself,We only hook up the black and grey tanks to dump when they are full,then remove the dump hose and stow once emptied.
  We are staying at a year round campsite that has the electricity built into the campsite fee(no meter),The campsite is at 6600ft elevation up in the Colorado rockies.


Tim 

[NewbeeMC9]

Point the bus toward the south and put something black in the windows spaced a couple of inches away from the glass to allow airflow from the bottom and top.    Natural Circulating solar heater.

May want to block the air flow when the sun goes down.

[Fred Mc]

Having used heat tape in our barn I would suggest heat tape for both pipes. They have a built in thermostat that kicks in around 38 deg so its not using electricity all the time. Its realatively cheap and easy to do. As for water tanks I would use a small ceramic heater. Just turn it on when the temp gets at or below freezing.

They also warn you NOT to cover the tape. Don't know if it produces too much heat or not.

Good luck

[oldmansax]

Thanks to all for the suggestions!

Just to clarify:

Assuming we do this, the property in question will be purchased by us; so the utilities would be paid by us.We are (maybe) buying this to rehab the existing, currently uninhabitable house. Hence, we will live in the bus.

We used the bus all last winter for travel & nothing inside the bays froze so I don't think that will be a problem.

The main things I was concerned about was the shore water & sewer lines, which some of you have addressed.

Thanks for the heating options. Right now, we have the customary Suburban gas furnace, an Olympic catalytic heater, and a couple of electric heaters. We also have heat strips in the roof airs. The furnace will keep us warm but I haven't checked the gas usage. I guess we'll see how it goes..

Thanks, TOM

[white-eagle]

hey tom, we're looking at getting a 14x40 mobile storage shed.  seems to cost about $2000, but would fit over the bus and help keep the snow off and heat in, if i have to work on the bus.  inside storage around here is $1400 per year and we may not be able to store it in florida for 3-4 months this year (  ), so i've been lookin at other options.  you may want to consider getting one of those "portable" storage garages if you are going to be there for a long period.  seems to me i get my "investment" back within 2 years.

[belfert]

I don't know your local electric rates, but with propane prices soaring (especially if you use the 20-40# cylinders) electricity might be cheaper.  There are calculators out on the web where you put in your propane cost and electric rates and it tells you what is cheaper.

[oldmansax]

Tom, I thought about the portable storage houses but they bring up a whole new set of problems     It would have to be well tied down as we get more wind here than most. Nick addressed that aspect a few months back with a post about his portable building. I was also concerned about emissions from the bus, IE. flue gas from the furnace, the odors from the waste tank vent pipes, air from the cooking exhaust fan... that sort of thing. We live in the bus just like in the house & use the range, oven, vent fans, etc. I guess I could rig up somekind of exhaust fan on the portable house    I think I am going to start with the bus outdoors & some type of skirt around the bottom as somebody suggested. I am also still looking for an inexpensive (read CHEAP) motosat dish to cobble together with my starband system for internet service, I think a roof over the bus would hinder reception?? BTW, did you see the thread on the datastorm users forum about how to do that?

Belfert, I didn't know about the calculators, thanks for the heads up. I have a built in 100 gallon propane tank & a contract with the same company that supplies propane to my other house so the price is not as bad as it could be. Once we get the rehab house closed in,, I intend to bury a 500 gallon tank on the premises & pipe that to the bus so I can keep my on-board tank full at all times.

We still use the bus for travel about once a month so I have to keep in mind how much aggravation I want to deal with when we pack up to leave,

Still Thinking...   

TOM

[belfert]

I ran the fuel use calculator at http://www.energyexperts.org/fuelcalc/default.asp with propane at $2.47 and electricity at 10 cents a KW and electric was over 20% less expensive.

I used $2.47 for propane based on some limited research.  I used 78% efficiency for the propane furnce in an RV since they aren't known for efficiency.

[white-eagle]

my friend and partner, Scott Whitney, just sold 2 used DS's on ebay.  my suggestion, of course, is to get a tripod system from us, forget the DS and definitely forget Starband.  i might be somewhat biased  

the portable garage units are not airtight, i just thought they would hold the heat in and keep the snow off.  obviously, they also do cut down on the wind blowing under the bus.  and if you stack the hay/straw around the portable garage, less likely to get pests in the bus.  and you can take it with you or take it down when the weather gets better.

mind you, i haven't bought anything and have no personal experience with these either.  we aren't planning on living in ours, just storage instead of renting an inside space.  i'm afraid of the rust, weather beating, sun damage if i just let it sit out and i don't want to pay to heat it while out in the open, but i might if under some sort of roof.  i don't have the room for permanant barn.

did you say  Nick has one and posted.  i'll have to search some comments.