RVs and wintertime do not mix well. Trust me, I know. Years ago when Miss Terry was being treated for cancer, we spent several weeks in Traverse City, Michigan during the winter, when snow piled up several feet deep around our motorhome, and the temperature dipped into the single digits every night.

At the time we had our Pace Arrow Vision, which we came to call the Motorhome From Hell, and it showed many of its shortcomings during that ordeal. We went through huge amounts of propane just trying to stay warm, and the best we ever managed was to take off the worst of the chill inside the RV.

Of course, the best way to deal with cold weather is to get as far south as you can go, before the snow falls. But just in case you find yourself stuck in cold weather, here are some tips that can make it more comfortable.

RV furnaces are notorious energy wasters. Just stand outside your RV the next time you have the furnace on and feel all of that heat blowing out the exhaust. That is wasted propane that you are paying for. Small electric cube heaters help a lot to ward off the cold, if you have sufficient electrical power to run them. We found that catalytic heaters such as the Olympian brand are great in an RV. They use much less propane than an RV furnace, and do not require 12 volt power to run a heater fan. 

In a motorhome, the windshield conducts a lot of cold to the interior of the rig. Keeping the windshield covered with bubble foil can help reduce this. Foam inserts in the roof vent openings also helps keep the cold out.

Using some type of skirting material, be it plywood, plastic tarps, or even bales of hay to surround the bottom of the RV helps insulate from the ground up and makes a big difference inside.

The low temperature was not the only thing we had to contend with. In an occupied RV during cold weather, condensation quickly builds up inside, and it can create a real mess. Keeping a roof vent or windows open to circulate the air isn’t an option unless you want to freeze. We found that products like DampRid, which can be found at WalMart or Camping World, help a lot, but you can never completely eliminate the condensation problem. We spent a lot of time armed with towels, wiping down every glass or metal surface, and the interior walls of our motorhome.

Many RVs are supposed to have “winter packages,” which include heated plumbing bays, but in reality, a lot of them don’t come anywhere close to being able to handle really cold weather. We found that a clamp-on utility light with a metal reflector, which you can find at any hardware store, fitted with a 25 watt bulb, can keep a closed utility bay toasty warm and prevent pipes from freezing.

None of these ideas will make your RV feel like a sauna inside, but hopefully they will help keep you more comfortable if you have to spend time in very cold weather. But remember my own personal motto, and consider adopting it as your own: When it snows, Nick goes!

Thought For The Day – A bad worker always blames his tools.

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I’m going to change my name to Nanook of the North, because I’m beginning to feel like an Eskimo. It looks like winter has already set in here in northern Indiana, and we’re freezing! There is a small rally of old GM motorhomes here at Elkhart Campground, and I keep thinking that those folks are even worse at planning than I am. We have to be here to get the new issue out, but those fools chose to be here this time of year!

I know that there are folks who enjoy cold weather, but I’m not one of them. I lived in cold country too many years to have any attraction to it. A lifetime ago when I was a young soldier, we held war games in some Godforsaken place like Iceland or Greenland, to prepare us for combat if the Soviets ever invaded.

I suggested that we give the frozen place to the Commies and regroup in Key West to look out for the Cubans, who might use the diversion to launch a sneak attack on our rear. As it turns out, the strategists really didn’t want my input, but time has proven me right. Russia isn’t a threat anymore, but Cuba is still there, just waiting for us to look the other way, and they’ll be swarming ashore and heading for the bars on Duval Street. Wait a minute, they already do that…! I’m not Nanook of the North, I’m a soothsayer!

That’s better anyway. I don’t have room for a sled dog team in our Winnebago, and that whole Eskimo nose rubbing instead of kissing thing just doesn’t work for me. What’s sexy about two red, runny noses bumping into each other anyway?

One problem with cold weather RVing is condensation. Cooking, showering, even running a propane furnace, all put a lot of water vapor in the air, and we have noticed that the outside wall at the back of our bedroom closet, as well as our windshield, are collecting condensation. We open the bathroom roof vent and turn on the exhaust fan when we shower to allow the steam to get out, but it’s still an issue we need to keep an eye on.

Years ago, when Terry was being treated for cancer, we were stuck in Traverse City, Michigan into the winter. No matter what we did, our Pace Arrow Vision, the Motorhome from Hell, was wet inside. It was so bad that Terry had a package of rolls of paper towels stored between the front passenger seat and the dashboard, and they were saturated. Our Ultimate Advantage is a lot better insulated than that Fleetwood lemon, but we still have to deal with condensation.

Of course, the best remedy is to get out of the cold and into someplace warmer. It’s something I’m really looking forward to. I think we’re in for a long, cold winter in much of the country, and I want to get as far away from it as I can and still be on dry land.

Bad Nick is no fool. He spent his time inside where it was nice and warm,  working on a post for the Bad Nick Blog titled The Higher Education Scam.

Thought For The Day – In insurance policies, the big print giveth, and the small print taketh away.

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