Extreme Weather Camping

If you live in Canada, or the North East United States you have no doubt heard of the polar vortex.  This happens every few years and its due to our shifting jetstream. Normally the jetstream doesn’t move too much, in that it flows for West to East, helping regulate our temperatures and usually keeping the extremely cold arctic air in the Arctic.

However in some years, as with this one, the jetstream skews, allowing some of that Arctic air to move further south resulting in the below freezing temperatures affecting much of North America.

And if you live full time in an RV, as we do, you need to be prepared for that weather.  In this article we provide you some tips on how to survive a polar vortex without freezing yourself out of your rig.

Whether you live fulltime in your RV in colder climates, or are looking to head south to warmer locations, this article may help you.

Most people who own RVs really only use propane for cooking, heating water for showers or to do dishes, for their fridge if they don’t have services, and, occasionally, for when the furnace kicks in on those nippy nights.  

However, if you live full time in colder climates, then you use an awful lot of propane, especially if you don’t have alternatives to the above.

For example, we have 2 induction cooktops that use electricity to cook instead of using our propane stove.  We also have electric heaters to help cut down on the propane used for heating.

However, if you can’t use electric heaters then obviously you need to keep an eye on your propane level.  We wouldn’t want you to run out of propane in the middle of the night!

As I mentioned above, we use electric heaters to help cut down on our propane use.  We have 3 heaters – a larger ceramic heater in our main living area – it keeps the area comfortable until about -4 or -5 Celcius.  We also have a small one for our bathroom, because we don’t have a forced air vent in the bathroom, and we have 1 more small one in our bedroom.  While we do have 1 vent which is in the corner of our bedroom, on colder nights it doesn’t fully heat the bedroom.

Today’s heaters are much more efficient than the older style, but if you are looking for a heater I’d suggest finding one with a ceramic element instead of the usual coil elements.  Ceramic are much more efficient and safer, especially if you have pets. Plus, newer heaters have tip-over switches so if your pet does knock it over, for example, it won’t catch fire.

Depending on how cold it is where you are, heavy curtains may be enough to help keep you toasty (for example if you are staying on Vancouver Island, or in the south Okanagan, or near the lower Mainland in BC).  If not, you will want to invest in plastic.

A patio window kit works well for large windows, such as the windshield on a Class A motorhome.  Keep in mind that on many motorhomes the windows have curves, so your plastic will not be 100% tight.  You will be able to see through the plastic, of course, but there will be some wrinkles. Regular window kits – the kind that you use a hair dryer on – work well for all your other windows.  Also, consider using some of that plastic for any roof vents, as well as windows on your door(s).

One thing an RV owner can do that is relatively inexpensive but can greatly improve your efficiency in winter is to skirt your RV with plastic, foam or foil wrapped bubble wrap insulation.  You will also need a couple rolls of “tuck tape”. This is construction tape, usually red, that is water resistant, air resistant and stronger than most other tapes. Keep in mind that this tape can leave a residue after you remove it, so consider that if you go this route.

We got our hands on some old lumber so actually built a wooden frame under our class A to attached foil bubble wrap insulation using the red tuck tape.  We didn’t tape to the RV at all. This way when we remove the skirting there won’t be any tape residue left on the RV anywhere.

If you go this route be sure to do around the engine too – specifically the grille as air can get through in here and circulate underneath your rig.  On a windy day, if you don’t have your grille covered it can actually make your RV colder as there’s no way for the cold air to escape.

We also recommend NOT insulating over your exhaust pipes.  You can insulate around them. This way if you need to start the RV engine or even your generator (if you have a built in one) you won’t risk a dangerous build up of exhaust under your rig.

Of course we all know water freezes at zero degrees Celsius.  That’s why, even without the threat of a polar vortex, you’ll probably need to have a water hose that doesn’t freeze.  You could buy a premade hose that has a built in heat tape, or you could make your own.

We made our own by taking a regular white RV hose, wrapping it with tin foil (you don’t have to do this, but we felt safer doing this as we were concerned with the heat tape melting the hose), then taping the heat tape to the hose using electrical tape.  DON’T WRAP THE HEAT TAPE AROUND THE HOSE. Instead, run it the length of the hose. Tape it every foot or so. Then wrap the whole thing with foam pipe insulation. Pool noodles would probably also work for this.

One thing an RV owner can do that is relatively inexpensive but can greatly improve your efficiency in winter is to skirt your RV with plastic, foam or foil wrapped bubble wrap insulation.  You will also need a couple rolls of “tuck tape”. This is construction tape, usually red, that is water resistant, air resistant and stronger than most other tapes. Keep in mind that this tape can leave a residue after you remove it, so consider that if you go this route.

We got our hands on some old lumber so actually built a wooden frame under our class A to attached foil bubble wrap insulation using the red tuck tape.  We didn’t tape to the RV at all. This way when we remove the skirting there won’t be any tape residue left on the RV anywhere.

If you go this route be sure to do around the engine too – specifically the grille as air can get through in here and circulate underneath your rig.  On a windy day, if you don’t have your grille covered it can actually make your RV colder as there’s no way for the cold air to escape.

We also recommend NOT insulating over your exhaust pipes.  You can insulate around them. This way if you need to start the RV engine or even your generator (if you have a built in one) you won’t risk a dangerous build up of exhaust under your rig.

If you spend the winter in an RV and have slides you might find those slides chillier than the rest of the rig.  On some older RVs manufacturers used thinner walls (for example) to help keep the weight down. As you might guess, this makes them cooler.

Simply wrapping your slide in a tarp can have a great impact, but if you can you should also consider insulating it on the outside.  This is where a roll of the foil wrapped bubble wrap insulation can come in handy.

Normally we like to leave our grey tank open. This is because we usually use a lot of fresh water.  Between cooking, dishes and showering most people use much more grey water. Therefore the grey tank fills more quickly than black tanks.

However, if you leave your grey tank open you risk that cold air creeping up your sewer hose, into the grey tank, freezing, and making things colder inside your rig.

So ensure both your black and grey tanks remain closed during extreme weather events.  When you do dump, make sure to dump your black tank first, and then use the grey water to help clean your sewer hose as it drains the grey water.

One thing an RV owner can do that is relatively inexpensive but can greatly improve your efficiency in winter is to skirt your RV with plastic, foam or foil wrapped bubble wrap insulation.  You will also need a couple rolls of “tuck tape”. This is construction tape, usually red, that is water resistant, air resistant and stronger than most other tapes. Keep in mind that this tape can leave a residue after you remove it, so consider that if you go this route.

We got our hands on some old lumber so actually built a wooden frame under our class A to attached foil bubble wrap insulation using the red tuck tape.  We didn’t tape to the RV at all. This way when we remove the skirting there won’t be any tape residue left on the RV anywhere.

If you go this route be sure to do around the engine too – specifically the grille as air can get through in here and circulate underneath your rig.  On a windy day, if you don’t have your grille covered it can actually make your RV colder as there’s no way for the cold air to escape.

We also recommend NOT insulating over your exhaust pipes.  You can insulate around them. This way if you need to start the RV engine or even your generator (if you have a built in one) you won’t risk a dangerous build up of exhaust under your rig.

Some RVs, such as motorhomes, have stairs coming up from the door.  This is an excellent place for cold air to pool. Consider putting a small board across the opening and insulating underneath it.  Covering the entire stairwell with a thin sheet of some kind (cardboard, thin plywood, poster board etc.) To make it even better, add some insulating. This could be actual insulation, empty garbage and grocery bags, or even any spare blankets, clothes or jackets you might have.

The same holds true for things like closest, cupboards and other storage areas you may have.  For example, we have a space above the center console in our class “A” that used to house a television.  The old tube TV is long gone, but there’s a large void there now that backs onto the header above the windshield.  There is no insulation there, and the only thing separating the interior of that cupboard from the outside air is that thin plastic header.

One thing an RV owner can do that is relatively inexpensive but can greatly improve your efficiency in winter is to skirt your RV with plastic, foam or foil wrapped bubble wrap insulation.  You will also need a couple rolls of “tuck tape”. This is construction tape, usually red, that is water resistant, air resistant and stronger than most other tapes. Keep in mind that this tape can leave a residue after you remove it, so consider that if you go this route.

We got our hands on some old lumber so actually built a wooden frame under our class A to attached foil bubble wrap insulation using the red tuck tape.  We didn’t tape to the RV at all. This way when we remove the skirting there won’t be any tape residue left on the RV anywhere.

If you go this route be sure to do around the engine too – specifically the grille as air can get through in here and circulate underneath your rig.  On a windy day, if you don’t have your grille covered it can actually make your RV colder as there’s no way for the cold air to escape.

We also recommend NOT insulating over your exhaust pipes.  You can insulate around them. This way if you need to start the RV engine or even your generator (if you have a built in one) you won’t risk a dangerous build up of exhaust under your rig.

Some people also add a source of heat under their rig if it’s skirted.  This can help a few ways. First, it can help ensure your holding tanks don’t freeze.  It can also help keep your floor warmer, and the heat from your floor can radiate up, helping to keep the rest of your RV warm on colder days and nights.

Some people recommend a small electric heater while others say simply having a trouble light with a 100 watt light bulb is enough.

If you own a motorhome, travel trailer, or fifth wheel with basement storage consider adding your extra heat source there instead of on the ground underneath your RV as it makes more sense if your goal is to help keep the inside of your RV warm.

If you really wanted to keep the area under your RV warm you might want to consider adding a heat source, whether that’s a heater or a light bulb both under your rig as well as in the basement storage.

Also, since we’re talking about basement storage, consider insulating the doors, especially if they are thin and plastic like the ones under our motorhome.  Simply adding a layer of the same silver bubble wrap insulation you may have used for skirting your RV to the inside of the basement storage doors can go a long way to ensuring your basement doesn’t freeze.

For example, we did this on the door to our services.  We not only insulated the door, but also wrapped the whole compartment in silver bubble wrap.

There are many other things to consider, depending on the rig you live in.  For example, if your water pump is near an external wall, consider disconnecting the water lines from it and/or adding some RV antifreeze to it.

You may also want to ensure your freshwater holding tank is completely empty.  Open the drain to the tank and make sure nothing comes out. Also, make sure the drain is closed in cold weather so the cold can’t get into the freshwater tank and freeze any water that may be left, potentially cracking the tank.

Make sure cabinets or drawers where water lines are located are open a bit. Leave them open to allow heat to circulate around plumbing to avoid freezing.

Have extra blankets handy.  Even if you do all the above, you will probably still feel the cold.  So don’t be afraid to bundle up with a blanket or two.

When you do see the sun – open the curtains and blinds and let the sun in.  The heat from the sun, even on a partly cloudy day, can help things warm up very quickly.

If you have solar panels to help keep your batteries charged, make sure there is no snow on them.  As it gets colder, the batteries in your rig take a little longer to charge back up. So by ensuring your panels are not covered in snow you help ensure your charging system is working at peak efficiency.

If you are in an area where you do get snow, use that snow to your benefit.  By pushing snow around your skirting, you help seal up any small gaps in your skirting which further helps to keep the area under your rig warmer.  Snow is a free and easy way to help keep yourself warmer during a cold winter snap and it only takes a few minutes to do.

The higher the bank the better, but even if you can get snow around the bottom of your rig, all the way around, it will help.

If your RV has a generator on board, you should be starting it up on a regular basis to make sure it’s doing ok.  Further, you may need it if you find, for example, the power goes out.

When it gets cold many people simply turn up the heat in their homes.  If they have electric heat sources, like baseboard heaters, that can put an incredible drain on the power grid which could result in brownouts or power outages.  If this happens and you are living in an RV your electric heater will do you no good and you will end up relying 100% on your propane furnace.

But if you have a generator, it’s simply a matter of pulling the plug from your shore power and (optionally) plugging into your genny.  

If you have been performing regular generator maintenance and doing as recommended by starting it up every month or so, then it’s simply a matter of firing it up to regain power to your RV so that your electric heaters (and appliances) work.

Once the power comes back on you can switch back to your shore power.

As you may have guessed, living in an RV during an extreme weather event can be challenging, but is not impossible.  Planning ahead can save you lots of headache (and money if something freezes or worse fails). Ideally you would have planned much of the above in the fall, but even if you are starting now before the next extreme weather event, you can get yourself prepared and be toasty warm in your RV even during the coldest days and nights.

One thing an RV owner can do that is relatively inexpensive but can greatly improve your efficiency in winter is to skirt your RV with plastic, foam or foil wrapped bubble wrap insulation.  You will also need a couple rolls of “tuck tape”. This is construction tape, usually red, that is water resistant, air resistant and stronger than most other tapes. Keep in mind that this tape can leave a residue after you remove it, so consider that if you go this route.

We got our hands on some old lumber so actually built a wooden frame under our class A to attached foil bubble wrap insulation using the red tuck tape.  We didn’t tape to the RV at all. This way when we remove the skirting there won’t be any tape residue left on the RV anywhere.

If you go this route be sure to do around the engine too – specifically the grille as air can get through in here and circulate underneath your rig.  On a windy day, if you don’t have your grille covered it can actually make your RV colder as there’s no way for the cold air to escape.

We also recommend NOT insulating over your exhaust pipes.  You can insulate around them. This way if you need to start the RV engine or even your generator (if you have a built in one) you won’t risk a dangerous build up of exhaust under your rig.