Cold Weather and a Small Class C

[oregontocal]

It's supposed to get down to 27 degrees here by tomorrow morning, so I unhooked my water hose as a start. I'm going to leave my small electric heater on tonight and open the cupboard doors. Don't want anything to freeze. However, I have a question for those of you with more cold weather experience. My front door lets in so much cold air I can feel it from two or three feet away. The screen door doesn't help, either. Tonight I pinned a large bath towel over it and that helps some.

Have any of you used those sheet plastic storm windows in your RVs that you tape to the inside of your windows, doors, and then shrink them to fit with a hair dryer? We used them quite successfully in houses in Portland many years ago and I've been wondering how well they might work on the screen door and perhaps windows in this rig. I just about froze to death up in the mountains last winter when it got really cold, so don't want a repeat performance.

[Bethers]

Chris, I've never tried those sheets and my door is really tight. But what I have done - for windows, in both winter and summer, I bought a very large one of those silver window things for the sun - and cut them to fit each of my windows. They put up a barrier that has helped me tremendously in the cold and then this past summer in the heat. Made a big difference for me. The other area I suggest you do something about are your ceiling vents. I just used small pillow inserts I could stuff up there (the ones I had were big enough to stuff up there and stay without doing anything to them - but I do believe they make things specifically for that also.

You'll have to see the temps stay below freezing to really have much to worry about - so other than removing the water hose like you did, really, the major purpose of what you're doing is to keep it comfortable without paying a fortune to do so. As long as you have heat in the unit to keep yourself comfie, you should be fine.

[retiredhappy]

Go to Home Depot, Lowes, etc, and get a small roll of foam weatherstripping, probably about half-inch wide. It has adhesive on one side. Put this all around the door on the outside so the door closes on it. This should cut way down on the air coming inside. You probably don't want to put up that plastic on your windows. One problem in RVS in the winter is the moisture or condensation we get on the inside. You don't want moisture getting into your walls, etc. I agree with Beth about using pillow forms to stuff into the vent space to keep heat in. The do make specific things for this but they're more expensive and don't work any better than pillow forms. I also hang a curtain to close off the cab area of my C - don't use this when parked so why heat or cool it? I open some of my bottom cupboards at night to let heat in, but only those near my tanks and pipes and only if its going to be much colder than 27.

[oregontocal]

Beth and Karen,

Thank you for your excellent suggestions. Last night was fine--only got down to 32 degrees. It's supposed to get much colder tonight--and I can feel it outside already. This is from the SoCal wimp. [I did live in Portland for many years, but not in an RV]

I already had the pillow-things for the vents, and they help a lot. Installed some foam weatherstripping tape around the door this morning and was amazed at how much it helped. I'd bought some shrink-plastic for the screen door, but didn't have to use it. A carpet-covered board for the step-up came with the RV, so that also works well. Someone else suggested pulling in the slide; I hadn't thought about doing that, but it makes sense. I sometimes do it when it rains heavily. I have a fitted vinyl cover for the outside of the front and side windows, but also used the curtain inside--figured it wouldn't hurt.

So, we'll see how tonight goes.

[avalen]

I have the pillows stuffed in my vents too and it makes a difference. Another
thing I did.......I bought a roll of that carpet protectant adhesive stuff at
home depot and covered my ceiling vents of the a/c with it. I also took the
screen off the stove vent, covered it with aluminum foil and put it back up.
All these little places was allowing heat to escape. On my windows I take
extra sheets, and drape over the entire window, that makes a difference too.
I use my flannel sheets and I have an extra blanket (thin one) on one window.
My door has the foam insulation tape and thats another one that works well.
My furnace has ductwork to keep my tanks from freezing so I don't worry
about that as long as I have the propane. Its always good to open the
cabinet door where certain pipes are, like under the sinks. If your going to
be parked for the winter I'd recommend putting something around the bottom
for skirting.

[Echo]

Hehehehe I use to tack up a thick comforter over the door at the house. And I rigged up something along the same lines when I lived for a bit in a TT in Syracuse NY. All I had for heat was a little electric heater so I did what I could to keep the heat in and cold out.

[Sparkle]

Yep, I did the quilt thing over the door too. I just bought a couple of yards of that blanket material, (polar bears) and made a curtain for the bedroom door. I let it pool on the floor to keep out the draughts.

[GlennaRae]

Chris,

This is what I do in my small motorhome. My door will not shut tight. Looks like it could be warped. I put on the weatherstripping but it still did not keep the cold air from coming in at the bottom of the door. I stuffed a big pillow on the steps and then laid a flat board across the opening. It is a hassle to go out the door but it made a big difference.

Glenna

[Sparkle]

I was just thinking that if this was a man's Forum there would be all kinds of technical advice....our solutions, stuff pillows into vents, tack up quilts, put down cushions...works for me!

[oregontocal]

Amen, Sparkle! Glenna, my solution is pretty much the same, although the weatherstripping worked pretty well. When I still used the fold-out couch for a bed, I bought one of those foam strips made to put between two twin beds to turn them into a larger bed. I figured it would fit down into the crevice in the top of the couch where it folds. It worked okay for that, but the bed was still uncomfortable. I kept the foam strip, fold it in half, and stick it down at the bottom of the door, on top of the carpet-covered board.

[rvgrammy1953]

Works for me, too...Sparkle.... Probably costs less too....