Quote:
Originally Posted by kym
Thank you all for your your responses. We are not
As a new escape owner, your comments and ideas are appreciated.
Ken
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Hi Ken,
I just returned today from a 3 night trip in central Colorado where the temperature dropped to 19F/-7C at night, but warmed to "almost pleasant" mid-day.
Steps I took:
Didn't use the black tank - parked close to the outhouse. (Only one other brave camper in sight, we had private outhouses.)
Drained the grey water tank every night into a pail and disposed in the outhouse. The campground water system was off so I had to be conservative with water.
Ran the propane heater after dinner and before breakfast for a couple of hours. One tank of propane went empty but I don't know how full it was prior to the trip.
Always kept the bathroom vent open and one MaxxFan open - all the time. Ran the fan on exhaust while cooking or dishwashing to remove moisture. No condensation problems.
No heat while sleeping. Interior got down to near freezing. Praise to those geese who sacrificed their down to keep me warm.
No heat pads installed and no 110v power available at this campsite.
I did have ETI install 12v heat tape on the waterlines that are below the floor on my '21 but as an experiment did not use it. No freeze issues. Probably would have been more useful to have 12v heat tape around the waste tank valves. My 6 feet of tape draws 1.5 amps which would not have been a severe drain if used only at night or for a few hours prior to dumping.
I did have ETI run a cheap tube from near the hot water heater to near the fresh water tank. They would not hook it up to avoid code violations, but I did - so I can run hot water from the hot water heater back into my fresh water tank and warm the entire tank up a bit. I did one night but suspect it was unnecessary since the daytime temps were nicely above freezing.
I purchased a 150W solar panel and placed it on the ground aimed at the noon sun. It provided more than double the amps that the fixed ETI panel provided, due to being pointed directly at the low angle winter sun. Probably won't take it camping in the summer unless in a shady campground. Very happy with that purchase.
Hope some of that helps...
--
Alan