RV too cold in winter? (1 Viewer)

Welsh girl

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We have decided that we will exchange our swift voyager for a RV and have decided on a winnebago aspect with a bedroom but on chatting to someone else about one they said that RV's are too cold in the winter for him, has anyone with a RV found this to be the case?

We are fulltiming and need to know before we change as we wouldn't want to regret changing as our MH has got full insulation and is toasty warm in the winter:thumb:

Also do you get pipes freezing in the winter, are they winterized, where are the water tanks? are they on board or underslung?
 

Wildman

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Smudger had problems with frozen pipes and pump occasionally in the snow in his winnibago Voyager, inside was a warm as toast due to the pair of eberspatcher heaters he installled. I assume the original heating was insufficient. Will be interesting to see the replies to this thread. I suspect it will be different from van to van just like euro vans with no hard and fast rule. There are a few Aspect owners here and you should see a couple at Shepton so have a chat then.

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Aug 18, 2008
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Hi
We full time in Rv and its cozy warm in winter and sometimes cooler inside in summer than outside :thumb::thumb:- we have hookup most of time so use oil rads etc and have genny when offsite plus air blown from lpg so no never cold in winter - frozen pipes - ok so yes we did loose cold water supply through pipes to taps last winter:Doh: but it was severe and only lasted for couple of days and sorted with bottles filled from shower block - there is always a solution and a way round - full timers will give you loads of hints - no problem xx
 

Road Runner

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Must add the slide outs is your main loss of heat and insulation to both body, tanks and pipes.

But look in USA and the weather there and loads full-time so everything is possible and as Wild'y say's can just as easy suffer same insulation problems in euro van.

Don't worry all is sortable.
 
Aug 18, 2008
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slide outs

Totally agree with you John - perhaps we were lucky! we have one lounge slide out and no tanks froze - water under bed and side tanks for grey and black - they were fine - as you said there is always a solution xxxx:thumb::thumb:

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scotjimland

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American or European they are all different so you cannot generalise by origin .. but what you can say for sure, the bigger they are the more they cost to heat.. that is important if you are using LPG or metered electric..

Generally the more you pay the better the insulation..

When inspecting ask about the following and ask to be shown..

* Has it proper dual paned glass windows. Some have only single panes and they will be cold and terrible for condensation in winter. It's difficult to tell looking .. ask !

* Are the belly lockers heated that contain the waste and fresh water tanks.

* Are all vulnerable water and waste pipes within the heated areas..

* Has it gas fired underfloor ducted blown air heat to all areas including bathroom and bedroom.. ask for a demonstration.

* Slides are great for space but that's more volume to heat. Some have poor insulation and can be draughty when it's blowing a gale and also prone to leaking if the wind is blowing into the side seals.

Only by inspecting and asking lots of question will you find out .. and that applies to both US and EU vans. Ours had all of the above except slides ..

In the UK winter 2008/9 we had two 1kw oil fired rads on all the time and topped up with either the gas heating or a portable fan heater .. no frozen pipes or tanks

The main problem was frozen water stand pipe on the pitch which I had to thaw out before using with a hot air gun, I kept the filling hose in a heated locker.

An electric blanket kept us lovely and cosy in bed ... :Smile:
 
Jul 29, 2007
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Just like eurovans, some RV's are fully winterised, and some are not, if you open a locker and you see a tank exposed to the elements its not, if their all inside insulated lockers, or in the double floor it is. Ours is warm in the winter, but it sucks the gas if we're not on electric, and takes a lot out of the batteries.

Ian
 
Feb 22, 2008
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Our B class is a more compact RV and is easy to heat Water tank and pipes are inboard and black and grey holding tanks have 12v heat pads. We do not have double pane glazing so always leave roof vents slightly open which normally stops condensation .
The big plus is on a bad day you can spread in comfort and not feel too confined :Smile:

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keith

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When we had an RV we were never cold. The thing that got me was the noise of the 'Furnace' as the yanks call them, difficult to sleep with it coming on during the night. Although we were not double glazed & had a lot of condensation in the winter, the worst was the bedroom window.

When the heating was on one small pipe blew warm air into the waste tank locker so never had frozen pipes. As Jim said the site water was another matter.
 

Forestboy

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Sorry but I have to disagree, we've had 3 RVs over 5 or 6 years.
This was one of the reasons we finally gave up on RVs we could'nt keep them warm in the winter. In the very bad winter 2 years back we were burning a bottle of gas a day and still the internal pipes froze. The trouble is it gets seriously hot with the furnace running but as soon as it stops Rvs rapidly get cold especially with slideouts, and whats the point of an Rv without slideouts.
That was'nt the only reason for giving up RV's, cost of fuel and the constant planning needed because of the size were major factors as well.
I'm a massive fan of RVs and toured USA for 3 years and did 56000 miles in a RV but they're not the most practical thing in Europe or UK.
Just my opinion don't all shoot at once.:thumb:
 

joncris

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We have decided that we will exchange our swift voyager for a RV and have decided on a winnebago aspect with a bedroom but on chatting to someone else about one they said that RV's are too cold in the winter for him, has anyone with a RV found this to be the case?

We are fulltiming and need to know before we change as we wouldn't want to regret changing as our MH has got full insulation and is toasty warm in the winter:thumb:

Also do you get pipes freezing in the winter, are they winterized, where are the water tanks? are they on board or underslung?

Even in winter we have to turn our furnace off after 10 mins cos it gets TOO hot. The tanks are wthin the lockers & can be heated & American RV's are built to withstand everything from the Arizona Desert to the High Rockies:thumb:

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Griffs

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Sorry but I have to disagree, we've had 3 RVs over 5 or 6 years.
This was one of the reasons we finally gave up on RVs we could'nt keep them warm in the winter. In the very bad winter 2 years back we were burning a bottle of gas a day and still the internal pipes froze. The trouble is it gets seriously hot with the furnace running but as soon as it stops Rvs rapidly get cold especially with slideouts, and whats the point of an Rv without slideouts.
That was'nt the only reason for giving up RV's, cost of fuel and the constant planning needed because of the size were major factors as well.
I'm a massive fan of RVs and toured USA for 3 years and did 56000 miles in a RV but they're not the most practical thing in Europe or UK.
Just my opinion don't all shoot at once.:thumb:

I agree with you a 100 percent ,but I still love them now down to a panel van conversion and reaping the benefits of economy and freedom.:winky:
 

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