Cruisers Forum
Main Forum => Polls => Topic started by: LRUCH on January 25, 2026, 08:59:39 pm
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What better time to ask about your cold weather camping in your Phoenix Cruiser than during a blizzard, right? Feel free to add comments below and tell us how you fared, where you were, etc during your coldest travels.
Meanwhile, Stay Warm (exactly)
I'll add that I enured a couple nights in Illinois that got down to 9F. I had the slides in to conserve heat. My plumbing froze where it passes under the rear slide right at the water tank... But by morning it thawed and nothing was broken.. No leaks. That pex pipe is so forgiving. Once it got back up in the teens, no problems.
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I participated in your pole.... very interesting!
I stated in the 20's, but it was only twice, and unexpected during summertime. Once was at Brainard Lake CO campground at 10,400 feet elevation. The other time was at Tuolumne Meadows campground, Yosemite NP, at 8,600 feet elevation. Both had lows in the mid to upper 20's. Neither campground offered electricity.
We have never intentionally "winter" camped. Sometimes it is unavoidable during the summer months.
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Ron,,,, COLD weather in summer. That is a surprise!
I visit relatives in Illinois every year for the Xmas holidays --which really isn't camping, but with a house full of people I still use the RV plumbing and sleep in my own bed. In 2020 an entire week was below 19F,,, and I had 2 nights that dropped to 9F. I used a lot of propane to stay warm and brought in the slides on the really windy nights. It made a big (warmer!) difference with them in.
Looking back, I fared well overall. Both nights that dropped to 9F I had a pipe freeze and I think it was under the queen bed where the pex runs along the wall in a carpeted channel. I think it froze there because almost everywhere else I could touch/feel the pipes and know they were warm enough to not be frozen. In that spot, there is a lot less airflow there because of the slide and water-tank/bed above it. Since that, I added a small 12 volt computer fan that blows air into the channel. I've turned on that fan every December trip since that and never had a frozen pipe again.
I'm also happy to add that my insulation improvements over the years have paid off,,, I now use about half the amount of propane in winter with less drafts and cold feet. I still need to find a way to force the FORD HVAC to stay in recirculate mode.
Thanks for taking the poll.
Larry
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Wow! Having a long 2900 with 2 slide-outs, managing to keep all systems in operation at 9 to 19 degrees F for a whole week, is an achievement. Were you able to supplement with shore power and extra electric heaters? Or were you completely independent?
I like your solution of adding an energy efficient mini 12V computer fan where needed at the most vulnerable area.... smart!
Please remind me what you did to better insulate. Was that all related to the Ford cab area up front?
Do you have thermal pane windows, or single layer glass for the house?
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I have thermal pane windows, thankfully. They are also tinted with clear ceramic tint that blocks UV and infrared transfer. What's good for blocking Texas heat also works for blocking heat loss in winter. Ditto for my roof vents and the shower dome (which also has bubble wrap between the dome layers, again summer and winter protection).
I've done a lot of insulating work... Somewhere I have a consolidated list here in the forum as well as several posts focusing on individual improvements. . The biggest insulation efforts were the cab (pillars, doors, walls, floor, Firewall), the back side the gasoline fuel fill, the under and back side of the main door's step well, the air conditioner (yes it is a big heat loss in the winter if you don't Insulate the evaporator air chamber,,, which helps in summer in reverse... Remember heat rises! ) I also insulated the Ford evaporator chamber... What a big improvement that eliminated a big draft! Recently I insulated the under side of the floor under the shower. My shower drain is just below floor level and there is a cutout in the composite floor to accommodate it. That leaves less than a half inch of foam between the shower drain and the outside temps. I added 2 inches of foam board under the floor. That eliminated a mysterious cold draft coming from under the fridge at the same time.
The one area I want to Insulate is the forehead over the cab. I know that is my biggest heat exchange area because my infrared camera show it to me, and I can feel the temp difference when I open the cabinets.
As for heat sources, I have added an additional (5th) vent to my furnace that lows flawed over the door step well and into the cab. It's rated for and has fan capacity for 5 to 8 vents (depending upon hose size... A topic worth diving into at another time). This greatly improved the overall RV temp and even heating. Well worth it!
The year that it dropped to 9F I had 2 electric heaters. One up in the cab area which I run late evening until I went to bed. The other I put in the bathroom... As I was paranoid about so much plumbing in the walls there. I ran them until bedtime and got the bathroom toasty before going to sleep and run it again around 4am to get it toasty again. I don't like sleeping with an electric heater running. I would have run it more, but I didn't want to consume a lot of electricity at my relatives house. Now that I have solar and lithium batteries I've transitioned from moochdocking, to boondocking and only need additional power if the sun is not shining bright several hours a day... I'm still learning how much I need, to be honest.
I know many people don't like to use their propane furnace, but it's so efficient and safer than an electric heater. I wouldn't attempt winter without it. Another common complaint on the furnace is the noise... I covered it with a ceramic wool blanket to lessen the heat loss into the closet above it... And a side effect is that it is much quieter now. Double benefit. You just need to be sure to cut, shape, secure the blanket so that it doesn't block the return air inlet. It doesn't wake me up at night it's so quiet.
Larry