Cold Weather Travel

[becken63]

RETIRED!! Purchased first coach last spring. 08 Winn adventurer 35A. Workhorse chassis. First cold weather trip! Heading South from Iowa thru St Louis, Memphis, Ala. Temps will be in the 20's. Will the Couch heater switch keep the basement warm and the pipes from freezing while traveling down the road? When I run the LP furnace at night, will it run on coach batteries or do I need to run the generator? Thanks Ken

[John Hilley]

The coach heater will help keep the basement warm, but you may have to also run the propane heater. Put a wireless thermometer sensor in the pump compartment to monitor the temperature. It may or may not make it through the night depending on the condition and number of coach batteries. If you do run the generator, plug in a 1500 watt electric heater also.

[Luckiest Dreamer]

If you mean the heater that is run by your engine, the answer is it will not. Any basement heat comes from ducts running from your LP heater. What I would do is keep the water system winterized until you reach an area that stays above the mid to high 20's before filling the tanks. Use drinking water from bottles in the fridge and public facilities until you get to weather that will allow you to fill the tanks. The furnace will deplete your batteries, Hopefully they are big enough to handle an overnight until they can be recharged the next day. If you have a Generator, running it for two hours each evening and again in the morning should keep them in service. There may be campgrounds that are open year round with electric along your route that will allow you to make the trip without a generator. Once south of Memphis, temps start to improve (Usually) I know that we are expecting freezing temps tonight in SW Florida, but that is only for one night and for only a couple of hours.

[ralphie]

Originally Posted by becken63

RETIRED!! Purchased first coach last spring. 08 Winn adventurer 35A. Workhorse chassis. First cold weather trip! Heading South from Iowa thru St Louis, Memphis, Ala. Temps will be in the 20's. Will the Couch heater switch keep the basement warm and the pipes from freezing while traveling down the road? When I run the LP furnace at night, will it run on coach batteries or do I need to run the generator? Thanks Ken

I wouldn't de-winterize until you get to your first overnight stop, then rely on retained heat and your coach chassis heater during the day while you travel to your next overnight. I would not run the furnace while traveling although some folks do. The furnace will/should run on the coach batteries overnight, assuming you have two or more batteries. If you're really working the furnace one battery will probably fade at about 4am.

[Cousin Ed]

Your motoraid runs through the furnace ducts and will keep the basement from freezing. We traveled with our Adventure and Suncruiser in the teens and single digits. If you can't get electric, I would run the gen-set for a couple hours before bed and as soon as I woke up.

[Hikerdogs]

Originally Posted by Cousin Ed

Your motoraid runs through the furnace ducts and will keep the basement from freezing. We traveled with our Adventure and Suncruiser in the teens and single digits. If you can't get electric, I would run the gen-set for a couple hours before bed and as soon as I woke up.

I agree that for temperatures in the low 20s the motoraid heater should be sufficient. We have made the trip from Wisconsin many times with only the motoraid heater keeping the compartments and tanks warm. However last year we made the trip with temperatures in the -10*F range. We had to use the propane furnace to keep things from freezing up.

If you find the motoraid heater isn't sufficient it's best to turn off the blower and just use the propane heat. There's a door at the exit end of the motoraid heater that's opened by the force of the air when the blower is running. When the propane furnace is running the air flow is supposed to be sufficient to close that door so the heat comes through the registers and passages to the compartments. If the door remains partially opened due to the competing fans some of your heat will lost to a compartment where it's not needed.

I also like the idea of the wireless thermometer. We have a sensor in the water compartment, another in the water tank compartment, and a third that senses outdoor temperature.

[bandirector]

You received some good advise especially concerning the motor-aid heater. It is a wonderful way to travel during the cold. I've never had a problem with any freezing during this time.

I do recommend that you eventually consider doing a little insulating in the water cabinet where you hook up fresh water and the dump valves are found. Mine was just fiberglass with no insulation at all. At the time I took some of the one inch styrofoam you can get at the home store i.e.-Home Depot, Lowes and fit it loosely to the inside bottom and side walls. Eventually I plan to take some of the coiled insulation with foil on both sides and cut it to fit that area. They make spray adhesive for headliners etc that are available at auto parts stores that will hold it in place.

[Rockwood27]

I have a 35A, but it's an '06 and a Sunrise (a step below the Adventurer). My waterpump/water drain valve bay on passenger side is NOT heated. The sewer hose bay is heated. I plugged in a 70 watt drop light in the water pump bay and it kept it above freezing, even when it was single digits out. You may want to use a remote thermostat to see if Winnebago made any changes to your MH.