Seasonal Winter Camping

[ping]

Hello Campers,
This will be my first year winter seasonal camping and have some questions. I will be in Northern NH where it will be very cold and lot's of snow.
What recommendation do you have to help me with the set-up once parked for the winter? Park tires on wood or blocks? Remove tires? Cover tires? Tires off the ground and support axles with blocks?
I will be hooked up to electricity. Heating suggestons? Electric, propane, or both? What type of electric heater? Should I secure a 100lb or 200lb propane bottle?
Do you recommend a Slide-out cover install? I'm concerned with snow load on the cover.

Any other suggestions would be of tremendous help!

Thank you,
Joe

[Stan]

Lots of questions! First what year/model is your Rig. Do you have heated underbelly, will you be parked ALL winter, will you be living it ALL the time?? Basics for me will include wrapping water line and disconnect and drain when it is REALLY cold (use water tank), insulate drain valves so you can drain the tanks when needed. Put tires on good blocks (covers optional). Get a 6' ladder to brush snow off slides (roof if you can) when it gets high. Get a good 1500w electric heater but still use propane furnace to keep underbelly warm. I lived in Brunswick Maine for a number of years and the snow can be heavy and LOTS of it. Good luck!

[Lloyd]

Joe, I'm glad it's you doing it and not me.
Stan had some pretty good thoughts.

About all can add is to ask you to put the make, model, and year of your rig in your signature. That way it will make easier for the group to answer your questions.

[ping]

Sorry Stan and Lloyd, I should have known better. I posted the camper model on my description. Here it is again- 2011 29SS Sunset Trail. It is winterized and has a skirt on the bottom. I'm assuming that is called the basement.
We do a lot of snowmobiling and skiing and dump thousands of dollars on lodging. So, we though we would try a winter seasonal campground and utilize the camper that normally sits in the backyard all winter.
It's the first time doing this so I wanted to get some tips from the experts. We are bringing the camper up Thanksgiving weekend and I'm going to spend a couple of days getting it all set up for the season.

[ping]

By the way Stan, my dad was born and raised in Brunswick, ME. Small world ayuh!

[r2millers]

Originally Posted by ping

Sorry Stan and Lloyd, I should have known better. I posted the camper model on my description. Here it is again- 2011 29SS Sunset Trail. It is winterized and has a skirt on the bottom. I'm assuming that is called the basement.

Your basement is the storage area under the top bedroom, not the underbelly area.

[Stan]

JOE...I lived in Brunswick for 4 years (92-96) and the first year we had over 140" of snow.

So it sounds like you will be using the RV just a few days a week/weekends? Possibly a couple weeks at a time? If true, that changes a lot unless you plan on keeping some kind of heat going....let us know.

[ping]

That's a lot of snow Stan, ayuh! We are only going to use it for short and long weekends. I will be shutting everything down when we leave for home.
My fiancé bought the camper before we met so I have mostly been learning about the camper from her and on my own.
I went through all the paperwork and was unable to find anything about if the underbelly or tanks were heated. I'm assuming that they are with it being a winterized model.

[Stan]

Although there are lots of nice and "warmer" days in the NE, you will have to basically winterize the rig when not in use. The belly is heated only when the furnace is on (indirect heat from furnace ducting). I don't recommend leaving heaters on when not in use. I would get the snow off the slides and bring them in when not in use but this could be difficult if you have had lots of snow. Freezing water lines would be my biggest concern, followed by snow build up on the roof/slides.

[CFun]

Originally Posted by ping

That's a lot of snow Stan, ayuh! We are only going to use it for short and long weekends. I will be shutting everything down when we leave for home.
My fiancé bought the camper before we met so I have mostly been learning about the camper from her and on my own.
I went through all the paperwork and was unable to find anything about if the underbelly or tanks were heated. I'm assuming that they are with it being a winterized model.

If there is a sticker that says the unit was "winterized" that just means it was shipped from the factory with RV antifreeze in the plumbing lines. If you have tank heaters there will be a switch for them on the control panel. We do a lot of winter camping, but the St. Louis area doesn't get as cold as your area. The primary lesson I learned the first time we camped in extreme cold was not to use a portable electric heater. It kept the temperature inside the rig warm enough that the furnace never kicked on. We didn't have tank heaters on that camper and everything in the underbelly froze.

We love winter camping, hope you all have a great winter and get as much fun out of your set up as we do!

[ping]

Thanks Stan and CFUN,
I already have drained the water hot and cold water tanks and filled the water lines and traps with antifreeze. It's very cold where we will be so I do plan on using electric and propane heat. I guess I will manage it as we get colder. I do plan on shutting the heat down when we depart for home.