Friday December 8th 2017

The weather was very much on my mind today. Here in Las Vegas it was a seasonal normal or slightly better than normal day. We had lots of sunshine with a high temperature in the low sixties and no wind.  Overnight it was in the low forties. It was the weather in other parts of the country that got my attention.

A reminder that this is not a cold weather area.

Before hurricane Harvey wrecked havoc on southeastern Texas, I was doing to spend my winter in San Antonio. That area got up to five inches of snow yesterday into last night. The temperatures weren’t much below freezing, but none the less it snowed. That same storm is moving east. It will impact the east coast tonight into the weekend. My friends and family in the east are going to get their first winter storm of the season. The folks in Florida are even gearing up for freezing temperatures. Right now this is the right place to be. All that could change at a moments notice. I’ve been in Las Vegas between Christmas and New Years when it snowed.

In this rig I can easily handle the conditions I’m likely to get in this area. If it gets into the fifties during the day and doesn’t get colder than the low 20s at night, very few special considerations are necessary. If it is going to be below freezing overnight I will turn off the outside water and drain the hose. My inside tanks get warmth from the RV furnace so they won’t freeze. If the outside temperature is forecast in the twenties, I’ll put a hundred watt light bulb in the outside wet compartment to help keep the water filter and lines from freezing. If it’s that cold, the furnace will run all night set somewhere in the fifties.

Generally the day time sun warms the inside of the RV to the high seventies or low eighties by mid afternoon. On a cloudy day I may need my electric fireplace running to keep the inside comfortable during the day. In the evening or early morning I have an electric space heater to keep the temperature in the comfortable range. I can also use the heat pump in my air conditioner to warm the inside, but its efficiency is hurt by cooler outside temperatures. I only turn the propane furnace on when it is absolutely necessary. It produces a lot of heat, but half of it goes out the vents to the outside.

People who live in RVs in the northern climates during the winter do all kinds of other things to insulate the RV. First, they skirt the outside to keep the wind and cold out from under the rig. The next step is to add electric heat tape to the water input hose and the tank drain lines. Extra insulation and condensation control inside comes next. Last but certainly not least is bulk propane to keep the furnace running. Just because I have an idea how to do it doesn’t mean I want to.