I've got a '07 Sierra 33' 5th wheel that I stay in when I'm working out of town, this is the 3rd winter I've froze my butt off in it! My plan is to do some mods on it this summer, insulation,water lines,furnace,tank heaters, and anything else I can think of, when,and if I ever thaw out!!!!Any help concerning web sites,forums,products, or just some good advice would be greatly appreciated. Also do they make schematics for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical for these things?

 

Insulating the underside is a big help. Tank heaters and heat tape on the exposed water lines, is another help. Rv's built for 4 season use (most are not), usually have better insulation and better heating systems.

When we camp in freezing temps (04 Alpenlite 34') we use a couple of ceramic electric heaters set on medium to keep the inside at around 50*-55* when we are not inside. We then use either a larger electric heater or propane furnace (depending on outside temps) to heat to 68* when we are inside. Most times we fore go the heat tape and just work of the on board holding tank, refilling when temps are above freezing.

Hope you have better luck next year.

 

Probably one of those things best done before it is built. But, I would do it the same way as a customized van, heat barrier film/sheathing and glue batts of insulation to the walls. The hard part is the floor because it should be done before the thing is built. I would look at the foil insulation and lay thin plywood over that and not bother taking up the current plywood.

I would replace the windows if only single pane. That would probably be the best spent money.

 

I was thinking about taking the sheeting off the underbelly to expose all the stuff under there. That way I could do the tank heaters and check out the duct work and water lines, also for insulation for the floor I'm thinking about that spray foam insulation that expands. That stuff comes in different densities doesn't it? Wouldn't the less dense be more effective? I'm thinkin' this is gonna' turn into a "search and destroy" mission!!!

 

> I'm thinking about that spray foam insulation that expands.

Extremely flammable even when dried. I would skip using it in a mobile application. Plus, it takes a lot to fill big voids, I have tried it before. For the caulking you can buy flame retardant stuff by 3m, I have used that to seal around chimney pipe spaces before, basically it will char instead of setting on fire.

You can buy durabak epoxy paint that does the same thing.
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Thanks for the tip, probly wouldn't be the best thing to do. Have to consider the regular old fiberglass stuff.

 

One thing to consider: The more you seal 'er up, the more water vapor you're gonna trap inside from cooking, showers, and sweating. Think seriously about a dehumidifier if you notice condensation on windows and walls.

Steve

 

Schematics are virtually none existent, but some manufacturers will provide wiring diagrams. Call and ask for "tech support". I will be surprised if you are able to achieve the level of comfort you are hoping for. Even the four-season campers provide only modest increases in cold weather comfort, in my opinion. If you are set up in a campground where they allow you to "skirt" it for the winter, you will note some improvement without dropping the belly.

The infrared propane heaters designed for indoor use are very efficient and many folks use them in the winter.

Best of luck,

Steve

 

Thanks for the advice, Ive put up skirting but the floor in that thing feels like an ice rink in the winter!

 

Check out the forums on RV.Net - lots of great advice and folks who have done this sort of stuff before.

 

The floor is really a problem saying this as someone who has winter camped for years. For years I used to design HVAC systems for homes and small commercial building and when I met with RV manufacturers I used to tell them, if I designed home systems the way they designed Rv systems, the local inspector would have red flagged them every time.

If you were shooting for an ideal system, you would exit the warm air at the perimeter and use more then one return air. Since the warm air rises, you really need to dump it under the floor to get rid of the cold floor. The heating systems are just designed very poorly as the industry knows the overwhelming majority of folks don't winter camp.

Oh, I almost forgot. On our last RV I installed a heated electric tile floor. It is not a perfect answer, but the floor felt at least 20 degrees warmer and that is now the first thing my wife requests when we change RVs, which is somewhat often. Takes a bit of time, but is very simple to do. You do, however, need a floor that does not bounce, which rules out a lot of RVs.

Steve

 

Oh man that sounds great! The floor on that thing is cold, I really hate having to wear slippers. My floor seems to be pretty stable, can't feel any bounce at all, still sounds like a pretty involved mod. not sure I'm up for that much. Gonna have an electrician buddy install a wall outlet dedicated to elec. heat, on a circuit by it's self, 20 amp as most of the heaters I've got will blow the breakers when on high. The problem there being all the outlets are on the same circuit, tv,dvd player, dish receiver, computer, are on the same circuit as the wall outlets. You'd think in this electronic age that we live in the manufacturers would give us more circuits, I'm sure in the higher end units this is so, but how much extra would that cost???? But I regress..... Back to the point, never heard of heated tile, is it a lowes, home depot thing, I'd like to check into it to see if my skill level is up to it.

Appreciate the input. Thanks, Kirk

 

Unfortunately all the manufacturers are trying to save money by using as few circuit as possible. Sometimes it is not very hard to split circuit by replace one breaker with a double that fits in the same slot and adding a wire run. I am sure your electrician will find it to be pretty basic stuff. RVs are essentially wired just like houses and use components you cn buy at Lowes or Home Depot.

Regarding the floor. First, your are basically going to tile the floor. Tile work, if you have never done it, is really simple. Do buy the little $89.00 wet saw at either Lowes or Depot. It will save you a great deal of time. You need a clear wood floor. If you have vinyl flooring and it is glued down, plan on going over it with 1/4" plywood.

Next. lay out your heat cable. It is about an 1/8" and the kits come complete with everything you need other than the control. The amp draw is very low, so I just used an off/on switch with mine. You will wire it to a GFCI so in the event there were a short, there is no danger of a shock.

After the cable is down, cover it with Thin Set for tile and let it completely dry. Do not use the heat cable to speed the drying. In theory, you can use one thick layer of mud, but I think using two insures a neater job.

Once that is dry, your next step is a layer of Thin Set and tile. Let it dry. Grout it and trim out the tile borders and you're done. I did mine in two days. If you work slowly and can read directions, anyone can do this.

The floor kits you find at Lowes and Depot are usually much too large for an RV. Go online and you will find a load of information. I actually called the company I used as at the time no one was making RV kits, although that comes and goes depending on demand. They were very helpful. They said they could not warranty the kit in that situation, but saw no reason it would not work. As long as the floor is firm, it is no different than in a home. I have a friend who is a tile man. He suggested using the Thin Set that has fiberglass in it as it is a little more forgiving with vibration. He did one in his motorhome

Since you RV, you likely have seen the tile floors in the high end models, so this is not like inventing the wheel.

Good luck,

Steve

 

Thanks, Steve, that really sounds doable. When it warms up and I can get the trailer home I'll put that on my project list. Doing some research on the spray on expanding foam insulation, and it's fire ratings. I've still got a couple months till it warms up enough to start any projects, so I've got some time to figure it all out. Plan your work, work your plan, as they say. When I get started I'll try and figure out how to post some pix on the whole thing.
Thanks again. Kirk

 

There is a forum similar to FTE that is dedicated to truck campers; it is a part of the NATCOA site (North American Truck Camper Owners Association).
North American Truck Camper Owners Association
NATCOA FORUM
You will find a wealth of information there. There is a Camper Projects & Technical Issues section which will help. Good luck.