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Old 01-02-2003, 04:53 PM   #8
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Default Re: Cold weather camping in the TM

Our family just took the 3023 to Grandfather Mountain in NC for a 4 day ski trip. The area had 5 inches of snow Christmas day (Wednesday) and we arrived on Friday. Roads were clean, campground was still covered with about 2 inches of snow. The first night temperatures were in the teens to low 20's.

I used a small halogen light hooked to the 110v and placed it with a clamp under the two waste valves leaving it on overnight. Filled the freshwater tank, closed both waste valves but kept the drain hose (empty) and hooked up.

In the morning, both valves were not frozen but the gray tank was frozen enough where I couldn't drain it. I used a small electric space heater under the trailer and within 10 - 15 minutes everything was flowing fine. Only damage - the drain hose must have had small amounts of water that froze as there was a minor leak in the hose.

The second night the temperature was in the upper 20's and nothing froze. Still used the halogen light but placed it a little closer to the gray water tank so both the valves and the tank would benefit from the heat. In the 3023, the fresh water tank is inside the couch, so we didn't have to worry about it freezing.

One other note, during setup, we turned the inside furnace on along with the electric space heater while working outside. By the time we unhooked, leveled, setup outside (about 15 minutes), the temperature inside was almost 90! This was with an outside temperture in the mid 20's.

We found using the electric space heater, it is easier to regulate an exact temperature. The TM furnace heats it fast to about where we want it, then we set the digital thermostat on the space heater to the exact temperature. This also keeps the number of times the noisy furnace comes on to a minimum during the night. Although the 1500w space heater can not maintain a 76 degree temperature overnight when the outside temps are in the teens, it does keep the cycles of the furnace to only a few overnight, and each time the furnace does kick on, it runs for just a few minutes.
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