Golden_HVAC wrote:

Hi,

I spent part of the winter in Fairview, just down the road from you in January 2008 to May. Not much snow that winter, but I heard that last winter was a bit more snow.

What I found is I did not want to freeze my water line, and I have a 100 gallon fresh water tank, so I would fill it once every 2 weeks or so (I lived in the RV for several years, and am used to conserving water) and then drain the fresh water hose and put it in the basement storage. I would drain the tanks when required, but not more than weekly.

I had 3 electric heaters, with a 30 amp service I had to be careful and a bit creative too. I put one heater near the fresh water tank, so it would keep that area warm, and keep the water pump from freezing. By keeping the tank above 50, the showers are warmer too - as it is not mixing extremely cold water with the hot water, so it will last longer.

The heater next to the water tank was powered with a #12 gauge extension cord from my power post. I also ran a extension cord to the area next to my bedroom, so I could plug in another heater without it using up my limited 30 amp service.

I found a hole in the basement to the area under my nightstand. (factory installed with a vent cover). It made it easy to use this to power one of the heaters. The other heaters need to be off if you are on a 30 amp service IF you are running the microwave, coffee maker, or an electric cooking device.

The heaters I used are about 7 amps on low and 12 amps on high setting. I could leave the bedroom on high if I wanted, because it was on a separate circuit. The others plugged into the RV had their limits, and usually I could run both if one was on high and the other on low.

Remember the refrigerator will be about 3 amps.

12 volt converter 1-2 amps

TV, VCR, computer - about 1-2 amps

Coffee Maker - look at the bottom, it will list the wattage, about 10 amps?

Microwave despite being 1,000 watts output, they consume about 12 amps.

Air conditioner (up to 13 amps)

Electric water heater option? About 800 watts or 7.5 amps.

If you try to turn things on and get to 28 amps, you are likely to trip the main circuit breaker. If you try to not exceed 25 amps, then you are likely to not trip the main breaker.

Here is what I found. I can buy 22 KW of electric at 9 cents per KW for about $2 and avoid burning 1 gallon of propane. (making 80,000 Btu's of heat) If your propane is less expensive, then that will heat the RV for the lowest cost, but I found that electric was much less expensive.

If you decide to get a heat pump to replace your air conditioner, then you can collect 80,000 Btu's of heat in about 6 hours while using only about 9 KW of electric. But they don't work well below about 40F. So they will work great about 4-5 months out of the year, and during the daytime during much of the winter. And they work as an air conditioner during the summer.

Good Luck,

Fred.

StanleyandIris wrote:

Do the skirting around the perimeter and get 2 hanging work lights with long extension cords and 100 watt bulbs - hang underneath where needed and plug them into the electrical supply pedestal when the temps will be 32 or below.

Down comforters and feather beds. You won't need an alternate heat source when you are asleep. When it is time to turn on the furnace to heat things up, open all the cabinets, drawers and closets to warm up that air too. Get a voltage meter so you can determine which appliances can be turned on all at once. Insulate the windows, whether with draperies, insulated shades or what have you as they will transfer a lot of heat right out of the RV. Put down some rugs on bare floors.

Have a great time and enjoy your new home.

Iris