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www.insight-photography.com
Toursim BC Insight Photography - Family skiing and snowboarding at Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver.
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Joern Rohde
Toursim BC Insight Photography - Family cross country skiing at Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver.
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Scott Littlejohn photo - Winter Vancouver Island style.
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Dan Hodson photo - cross-country.
By Perry Mack
For those of us who don’t head south to palm trees and clear desert skies for the winter, it seems a shame to put our RV away when with a little planning we can enjoy it as a recreational property all year.
Winter has many forms in western Canada and the US, with temperatures as cold as -40 C in northern Canada to barely breaking the freezing mark in the south Okanagan, lower mainland BC and Vancouver Island.
RV Parks often offer great fall, winter and spring rates where for a few hundred dollars (or more) a month you can enjoy all your winter activities away from your home (and all the honey-do lists that go with it). It is so affordable, that for the price of a one-week family vacation down south you can enjoy vacation property all winter.
Parks like Desert Gem RV in Oliver, BC offer a storage rate on a fully serviced pad, and then you only pay the discounted winter rate while you’re there. This will allow you to enjoy wineries, golf, hiking, biking every weekend just like owning a cottage – but at a much lower cost. You can do the same on Vancouver Island at Living Forest Oceanside RV Park and Campground. And there’s storage available across the street when you’re done.
Albertan families can enjoy the Island all winter as well with a little planning. Take a week in the fall to drive your motorhome to the Island, and then fly home – WestJet now offers direct flights from Nanaimo to Calgary. Then when time off (and a seat sale) allows, fly to the Island to enjoy an oceanside vacation with only a short flight, no hotel fee and cheap home-cooked meals (if someone can be talked into cooking – anyone, anyone?)
You can even avoid high winter accommodation resort fees by taking advantage of RV Parks like Whistler RV & Campground to access Whistler and Blackcomb mountains or Sunshine Valley RV Resort to enjoy Manning Park. Low winter rates open up a world of affordable alpine and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and skating. You might be able to do this close to home but why not get away to enjoy new terrain!
Your RV may be ready for winter if it was purchased with an ‘arctic’ package. These packages usually include R-factor insulation values, dual pane windows, an enclosed underbelly, heated holding tanks and other cold-beating options. Just be aware that not all winter packages are created equal. What you may have purchased as an ‘arctic’ package in your model may not be ready for a colder Canadian winter.
Here are some things to consider when using your RV all year. Many are completely unnecessary if you’re going to take advantage of the south Okanagan, coastal lower mainland BC or southern Vancouver Island (these places just don’t get that cold).
They are essentially divided into ‘Tips’ that everyone can use, ‘Work Arounds’ – things you can do if your RV doesn’t have an arctic package (and you’re just using it weekends and shorter stays) and ‘Modifications’ – essentially upgrades to get your RV to Arctic level and steps to take if you’re planning to enjoy long term, below freezing RV living. In the summer, you battle heat, bugs and sunburn. In the winter, you deal with condensation, plumbing wanting to freeze and keeping yourself warm.
Tips for Everyone
1. Park your RV in the sun. A little winter sun goes a long way to keeping your RV warmer and your smile sunnier. If possible, find a site with a windbreak and orient your RV so an end points into the prevailing breeze rather than a side.
2. Canadian winter basics – pack a snow shovel, ice scraper, bag of rock salt, extra blankets, etc.
3. Close your blinds and drapes at dusk to help keep the heat in. If your door is drafty, hang a blanket over it.
4. Thermostatically controlled ceramic heaters are a great supplement to your LP furnace. You don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning or a fire hazard.
5. Furnaces run on Liquid Propane (LP) but the fans are electric. It’s a good idea to stay plugged into electricity or keep a close eye on your battery charge so you don’t drain the batteries dry – batteries that aren’t fully charged can freeze making your furnace useless.
6. Leave your cupboard doors or drawers open a crack if they are near plumbing to help keep the plumbing warm.
7. Don’t stay connected to sewer, just connect to dump. Otherwise, you-know-what will freeze in your hoses. And don’t wait until the tanks are full before you empty them – it increases the chances the tanks freezing.
8. If you have a diesel generator, run it down to empty and add a diesel anti-gel to keep your fuel flowing.
9. Mouse proof your unit – when you make it more habitable for humans, mice and other animals like squirrels will also try to move in. Old ‘home’ remedies like dryer sheets and Irish Spring soap will work (but need to be replaced) or use Mouse-Free which is a spray application that will last all winter long. www.mouse-free.com
Work Arounds
1. Winterize your water system and don’t use it. Like summer tent camping, have water jugs for drinking, washing and cooking and a separate supply for the toilet. To protect your holding tanks, pour RV antifreeze down the toilet so the black water tank doesn’t freeze and down the shower and sink drains so the grey water tank doesn’t freeze. Then add some occasionally as you use your sinks and toilet. How much depends on the size of the tank and how often you use it. Many RV parks have separate hot shower facilities so take advantage of them, in many cases the low attendance at the park means you’ll have lots of privacy.
2. If the weather isn’t going into a deep cold while you’re using your RV, de-winterize and winterize. It’s not that expensive or time consuming. You won’t want to do it every weekend but it won’t hurt to do it three times in a season to enjoy your vacations.
3. Beat condensation on windows with heat shrink plastic for windows. With a little tape and a hair dryer, it’s like having double pane windows. A small humidifier also works and the moisture absorbing crystals like SuperDry are great. Keeping a vent open a crack to allow some circulation is also a good idea – although you do get some heat loss.
4. Many fridges are designed to work only in summer, so the temperature fluctuations fool them into thinking something is wrong and they flip into default mode. A trouble light or heat pad in the fridge access panel should prevent this or you can reduce the size of the vent opening – just make sure you don’t use anything flammable.
5. Install some type of vent cover like a Maxx Air vent, it will allow the vent to breath properly as well as protect the vent from snow damage.
Modifications & Long Term Icy Living Ideas
1. Park your wheels on boards – the winter freeze/thaw cycle of the ground can cause your tires to sink making it hard to get out in the spring. Boards under jacks are a good idea as well.
2. Rent a large propane tank with a special regulator. Some companies will come out and deliver a fresh full tank as necessary for hassle free warmth and security.
3. Keep your plumbing from freezing by wrapping all your pipes with electrical pipe wrap; add heat pads to your holding tanks (a couple of 40 watt trouble lights down there work as well above -5 C).
4. Get custom vinyl skirting made to reduce the heat-sucking cold air from flowing under your RV. This kind of skirting can easily be rolled up and stored when you don’t need it.
5. If you’re dedicated enough to be out in -40 C, insulate your propane tanks. Around -40 C, propane won’t vaporize and your appliances won’t run.
6. If you’re going to hook-up waterlines permanently, keep the water line as short as possible and install insulation and electric heat tape to the line.
7. Another way to save heat is to install vent cushions in the roof vents to help insulate them.
Getting ready for winter RVing can require very little, to a bit of effort, but the extra months of enjoying an outdoor vacation property make for inexpensive vacations, good times and great memories!
Thanks to the guys at Voyager RV Centre including Logan Walker and his parts and service cohorts; and Ward Fraser, the General Manager, for help with this article. These guys have a lot of experience selling and servicing RV’s that get used in Northern BC throughout the winter – www.voyagerrv.ca. If you need more details on exactly how to prep your RV for winter contact Logan at parts@voyagerrv.ca; to learn more about what to look for when purchasing an RV, get Ward at wfraser@voyagerrv.ca or give them a call at 1(800) 668-1447.