Winter in our Motorhome

This is our fourth winter in the motorhome in Oklahoma.  Our first two were very mild but this year and last year have had some bitterly cold days.  Overall, we have stayed cozy and the pipes have not frozen which are good things.  During the sunny cold days I do open up the shades as we get the sun from the south and east and it warms it up inside naturally.  On the cold, breezy, overcast days I typically leave the day/night shades completely pulled down to help keep the cold air out.  We only have single pain windows.

Our main living area is in the middle of the coach away from the windshield and dashboard and we have gas fireplace that puts out heat so it can get too warm in that area.  The bedroom only has one window that is an emergency exit so it is never opened and so the bedroom gets very warm as well.  In fact, when we are sleeping we turn the heat way down so we aren’t sweating through the night!

The coldest part of the motorhome is the front which is where our dining area is and where I work on the computer in the passenger seat.  Air does come through the windshield and dashboard.  We have electric day/night shades that come down in front of the windshield and that helps a lot to block that cold air.  I have put blankets under the dash as well.  Sometimes I run a space heater up front but never when we’re not there or in bed.  Our last motorhome actually had insulated curtains that pulled around in front of the window but our current one doesn’t have that setup.  I have ordered a tension rod to go from side to side above the dash near the ceiling and long, insulated grommet curtains to hang down in front of all the dash and windshield.  I’m hoping this will make a really big difference.  Since they are grommet curtains I should be able to easily slide them to the sides to enjoy the sunshine when I want to. 

Now for the down side of living in an RV in the winter.  For the past two years we have been having problems on and off with not being able to get the propane through from the external tank we hook up to and therefore no heater.  We have woken up in the middle of a cold night with the inside temps in the low 40’s.  BRRRRR.  When John switched it over to the onboard tank the heater kicked back in.  Well this winter we have had that and more problems that have been very challenging to diagnose.  Just when we thought we had it narrowed down to one thing something else happened to tell us we weren’t right.  So over a week ago we finally just took it to the shop.  We told them regardless of what they found we wanted a new digital thermostat in place of our analog.  The analog can vary by up to 10 degree and the digital only by about 2-3 degrees.  We also needed to them figure out what system to install on the propane tank that would allow us to hook up to an external tank with our 10’ propane hose.  We also wanted them to fix a loose part on the dash and restring the bedroom shade. 

Since John was working, I brought the RV to the shop and he met me there where we planned to winterize the unit.  We get all ready and turn on the water pump to pull the antifreeze through the system and not one sound out of the pump.  Yep, it wasn’t working either.  So now we had to pay to have them winterize the unit as well.  $$$

So seven days later we are told we are ready to go.  Since it’s late in the day we decide to pay for it and check out what they installed but pick it up the following day.  We get out there and they pull the unit up and it doesn’t take John long to figure out that the 10’ propane hose we have won’t work with the system they installed.  They just used the hose that came with the system.  We not only told them about our hose when we dropped it off but John actually called them as well to remind them but alas it went on deaf ears.  They didn’t seem to have any suggestions and we had just paid nearly $300 for this.  So we agreed we needed to go to American Propane for help.  The next morning I got up and took the two hoses to American Propane and they had me fixed up in just a few minutes.  A least I hope I’m fixed up as I still don’t have the RV home yet.  Then my friend, Priscilla, takes me out to get the RV.  They pull it out and I make sure the propane is turned on, the refrigerator is turned on, the heat is turned on and I put the slide-out bars in before hitting the road.  I get into the driver’s seat, and have the engine running and HMMMMM the camera isn’t on.  Now I know I turned the coach batteries on and so I double check that and yes they are on.  I can hear the radio which is part of the camera system so I know that it’s on but no picture to be seen on the screen.  I push the on/off button and the radio won’t turn off.  What is going on?  After getting the service folks out there it becomes clear that I’m taking our home home.  We think it could be the inverter reset switch since this is the same area they were working to tighten up a part on the dash cover.  The reset switch is under the head of the bed and we have a sleep number bed on there so not easy to get to.  We get a call later that day that they pulled the radio/camera unit and tested in a unit they knew was working and alas it wouldn’t work in there either so apparently it has just quit working.  Go figure, the water pump quit in the parking lot when we arrived and the camera/radio quit in the parking lot when we were leaving.  So yet another two days in the shop waiting on the part and installation. 

At least this is all in the winter and although it’s frustrating and inconvenient we were able to stay warm at our friend’s lovely home where she makes us feel like it’s our home.  More to come – the end of the story we hope.