January weather, Maine style....

[JHumphries]

I rode my bike this weekend, too. But it was 28 were I was headed. !

 

[BILLUA]

I am SOO glad I moved out west! I don't miss that below zero stuff one bit.

Y'all stay safe!

 

[jgillott]

Just sitting here watching the local news and they are now talking about a possible heavy snow for us on Friday. It's still darn cold here any may sneak up to 20 by the end of the week. I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[moparguy]

You must be in or near the oil patch. Lots of people from this area are working in that area. A good friend of mine is working on the natural gas line from canada to supply gas for a small refinery. I think his man camp is in Tioga.

Yelp, been up here going on two years. Routing, designing pipelines. Really pretty country but I'm about to go cabin crazy of late, pretty much finished reading the internet, all the books in the camper and paced a rut in the floor. The current project is basically good to go (after 7 months work) and most days nothing to do. Believe it or not, nothing to do ain't as easy as one might imagine. Especially when you're looking at a WC of -30 and lower outside the camper.

 

[HBarlow]

Yelp, been up here going on two years. Routing, designing pipelines. Really pretty country but I'm about to go cabin crazy of late, pretty much finished reading the internet, all the books in the camper and paced a rut in the floor. The current project is basically good to go (after 7 months work) and most days nothing to do. Believe it or not, nothing to do ain't as easy as one might imagine. Especially when you're looking at a WC of -30 and lower outside the camper.

What kind and brand of "camper" are you living in in that weather? I lived comfortably in my old Travel Supreme fifthwheel in IN winters when the overnight low was often 0° but nothing like -30°.

 

[jhenderson]

It's getting a little uncomfortable around here. It's 7*right now, forecast high of 15 with winds 25-35. Almost makes me wish I ran a mechanized operation. Not much fun being a saw hand today.

 

[jhenderson]

It's getting a little uncomfortable around here. It's 7*right now, forecast high of 15 with winds 25-35. Almost makes me wish I ran a mechanized operation. Not much fun being a saw hand today.

 

[AH64ID]

We were elk hunting this last weekend and saw as low as -20°, but -13° was pretty constant each morning. No winter fuel additives were used, but I do have dual fuel heaters. It would take about 20 minutes of driving each morning for fuel pressure to rise and stabilize, but then it was good all day.

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[moparguy]

What kind and brand of "camper" are you living in in that weather? I lived comfortably in my old Travel Supreme fifthwheel in IN winters when the overnight low was often 0° but nothing like -30°.

HARVEY, I've got a Arctic Fox 26z (bumper pull). The Swiss Army has a saying "Cold is no problem, lack of preparation is" taking that to heart; I had insulated heavy vinyl skirting installed, built 3 banks of 250 watt heat lamps for underneath, a bank of 3 (750 watts) under each end aimed to the middle that stay on all winter, then a bank of 6 controlled by a thermostat in the middle along with a 1500 ceramic heater in the middle for when it's really COLD. 4500 watts total available.

This morning it's 3 above (heat wave), I ran one 1500 watt heater in the camper last night and it was 63 inside when I got up, was 80 underneath. Most heat I've had to run inside has been two 1500 watt heaters on high, most common if lots of windchill in the day is one on high and one on low (750 watt setting). I do have a third if needed with sufficient amps available to run. All the extra electricity runs from the 100 amp service box and not thru the trailer wiring.

The fresh water hose has heat tape and insulation and 70% is under the trailer, whats not underneath is in 1. 5" thick pink foam boxes with 75 watt bulbs for a little redundancy on heat. I have to leave the water dripping so it doesn't get too hot and cause hose problems. Sewer is under the trailer too with a duct tape seal to keep sewer gas issues at bay. Knock on wood, zero problems so far down to -20 ambient and -40 WC.

Travel Supreme, man I'd love to have one. I've been passively looking for a bigger, well made, reasonably priced unit the past couple months. Short list is NUWA, Travel Supreme, Excel, DRV , Sunnybrook, Mountain or Kountry Aire. I've been shopping online for a 2003-2007 and located an 03 Excel that I'm bidding on today. Only problem is it's sight unseen and from my net research Excels have a problem with slid floor rot due to some kind of odd ball water leaks related to trim.

Any insight anyone can offer is appreciated.

RR

 

[JR]

Not sure of exact location but this was posted on the local news website (Obviously its along the lake, but not sure where as there was no info provided with the picture. ) Pretty neat looking, I just hope the lighthouse keeper isnt trapped inside :-laf

 

[HBarlow]

HARVEY, I've got a Arctic Fox 26z (bumper pull). The Swiss Army has a saying "Cold is no problem, lack of preparation is" taking that to heart; I had insulated heavy vinyl skirting installed, built 3 banks of 250 watt heat lamps for underneath, a bank of 3 (750 watts) under each end aimed to the middle that stay on all winter, then a bank of 6 controlled by a thermostat in the middle along with a 1500 ceramic heater in the middle for when it's really COLD. 4500 watts total available.

This morning it's 3 above (heat wave), I ran one 1500 watt heater in the camper last night and it was 63 inside when I got up, was 80 underneath. Most heat I've had to run inside has been two 1500 watt heaters on high, most common if lots of windchill in the day is one on high and one on low (750 watt setting). I do have a third if needed with sufficient amps available to run. All the extra electricity runs from the 100 amp service box and not thru the trailer wiring.

The fresh water hose has heat tape and insulation and 70% is under the trailer, whats not underneath is in 1. 5" thick pink foam boxes with 75 watt bulbs for a little redundancy on heat. I have to leave the water dripping so it doesn't get too hot and cause hose problems. Sewer is under the trailer too with a duct tape seal to keep sewer gas issues at bay. Knock on wood, zero problems so far down to -20 ambient and -40 WC.

Travel Supreme, man I'd love to have one. I've been passively looking for a bigger, well made, reasonably priced unit the past couple months. Short list is NUWA, Travel Supreme, Excel, DRV , Sunnybrook, Mountain or Kountry Aire. I've been shopping online for a 2003-2007 and located an 03 Excel that I'm bidding on today. Only problem is it's sight unseen and from my net research Excels have a problem with slid floor rot due to some kind of odd ball water leaks related to trim.

Any insight anyone can offer is appreciated.

RR

You have definitely taken preparation seriously. It's clear that is the solution. Even a cheaply built and lightly insulated trailer could survive if that well prepared.

Slide-out floor rot can be a problem in older or cheaply made trailers. NuWa shifted to a high quality seam tape on all roof seams some time in '06 or '07. Mine has it. I have been at the NuWa service department and seen older full time units with slide out floor rot due to lack of routine roof inspection and resealing if/when necessary.

Good inspection and routine maintenance are a lot like your thoughts on preparation for cold weather. Both make the difference between long service life with satisfactory performance and disappointment.

 

[mwilson]

Cold enough here yesterday, the drawbridge between Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, NH is frozen... ... raised 2 feet, then fetched up...



http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/...idge-open-i-95-only-route-open-to-portsmouth/



Mike.

 

[BIGNASTY]

When the temp gets to the -30/40 range, propane will not flow The larger the tank the better, in real cold temps depending on the flow/use. A small tank can't vaporize fast enough and will freeze the regulator even with alcohol mixed in. Pour hot water on it and it will work again. I sure don't miss those Montana days:-laf



Nick

Nick I didnt know this! we have had some petty low - temps but didnt have any problem getting propane to work, our water heater still fires up and works our tank is pretty large we have only had it filled 1 time in the time we have been here. I wonder if it has something added to it so it wont freeze

 

[mwilson]

Now the tanker drivers can pretty much throw the logbook out the window for the next 7 days per the Governor and haul #2 Fuel Oil right steady.



They were getting behind because of demand...

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/...delivery-trucks-on-the-road-during-cold-snap/



Mike.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Now the tanker drivers can pretty much throw the logbook out the window for the next 7 days per the Governor and haul #2 Fuel Oil right steady.



They were getting behind because of demand...

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/...delivery-trucks-on-the-road-during-cold-snap/



Mike.

I always found this funny, We had to run with log books and be legal MOST of the time until it was in the best intrest of the feds. The it was ok to run wild with impunity to get the job done. When we went to a distaster site FEMA would get us all in a room and all that was said about hours of operation is DO YOU GUY KNOW WHEN YOUR TIRED? Ok then on to business :-laf All of a sudder it was ok to work 3 days take a very close look at the horn button for a hour or so and work some more.

 

[S.Morris]

IIRC propane will remain a liquid at -37F. not enough heat to turn into a gas. I have used propane for house furnace for close to 20yrs and only one time, did I have issues with severe cold. The intake of the high eff furnace was frosting over and furnace shut down on low air flow.

 

[BIGNASTY]

IIRC propane will remain a liquid at -37F. not enough heat to turn into a gas. I have used propane for house furnace for close to 20yrs and only one time, did I have issues with severe cold. The intake of the high eff furnace was frosting over and furnace shut down on low air flow.

This makes me feel better I have the Propane tank in a plywood box its just to keep the snow off and leaves dont know if it would do any insulation value but good info thanks!!

 

[Wayne M.]

In my other thread about the weather stations, I learned of this website.
http://classic. wunderground.com/
Here you can look at as much of January weather you can bear. It's where anyone can post weather station info. The NW Territories are quite chilly!

 

[Regcabguy]

Evidence of global cooling?