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Getting ready for Cold Weather RV Camping

Writer's picture: Scott MooreScott Moore

When you're living the RV life, you have to be able to adapt.


We had to head north unexpectedly, which normally isn't a problem, but we weren't "prepared" to head north so soon. It's meant traveling while resolving problems which will definitely be "cold weather problems" for the RV.


The first issue was a minor fresh water leak. This is the water we use for the sinks, shower, and toilet. I thought I had dealt with this before, but on our way north, the water leak returned.


When parked somewhere, we attach a hose to a nearby faucet, and set the valves to "CITY FIXTURES". The water pressure from the spigot forces water throughout our plumbing - like in a house - and nothing else functions to make water flow. When we're on the road, we carry up to 100 gallons of fresh water, and have a water pump which forces water from the tank to the various faucets. The pump was found to be the culprit, and after installing a new pump, we had fresh water flowing and no more leaking.


The next problem which had to be dealt with is our new house batteries. Last spring, I installed new Lithium house batteries. The system has worked great, but lithium batteries can't be charged if they're below freezing - and Massachusetts will be below freezing more often than not for the rest of the winter.


The house batteries run our lights, the water pump, and many other 12 volt functions on the RV. Then, we have other things which need 120 power for the TVs, X-box, etc., and our on board inverter takes the 12 volts in the batteries and converts it to 120 volts (like in your wall sockets in your house).


The lithium batteries will discharge down to -4° Fahrenheit, but if we can't charge the batteries, we will eventually run out of power to run the stuff in the RV.


Today, we stopped at a rest area in South Carolina, and I installed some new wiring so that we could run a small space heater to keep the battery bay warm. The heater was about $35 at Walmart and the low setting only draws 750 watts (6.25 amps), and the wire and other stuff was another $30 at Lowes. We have 400 amp hours of battery power available - plenty of stored power to run the heater - and the batteries get recharged while we drive.


Now we have heat in the battery bay. We don't need a LOT of heat in the bay, it just has to stay above freezing down there. We have a temperature monitor in the bay to make sure the temperature stays warm enough to keep the batteries warm. :)


Quick updates on a budget so we can do what we hadn't originally planned to do! Flexibility and ingenuity keeping us on the road and making tracks! 😉


-Scott


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​Liz Boston Art Studio

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Liz Boston grew up in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, MA. Her last name really is Boston, it's a coincidence that she is also from there! She is a Graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, and has also studied under her mentor Edwina Caci for about 7 years. She is the past president of the Weymouth, MA Art Association, and a past board member of the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as the Quincy Art Association. Liz is on the Autism Spectrum, and was not diagnosed until she was 43 years old, she has 2 dogs,
(Almost like her 'emotional support animals' but really just her fur-babies!) Puggles, Kona and Ollie.  Liz had a Retail Art Studio location in Weymouth, MA for about 5 years when she closed it in Feb. 2020. The location was known for extravagant themed Paint Nights with live animals, surprise guests in costume, themed music, and a fun party atmosphere with disco balls. She is currently on her Paint the States Tour, living fulltime with her husband, Scott Moore, and her 2 dogs in a Class A Thor Motorhome with a mobile art studio in the back. The tour will take about 5 or more years spending about 2-3 months per state, Hawaii being the last. She will paint what influences her as she travels. Follow her Instagram, and read more in depth about her on her Blog

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