First night will be 15 degrees!!!

[pasusan]

We will be traveling from northern PA to FL. Our first night out will be 15 degrees overnight. I won't de-winterize till warmer temps, but...

We have a Roadtrek 170 with a permanent bed in back. I will have my trunk area filled with liquids - water and canned drinks. The trunk area is sorta blocked off from the living area with just a couple inches between the bed and the back doors.

Will it get cold enough back there to freeze the liquids if we keep the living area warm? What do you think? Any experience with such low temps?

 

[mumkin]

I've experienced these temps (from ND or MN to AZ) many times, and my very best purchase was a 12v mattress pad from a trucker website. (Amazon has it now). Never had to use the furnace at night... but first thing in the morning. If you will be running the furnace all night, I doubt that things would freeze under there, but I never tested my theory. I would put the canned drinks closest to the edge of the bed... not against the back doors. I would try to put none of it against the back doors.

Another option if you are worried, is that there are Walmarts along the way where you could buy as needed. lol

 

[Snowy-ClassB]

You probably won't have a problem if the van is comfortably warm for you. If you have a concern, put some clothing or something else that could act as an insulator between the back doors and the fluids you'd like to protect, but leave the rest open to the air of the van.

 

[pasusan]

Thanks for the responses... mumkin - you gave me an idea - going to put an electric blanket back there to insulate the doors and to hopefully help.

Believe it or not the forecast has gotten worse - now they say 8 degrees.

Plus - I'm wondering about the fridge. Looks like it will be 8 degrees at home the morning we will be packing and leaving.

Ugh - we would change plans if it wasn't for those darn reservations we needed to make!

 

[mumkin]

Looks like the fridge won't need to be on. lol The stuff in the fridge should be fine what with the heater on while you are driving. Will you be able to plug in that first night to run the electric blanket?

 

[pasusan]

Well, strangely (and luckily), we were able to change all our reservations all the way down to the Keys and back. Whew!

 

[Hatteras Jim]

A little AC cube heater goes a long way in keeping the van warm. We place ours on the floor and run it on low. If you have reservations, I am assuming you'll have electricity.

 

[Doneworking]

A few years ago I spotted a cube heater at Walmart which was only 400 watts and I bought it for eighteen bucks. It has a virtually silent fan and really keeps our Roadtrek cozy in moderately cold weather. Being a light sleeper I love this little heater because I can set it to run continuously and not be heard.

If it is really cold weather, we have no desire to be in any van of any description.

 

[Hatteras Jim]

I think that we have the same one. I know I got it at Wally World and it was cheap. I have a heat pump/AC roof unit; but, the thing is so blasted loud that I don't use it.

 

[MsNomer]

https://www.promasterforum.com/threads/our-first-experience-below-0%C2%B0f.107507/?post_id=885028#post-885028