Tonight’s the first freeze of the season. Of course, I hadn’t bothered to put the heat tape on the drinking water hose, so I found myself outside after dark in the cold with a lantern, electrical tape, pipe insulation, a pair of scissors and the heat cable. Half an hour later, voila, toasty-warm water line! Hopefully that will hold us.
There are drafts coming in around the beroom and kitchen slides. Guess I get the task of trying to find and eliminate them. I have spray insulation and weatherseal tape, so tomorrow I’ll do my best!
I’m determined to keep us warm and dry this winter, but it won’t be easy. We don’t have skirting around the bottom of the RV, so the winds are going to make the bedroom and living room floors chilly. Bathroom isn’t an issue because of the heated basement. Carpeting in most of the other spaces except for the tile in the kitchen. Not a floor I want to walk on barefoot at night.
The little electric space heater is doing a great job of keeping the bedroom warm at night. I turn down the furnace since mostly it’d just be heating the empty living room, I slide the pocket door closed (or mostly closed — the cat likes to come and go), and I turn on the space heater. Even on low, the heater does the trick and then some. When I get up in the morning, I turn the heater back up, so by the time Lex is ready to start work, her “office” is all warmed up again.
I’ve got to call the repairman back. Our holding tanks are leaking, one of them anyway. Not sure which. I do know that I can’t seem to close the valve on the black water tank anymore. Not good. That means the solids are going to start building up in the tank, and if things start freezing, that could be bad…very bad. Hopefully the repair is covered under the extended warranty because I have a feeling it won’t be cheap.
On another note, I’ve found a couple of very effective ways to stay warm in an RV in the autumn/winter in the Mid-Atlantic region. Snuggling up on the sofa with a Slanket, a dog stretched out across my feet and a kitty curled up purring on my chest makes for a very comfy evening.
Tags: DIY, plumbing, repairs, rv, winterizing
saw you on Ravelry in the RV section – one solution for the chilly floors — Slipper Socks – We don’t have an RV but a chilly old house and I made some using Aran weight yarn and the lifestyle toe up method and they went fast and with some of the soles you can buy and sew on they are fantastic – I made them bigger than I would socks so they are loose and comfy …and bought the next size up from my shoes for the soles – that way your toes don’t get cramped in and they stay warmer ….
Thanks for reading! I’ve got some fuzzy slipper socks & love them!