I have had a few PM requests to review and provide info on my custom Phoenix camper that I had Coyote RV design and build for the Canadian winter. I have done a few posts several months back so this will be somewhat repetitive.
Firstly, I should mention that I have extensive experience with winter RV camping. For the past 20 years I have had a 26' 5th wheel trailer as my "ski chalet" parked for the winter at or near Sun Peaks Resort, British Columbia and used for 3 to 5 months per season. Always had shore power but some years all I had was a 300' extension cord. BTW the amount of power loss even with 10 gauge wire was such that I could only run one appliance at a time, the electric heater struggled to put out heat and the microwave took twice as long to cook. It's called brown power.
I've also had inside water lines that run under the 5th's sofa and fridge freeze when it got to minus 40 degrees. I now have vent/grills in place to increase air flow to those areas as well as heat tape (the AC kind that melts snow of roof eaves on some homes) attached to all my water lines and I turn it on when it gets to minus 20 C.
I am a big believer in back up systems for winter RVing, for example I carry and strongly recommend a heat gun and I have a compact folding hair drier as a back up.
I have 2 20lb. propane tanks partly because if it gets cold enough, propane can freeze, so one tank can be inside thawing wile the other is hooked up and running. If the propane system fails, then I have a 2000 watt Honda generator and a 900/1500 watt electric heater. I also carry a multi stage battery charger in addition to the charger that is part of the camper's converter.
The Phoenix Camper, Ski Area Parking Lot Edition: (sits on a 1991 Dodge 5.9L Cummins Turbodiesel, single cab, 8' long box, 4x4.)
Most light weight pop-up campers that I am familiar with come with a 3/4" plywood floor and 3/4" lower side wall and no insulation. Wood is a conductor not an insulator so my camper has 1" rigid polystyrene insulation on the floor and lower side walls.
The upper aluminum frame side walls have 2" of insulation instead of the normal 1" and the soft wall pop-up has 4 layers (2 layers of thinsulate knock off sandwiched between 2 layers of fabric) while the industry norm for an "arctic pak" is 3 layer.
I have 2 outside access storage compartments, one for the Honda generator and one for the 2 propane tanks, both are insulated with 1" polystyrene, bottom, top, sides and back. I also have 1" insulation on the back side walls of the fridge compartment beside where the cooling coils and controls are located as these are actually outside walls.
Robby also put extra insulation in the roof but I not sure what type or thickness. I just left it up to Robby as I did not want differ to much from normal roof weight and thickness. BTW I found out that with a Yakima Spacebox with 2 pairs of skis and poles and 2" of light snow, it was all I could do to raise the roof pushing with arms and the top of my head. I now leave the ski box at home and instead I strap the skis to each side of the camper's ladder. A good reason to buy the ladder. Next summer I also plan on strapping one half of a 2 piece modular kayak to the ladder with the other 20lb. half going on the roof or inside the camper or maybe inside the truck cab.
This has been part 1, part 2 to be posted later when I get some time. Hope this was helpful to those who are interested.
