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We went about 1200 miles over the Christmas holidays.  We, too, hit lows in the mid 20's.  We used the ceramic heater for most of the cold nights but the last night when it got really cold, we went ahead and used the furnace.  Christmas day was cold and rainy.  We didn't vent a window on that day and we got a lot of condensation – surprisingly along the floors – especially in the bathroom.  Of course we kept the heat inside the trailer around 75 the entire time so we were nice and cozy.  On the days we kept the vent open we had no problems with condensation.  We also played alot of board games, cards and watched a lot of TV/movies while cooped up inside on those cold rainy days.  But there were some good warm days in which we got to do some fishing and enjoy the outdoors as well.  We were two adults and a teenage daughter in the 19 SB.  On Christmas day we had 7 of us in the trailer all sitting around enjoying each others company.  Everyone was surprised at how many of us could fit in there comfortably.  Of course it was only for a few hours but I was so glad that we were able to visit with family and have them come to "our house" for awhile instead of us always imposing on others.  And because the RV park was so cheap, we were able to stay three times longer than we would have if we would have stayed in a motel.  Of course, the gas prices made up the difference of an money we saved.  But to stay for a long visit for the same price as we usually pay for a 3 day weekend – wonderful!  We had a Merry Christmas in the "tin box" and hope all of you did as well.  Be safe and have a great New Years.

Mine has the built in furnace, but we have not used it.  We have a ceramic heater that more than adequately heats the 16BH.  We were told the furnace is oversized for the trailer and will go through the propane quickly.  Since we have only camped with electricity so far, the electric heater has been the way to go.

Julie,
What do you do about water when temps are that cold?

kayaknut said:

mbanda said:Julie,
What do you do about water when temps are that cold?

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Hi mbanda,

    We didn't have any troubles with our water lines freezing, as the inside of the camper stays plenty warm.  But we did have condensation in our propane lines freeze up a couple times, since those lines are external. Luckily I had a tiny pack stove stashed in our gear so that I could cook on those occassions.

Same here as far as the water lines.  We kept the heater on so that the inside temperature stayed anywhere from 45-55 when we were parked at my sister's.  And traveling home, no problems – I did try to keep the lower cabinet and the bathroom door open when we weren't in there so that the warm air got to the whole trailer.

We usually use the electric ceramic heater but I actually like it better when we use the furnace (besides the loud noise of the blower).  It heats up the camper alot quicker and keeps things warmer when you have a vent or window open (to help with condensation).  As I said, the down side, is that the blower is really loud which can keep you up at night and make it hard to hear the TV so when its not really, really cold out we use the ceramic heater which does a good job as well.  We used the furnace for 2 nights and we still have propane  in the tank although I am not really sure how much is left.  I'm assuming not much.  We kept the heat up pretty high (70-75 degrees) when we did use it so I am sure it was consuming alot of propane.  We also had the hot water heater on low during those nights as well.  I think you can make it through a weekend trip with the furnace.  But again, we only used ours at night – starting at about 6 p.m.  Not sure if you would make it the whole weekend if you ran it during the day time hours as well.  Disadvantage – blower is really loud.

Your welcome.  Hope you have a successful (and warm) trip.  Just remember to keep a vent or window open if you keep the inside temps really warm (70's or above) because the condensation can get really bad.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I found a lot of condensation where the wall meets the floor on the days we did not keep the vent open.  On the night that it was down to 20 degrees outside, I did notice that the ceramic heater was blowing continously but the temperature was actually going down.  This is why we ended up switching to the camper furnace.  But I get cold easy and did not like when the temps in the camper dropped below 70.  I've noticed other users say that they don't need the temps to be that warm.  So depending on how cold it is outside and how warm you need to be to feel comfortable will depend on whether the ceramic heater is sufficient for you.  For us, we use it 99% of the time.  Have fun and keep warm!

To all you campers using your KZs in freezing temps — what if anything do you do to your water lines when the camper is not in use? I was told by the dealer to not use any water in the trailer when temps fall into the low 20s & to not use it until temps stayed consistently in the mid 30s overnight. I get that using the heater keeps the lines warm, but what about when it is parked & there may be some water in the lines. Does it not freeze & damage the water lines?

I am looking at late February until we can venture out again. That is unless I want to use facilities at the campground & walking in freezing temps to get a shower does not sound fun.

We were parked 4 days over Christmas with the temps getting down in the 20's, not counting the nights we were on the road.  While parked at my sister's, we kept the ceramic heater going at about 45-50°.  It did get above freezing during the day all but one day.  For longer, I would blow out the lines.

Oh, and we tried to keep the cabinet and bathroom doors open.