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Lefty 
Groupie 
Joined: 24 Jul 2013 Location: Pittsboro, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 62 |
 Calendar Event: Winter camping NCPosted: 15 Sep 2013 at 11:31am |
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Just curious. We just got new 178 and have been out twice for trial runs. Everything great. Can anyone comment on winter camping in North Carolina? I realize we don't have the coldest temperatures here in the Chapel Hill area. Do I need to do the serious winterization routine those in much colder states do? We would like to do winter camping. Thanks
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member 
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1446 |
Posted: 15 Sep 2013 at 12:03pm |
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We camp in the Smokies in all seasons. The pod is warm. It can be toasty with the propane furnace, or if you have shore power, a little 1500 electric space heater is usually enough. When the temps start getting into the 20s though, warm as you are, the plumbing has to be winterized. It will freeze up. The pod just isn't designed for using the plumbing in cold weather. So, if you camp in a campground with restrooms open in the winter you are fine.
You can keep a jug of water in the pod for drinking, cooking and light washing, and you can heat some of it up for a sponge bath and I suppose you could use a porta-potty or do what the bears do, but I wouldn't put much if any water in either waste tank and I certainly wouldn't have any water in the fresh tank or lines. TT |
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp 
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 15 Sep 2013 at 5:33pm |
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My recommendation is once the temps go a few degrees below freezing for more than a few hours at night, you need to winterize. Like Tars, I've been camping a few times in January down to 10 F and keeping it winterized was key. Using RV antifreeze to flush the toilet, a wash basin in the sink to keep water out of the trap, and using the campground's heated bathroom for showers. |
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Lefty
Groupie
Joined: 24 Jul 2013 Location: Pittsboro, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 62 |
Posted: 15 Sep 2013 at 5:38pm |
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Thank you. Great information.
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P&M
Senior Member
Joined: 13 Aug 2012 Location: Spokane, WA Online Status: Offline Posts: 454 |
Posted: 16 Sep 2013 at 1:46pm |
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We are not too far south of you in Charlotte. We got our Pod last October and did quite a bit of camping during the winter months. Yes, I would highly recommend that you winterize your Pod when it comes time to. We were able to wait until after our Thanksgiving camping weekend but cut it close, as the temps in the campground got down to 27 the last night we were there.
Using it once winterized is easy to do, just remember that you don't have water or toilet or shower ... i.e. think like a tent camper, not a podder. We have one of the pop-out plastic washtubs that fits inside the sink just perfectly, and prevents us from accidentally putting water into tanks. We also have a hard-sided 5 gallon portable water tank that we fill and use ... it is the square blue one that you see pretty much everywhere.
The Pod is extremely well insulated and we don't use the heater in it ... we use a small electric thermostat heater and it works just fine. We also put up the R-dome and closed up the flaps, then heated it up with a catalytic heater which worked great. You will need to leave a window or vent cracked during the evenings when you are in the Pod, otherwise condensation will form badly on all of the windows (learned that one the hard way).
Winter camping around here is a blast, and it is much less crowded and quieter than during the summer ... it is quickly becoming our favorite time to go out!
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P & M ... and Comet too!
2012 171 -- The Monkey Pod 2018 Ram 2500 |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1446 |
Posted: 16 Sep 2013 at 8:50pm |
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Good point about leaving the vent or window open while winter camping. The humidity and consequent condensation can be astonishing. We leave the bathroom vent fairly wide open even in very cold weather. The first time you wake up with water streaming down the inside of the windows you become a true believer. Excellent reminder.
TT |
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 17 Sep 2013 at 10:40am |
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Each person exhales and perspires a cup of water in 8 hours, more if they are actively sweating.
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waterflaws
Newbie 
Joined: 16 Sep 2013 Location: dENVER Online Status: Offline Posts: 19 |
Posted: 19 Sep 2013 at 11:55pm |
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If you're driving in near-freezing temperatures, I assume the airflow would accelerate the freezing, too? We're taking a trip to sub-tropical Fresno CA, in October, but I think its the freezing temps on the mountain passes that would cause us trouble. I like the idea about using anti-freeze to flush the toilet!
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp
Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 20 Sep 2013 at 9:46am |
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Actual air temperature is all you need to worry about. Wind chill can't reduce the temperature of an object below the ambient temp. It will reduce the object's temp to the ambient temp faster, so if you are driving in sub-freezing temps then it could be a factor, but I wouldn't worry about driving over a mountain pass for an hour or two. |
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Keith-N-Dar
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 03 Apr 2011 Location: Mayville, WI Online Status: Offline Posts: 1447 |
Posted: 20 Sep 2013 at 10:08am |
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I would think that some careful insulation around exposed water lines would be good in this case. It wouldn't make a pod 4 seasons but may protect it for short freezing times.
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Keith-N-Dar
Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
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Winter camping NC - Event Date: 15 Sep 2013 - 30 Sep 2013