Cold temperature data

[Moonlight Mile]

This is SO cool. Thank you so much for collecting and sharing all this. I'm totally new (not yet in my Elite 1) and worrying about cold temps and such. And propane use (I'll have 2 20lb tanks, and the solar panels). Thinking about getting a space heater just in case; OTT assures me I need do nothing special to safely/effectively use my Elite 1 in temps down into the single digits, BTW. 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

42 minutes ago, Fritz said:

Kudos on collecting, compiling, and presenting these data.  It appears that the space heater resulted in a 10°F temperature differential between outside ambient and basement temperatures, and the furnace (with the ducting mods you've made) made an approximate 20°F difference.

Thank you also for recording propane use.  Your nightly use of 7.2 lbs of propane, or about 1.7 gallons (at 4.24 lbs per gallon), would cost about $7 (at $4.00/gallon).   Substantially less than the tax on a ski-area hotel room.

$4/gal seems a bit high for propane.  In the PNW, it runs $2-3/gal.

[SeaDawg]

24 minutes ago, SherMica said:

This is SO cool. Thank you so much for collecting and sharing all this. I'm totally new (not yet in my Elite 1) and worrying about cold temps and such. And propane use (I'll have 2 20lb tanks, and the solar panels). Thinking about getting a space heater just in case; OTT assures me I need do nothing special to safely/effectively use my Elite 1 in temps down into the single digits, BTW. 

The Elite doesn't have the same ducting through the various parts of the hull as the Elite II,  so the furnace us less helpful unless you open a drawer, and some access ports. 

That said, unless you're constantly camping in really cold weather, you can guage some results from here.

I will say, that if it's cold out, and we have free power, I  love running a small electric heater. The furnace doesn't kick on as often, so it doesn't wake me up as often. (I'm a pretty light sleeper.) And in our older elites, the furnace is in the kitchen, next to the bed.

Make sure you buy a heater with a tip-over cutoff switch, since you'll be traveling with your dog. Just in case. The heaters work best if on the floor (duh, right? Heat rises.) The cutoff is pretty standard on most electric heaters. You won't need a very big one. A choice of two wattage is nice. Ours is 700 on low, I think, and 1200 or so on high. I  usually run it on low, and use a nice blanket, and furnace on low.

 

[Moonlight Mile]

21 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

The Elite doesn't have the same ducting through the various parts of the hull as the Elite II,  so the furnace us less helpful unless you open a drawer, and some access ports. 

That said, unless you're constantly camping in really cold weather, you can guage some results from here.

I will say, that if it's cold out, and we have free power, I  love running a small electric heater. The furnace doesn't kick on as often, so it doesn't wake me up as often. (I'm a pretty light sleeper.) And in our older elites, the furnace is in the kitchen, next to the bed.

Make sure you buy a heater with a tip-over cutoff switch, since you'll be traveling with your dog. Just in case. The heaters work best if on the floor (duh, right? Heat rises.) The cutoff is pretty standard on most electric heaters. You won't need a very big one. A choice of two wattage is nice. Ours is 700 on low, I think, and 1200 or so on high. I  usually run it on low, and use a nice blanket, and furnace on low.

 

Thanks, I pretty much assume (at this point) that a lotta things are not exactly the same on Elite 1 as Elite 2, when I read through things most people seem to have the Elite 2. So I’m not taking any chances and going with easy things that don’t affect the “guts” of the Elite 1 (if that makes sense) as I read through stuff here. Your tips about the heater (non-tipping) I had already read about but def bears repeating! Thanks for the 2 wattage rec. I’ve been kinda looking at them but haven’t gotten anything yet. Nice blanket and big ole dawg, FTW! 🙂

[Overland]

5 hours ago, NCeagle said:

I suspect they would not have rebounded fast at all given that when I cranked up the space heater at 3:30 AM it didn't stop the basement temps from plummeting at the same rate as the outside temp.

It does look like there was a slight decrease in the rate at which they where falling though.  Some of that heat is being absorbed into the basement even if most of it is probably radiating out of the top and sides of the trailer.

[Ray and Susan Huff]

On 12/30/2020 at 4:03 AM, NCeagle said:

I can run some experiments with the fan cracked and on during some different conditions.  I know from some recent experience that with the fan open and running (which infers a window or two cracked), the inside humidity is going to approach the outside humidity.  If it's raining or foggy you don't want to turn on the fan and crack a window.  Been there - done that - got lots of water and condensation on the inside of the trailer in less than an hour.  🙂

I've been wondering about running fan/cracking a window or two, when outdoor humidity is high.  So, to maintain desirable humidity while parked in the driveway in the PNW with outdoor humidity at, let's say, 95% the fan/roof vent and windows need to remain closed?

While camping for a few days recently, we had quite a bit of condensation in the trailer.  Nighttime temps were in the mid-thirties.  We ran the furnace, during the day, set to 68 degrees, but off at night.  Daytime temps were in the upper forties and the condensation dissipated as we were outside most of the day, but returned at night. (I don't recall the humidity level registered on our sensors - my bad). 

When we returned home we ran the dehumidifier for a day.  This brought the humidity/temp to 40%/45 deg  and maintained it there through the night.  The next day we swapped the dehumidifier for the oil heater we use in storage to see what this would do humidity wise.  It is set to maintain approx 60 degrees.  The humidity has stabilized at 50%.  Outside humidity is 95%; night time temps in the low 40's.

Is it better to run the dehumidifier to achieve a lower humidity, at the expense of lower temperature (40%/45 deg) or the heater that produces humidity/temp levels (50%/60 deg)?  The dehumidifier, running on high heat, draws 3 amps; the oil heater, on med 900w setting, draws 7 amps.

What is a healthy humidity level for maintaining a healthy environment in the Oliver while sitting idle?