All I can tell you is that we spent five days in Minnesota one year over
New Year's. We drove our van (from NC) but stayed in a motel/suite.

We drained all the water before we left home, which was a good thing.
The temperature got down as low as 2 at night and up to only 14 some
days and into the low 20s on the "warmer" days.

We were plugged into a standard receptacle (15 amps, I presume) at the
base of a light pole in the parking lot -- provide for that purpose. We
kept a small electric heater going all the time, and still there was ice
on the windows -- INSIDE. I still had a water valve to freeze and crack.

I can't even begin to imagine trying to camp in a Class B in those
temperatures. Some larger MHs may be well-insulated enough to do that
(provided one can deal with the water issues), but a Class B just isn't
designed for it. We would have been utterly miserable all the time.

The van was nice and toasty warm to drive around in and visit friends
and stuff, but camping wouldn't have cut it.

In short, regardless of whatever precautions you take, in most Class Bs
I can't imagine any way you can have fresh water on board other than in
jugs stored inside. Even then, they may freeze during the day in those
temperatures, unless you have a continuous heat source.

YMMV. Good luck.

GB in NC

Actually, wind chill has no effect on inanimate objects.

I recall wrapping them can

Group: alt.rv Date: Fri, Dec 23, 2005, 5:42pm (EST+5) From:
nowhere@yahoo.com (NoSpam_aljimenez@yahoo.com)

Just an FYI that probably doesn't apply, not all B's are created equal
when it comes to winter plumbing capability. My current one ('02 Chevy
Roadtrek 190 Pop)  is rated for down to 14 degrees F, if you use only
the internal tankage and keep heat & water heater on.  My former B ('00
Dodge RT)  had no winter capability unless owner-modified.  Might be
worth checking your owners' manual.

Older vans _may_ be a bit more vulnerable more quickly  to freeze
damage, since the plastics used in plumbing and tanks may initially be
more susceptible to splitting, or become more brittle due to aging.

Nope.  Simply wrapping lines just slows cooling / freezing.  Even a
wrapped pipe will freeze if the outside temp is below 32 for long
enough.  I've even watched a slow trickle coming thru a wrapped pipe
gradually stop as the pipe froze up.  Tanks take longer to freeze
because they cool slower (more thermal mass relative to surface area).  

I'd suggest the following as the 'probably simplest' solution...
winterize the van per mfg'er's instructions to avoid maybe-hard-to-fix
or costy freeze damage.  If the CG doesn't have showers, carry lots of
bottled water, and use some RV anti-freeze or rock salt in the waste
tanks.  You can buy a pump-up garden sprayer that has an accessory
shower head (Home Depot, ~$22);  heat the water on the stove.

Or if plug-ins are available, and this is going to be a regular thing,
use the self-stick electric tank 'heating pads' sold at RV supply stores
like (yuck!) Camping World.  Add hardware store heating tapes under the
wrap on your outside lines.  Safe 120VAC  wiring will be the hardest
part of such an installation.

Also check into winter window covers; a product from HD's insulation
aisle called, IIRC, 'Reflectiv' (silvered high-density bubble pack)
makes good lightweight window covers.  

Good luck!

Jim, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have live with the
psycho bitch for life."

I have winter camped with water aboard my Class B. In my case, the whole
fresh water system is above deck where it can be kept warm by the furnace.
Also, the walls in it are partially insulated, which does help. The holding
tanks hang naked on the underside, so I've used antifreeze to keep those
from freezing up. Even that can be tricky, there was one time that I had to
thaw out the black tank by pouring lots of hot water into it so that is
would dump. The water heater has to run full time during freezing weather,
or least a close eye has to be kept on it. A DSI water heater like my Atwood
makes that easy, I can just switch it on when need be. Since you are only
considing a weekend, then the propane should hold out for the water heater
and the furnace.

Even filling the fresh water tank in freezing weather can be a trick. If you
have a source somewhere, then plan ahead how you are going to do it and work
fast, the fill opening can freeze up and you might not be able to close it.

Without water on board winter camping is much simpler. In my Class B, the
heat strip in the air conditioner can keep it warm once it has been brought
up to temp by the propane furnace. If the temps are above freezing, then the
heat strip alone warms the place up and can cook me out of there. I have
done nights that were down to about 5 degrees above zero and stayed
comfortable. I did have one time where the propane furnace ran nonstop all
night long, gradually loosing the battle. Got up in the morning to inside
temps of about 50 degrees. I finally discovered that a corner of the outside
panel of the water heater had loosened up letting the cold air blow in. Made
a big difference when I tightened up those screws.

Your real problem might be moisture, especially with wet ski clothes. You'll
need to leave a roof vent cracked open to let the wet air out, otherwise
you'll get wet walls. And I mean wet to the point that water is running down
the wall.