Caravan life winter edition

It’s snow time!

Winter is here with its cold nights and crispy mornings. Here in the north winter is long, in some places lasting over half aof the year, which brings its own challenges to life. All animals must adapt to the cold temperature, darkness, and snow coverage if they are to survive the winter. We get asked a lot, how we survive in the caravan during wintertime? So now we will share our own winter adaptations with you.

Heating

Our caravan came with a small but effective electric and gas heater. The Truma heater can use electricity when we are on-grid and gas when we are off-grid. The electric heaters thermostat was giving us some trouble being in the cupboard above the heater, which essentially gets heated first, and therefore does not give a realistic reading for the caravan’s temperature. Luckily, Joe is a clever handyman and so he switched the thermostat next to our bed (faraway from the heated cupboard). Above 5 °C the 1kW setting suffices, but below it and until -10°C you need to use the 2kW setting. If we are on-grid we have the luxury of having electric floor heating in the centre of the caravan. For a really warm and cosy atmosphere the gas heater is great. One time when it was -25°C outside we were able to have a nice 30°C inside with just the gas heater on, not to worry we don’t hang around in our underwear everyday. If we are off-grid the 11 kg propane gas will last for 1 week, but if we use our air circulation system then we will use the gas in 3 days. Therefore, we always have an extra gas container with us when travelling in winter.

Water system

Our water system is located near the floor of the caravan, and as you probably know warm air rises, so the floor usually stays much cooler than the rest of the caravan. For this reason last year, we decided not to have any water in our water system when it was below 0°C. Instead we kept our water in containers and didn’t take showers. This winter we tested having our air circulation system on at all times (even when off-grid), which redistributes the air evenly even lower down to the water pipes. This enabled us to use our sink normally and take showers even when it’s -10°C and we are off-grid. This nice addition however comes with an added energy cost, and the gas will last a shorter time. When we are travelling, we put on the heating + air circulation every time we stretch and go for a walk after a long leg of driving to ensure the unfrozen state of our water.

Insulation

Joe the handyman

It’s a fun notion, when you’re out in the middle of nowhere and its really below 0°C outside, the only thing between you and the freezing stillness is a 3 cm wall. It really makes the Cocoon our life capsule. The interior plywood walls are topped with 2 cm polystyrene insulator confined in an aluminium cage, while the windows are double glazed acryl and for some extra insulation you can always draw the curtains. We decided to add some rubber foam insulation along the flooring, due to the fact that air contains water and as the temperature drops the water condenses into little water droplets especially along cold bridges like metal. The insulation has worked pretty well, but we still have to add some to few more places. In addition, we have two moisture absorbers underneath the bed. Insulation is important, with it you can cut your energy usage a lot.

Lighting

It’s a lot of darkness during the winter in the northern hemisphere. If you venture north above the arctic circle, there are months you will see the sun only as a golden glow in the horizon. The resulting pink, purple, orange colours in the sky are of course spectacular, but you really need to remember to eat your D-vitamin. The caravan is equipped all over with different led lights, which use a minuscule amount of power, but brighten up our day in a wonderful way. To add some ambience, we have our twinkly star lights and candles, such a cost-effective way to brighten the place.

Our friend Taika joined us on a winter adventure

Snow and Ice

When it snows it sounds like tiny crystals are falling on the roof, it’s magical. But with a lot of snow it can stick to the caravan, especially to the windows unless you carefully wipe them before it freezes into an ice layering on the window. This is an issue if you want to enjoy the starry skies or the dancing northern lights in your bed through the panorama window. And of course, when travelling you have to clear the ice and snow from the car. Twice driving in the snowstorm we’ve had the mishappen of getting our chimney filled with snow, which the gas heater didn’t like at first, but eventually did start working again. Driving in snow and ice has its risks, but the pristine white nature outside is otherworldly.

Safety equipment

We take care to have all our safety equipment for emergencies with us. And the coldness of winter in dangerous if you’re not prepared. We have lots of warm clothes to wear. Sleeping bags under our bed if our heating system would somehow collapse during the night. A shovel to clear out the snow if we’re stuck somewhere. A portable fireplace with some firewood is part of the safety equipment as well as the adventure gear. Watching the flames of the fire is hypnotising.

There is so much wonder in winter and it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to explore and enjoy it with our home on wheels. We will definitely share some of our winter adventures with you guys in our coming blog posts.