Zach Woods
10-12-2006, 05:17 PM
Archive of info I had learned re: using a Westfalia in winter temperatures (ie around or below freezing).
*****
I am arriving late to the party and it looks like many of your
specific questions below have already been answered by others. I
had asked a similar question here a month or so ago and got some
excellent information in the form of responses on this Group and an
email from a German Westfalia (James Cook over there) owner.
Check out messages #130 and #154 here on this Yahoo Group:
- http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/sprinter_westf alia/message/130
- http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/sprinter_westf alia/message/154
I will try to paraphrase the information I received from Germany
below:
They have used their European Cook 4 times under winter conditions,
each time for vacations about 10-12 days long.
Temperatures on these vacations was always below -10°C (14 F), with
a minimum -20°C (-4 F) and heavy strong cold winds. They think -20°C
is the lowest temperature the european Cook heater can handle - at -
20C the heater could not heat the inside above 20°C (68 F).
The floor will be cold under these conditions - use a carpet and
slippers :-) - cold air will come inside at the frontdoors and the
sliding door (I am assuming he means around the weatherstripping).
They suggest using something to insulate the front windshield and
side windows. In Germany there is a material that they
call "Thermomatten" which is excellent for insulating single pane
glass windows. I picked up some in Germany that was already cut for
the Sprinter front windshield and the driver and passenger door
windows.
Check out the following for more Thermomatten info:
- http://tinyurl.com/7lv7v
- http://tinyurl.com/boegw
Because the heater will run all day long (... full power at -20°C (-
4 F)), the air in the camper feels/is very dry.
At a little below -10°C (14 F) our water pipelines in the bathroom
froze (first toilet, than sink), our european waste water tank
itself froze around -18°-20°C (0 - -4 F).
They didn't empty their tanks or water lines, and they used the
shower. They had no problem down to -10°C (14 F).
They did not use an RV anti-freeze, they just used the diesel heater
all day long to protect everything from freezing - I believe the US
Cook / Westfalia has the same model diesel heater as the Euro Cook.
They ran the european LPG-Heater for warm water on minimum all day
long, so that the water couldn't freeze - it was my understanding
that the Euro Cook had an on demand water heater so I don't know how
this is possible - maybe they had all faucets dripping (common
technique to keep winter vacation home pipes from freezing - as long
as the water keeps moving, even ever so slightly, it is very
unlikely that it will freeze except at temperatures well below zero).
If the diesel tank is full, you could run the diesel furnace for 10-
12 days without using up all of your diesel - the electric energy
needed to run the heater will become a problem after 2 to 3 days if
you are not plugged in.
They had both a tank and a water line freeze at least partially.
They used an electrical furnace to thaw things out. There was no
damage.
Obviously, your mileage may vary, and I plan to test this cautiously
this fall at much higher than winter temperatures before I even
consider attemping this at below zero temperatures. My wife and I
will be using the Westfalia as a "Ski Lodge" this winter and the
only question is will we have running water . . .
*****
I am arriving late to the party and it looks like many of your
specific questions below have already been answered by others. I
had asked a similar question here a month or so ago and got some
excellent information in the form of responses on this Group and an
email from a German Westfalia (James Cook over there) owner.
Check out messages #130 and #154 here on this Yahoo Group:
- http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/sprinter_westf alia/message/130
- http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/sprinter_westf alia/message/154
I will try to paraphrase the information I received from Germany
below:
They have used their European Cook 4 times under winter conditions,
each time for vacations about 10-12 days long.
Temperatures on these vacations was always below -10°C (14 F), with
a minimum -20°C (-4 F) and heavy strong cold winds. They think -20°C
is the lowest temperature the european Cook heater can handle - at -
20C the heater could not heat the inside above 20°C (68 F).
The floor will be cold under these conditions - use a carpet and
slippers :-) - cold air will come inside at the frontdoors and the
sliding door (I am assuming he means around the weatherstripping).
They suggest using something to insulate the front windshield and
side windows. In Germany there is a material that they
call "Thermomatten" which is excellent for insulating single pane
glass windows. I picked up some in Germany that was already cut for
the Sprinter front windshield and the driver and passenger door
windows.
Check out the following for more Thermomatten info:
- http://tinyurl.com/7lv7v
- http://tinyurl.com/boegw
Because the heater will run all day long (... full power at -20°C (-
4 F)), the air in the camper feels/is very dry.
At a little below -10°C (14 F) our water pipelines in the bathroom
froze (first toilet, than sink), our european waste water tank
itself froze around -18°-20°C (0 - -4 F).
They didn't empty their tanks or water lines, and they used the
shower. They had no problem down to -10°C (14 F).
They did not use an RV anti-freeze, they just used the diesel heater
all day long to protect everything from freezing - I believe the US
Cook / Westfalia has the same model diesel heater as the Euro Cook.
They ran the european LPG-Heater for warm water on minimum all day
long, so that the water couldn't freeze - it was my understanding
that the Euro Cook had an on demand water heater so I don't know how
this is possible - maybe they had all faucets dripping (common
technique to keep winter vacation home pipes from freezing - as long
as the water keeps moving, even ever so slightly, it is very
unlikely that it will freeze except at temperatures well below zero).
If the diesel tank is full, you could run the diesel furnace for 10-
12 days without using up all of your diesel - the electric energy
needed to run the heater will become a problem after 2 to 3 days if
you are not plugged in.
They had both a tank and a water line freeze at least partially.
They used an electrical furnace to thaw things out. There was no
damage.
Obviously, your mileage may vary, and I plan to test this cautiously
this fall at much higher than winter temperatures before I even
consider attemping this at below zero temperatures. My wife and I
will be using the Westfalia as a "Ski Lodge" this winter and the
only question is will we have running water . . .