Scamp Insulation

[John & Sandy M]

There have been quite a few discussions about winterizing and trailer internal temps. We live in Calabash NC which is about as close to the NC/SC border on the Atlantic as you can get and generally only have fairly short periods of sub-freezing temps (but a week or so of temps in the mid/low teens is still going to freeze plumbing). We use the Scamp during the winter and winterizing between trips is a real pain plus antifreeze leaves a nasty residual taste in the water. I decided to heat the egg with a small thermostatically controlled electric space heater set at 45 degrees F and 1000 watts and monitor the internal temps using some temperature monitoring/recording devices I happened to have from a former life (Dallas Semiconductor thermochron I buttons and normally used to track temps during refrigerated shipments... actually quite inexpensive little devices about the size of three stacked dimes and battery operated).

Just for information, this is the temperature graph for both the outside temps and temps seen at the Scamp water tank/pump. A wireless remote thermometer showed temperatures at sink level remained around 45F during the entire period.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Thanks for the information. This real close to what I expected to see. I do the same thing with the heater, but have it set to keep the inside temps between 45° and 50°.

The chart really tells the story.
Thanks

[Bob H]

Great info John.

It's funny, I'm just down the road from you & I'm doing just about the same thing. I'm keeping a Pelonis Cube Ceramic Heater running, set real low, whenever it's getting down to freezing temps. So far everythings working fine & it's nice to step into a mildly cozy trailer in the morning instead of a cold one.

I've also considered setting up some temporary skirting around the Scamp to keep the cold wind out from underneath. That alone can keep things from freezing for those overnight dips in temp.

Since I'm using my Scamp daily as my Computer & Ham Shack, I would think that just having the heater running in the evenings could keep things above freezing in the overnights here in at the Beach. Unless we have real nasty weather, most freezing temps only last for a couple hours early in the morning before daybreak. But I also think it's really good insurance to keep the little heater on low overnight just in case.

Happy "Warm" Holidays

ConwayBob

[Brian B-P]

Geeks of the world salute you!

Just to clarify, is the Scamp tank and water pump (the monitoring location) under a dinette bench? Is it open at all to air exchange with the rest of the interior? And where is the heater sitting?

With about double the wall area for heat loss, and temperatures which are not nearly so mild, I won't be heating my B1700 this way all winter; however, keeping it thawed and ready to go in the spring and fall seasons is appealing.

The iButton devices look truly cool, and from a randomly found supplier's website they even appear to be reasonably priced.

[John & Sandy M]

Geeks of the world salute you!

Just to clarify, is the Scamp tank and water pump (the monitoring location) under a dinette bench? Is it open at all to air exchange with the rest of the interior? And where is the heater sitting?

>>>Yep. The covers were removed too (all the cabinets were open...the concern was freezing temps where the pipes are located).

With about double the wall area for heat loss, and temperatures which are not nearly so mild, I won't be heating my B1700 this way all winter; however, keeping it thawed and ready to go in the spring and fall seasons is appealing.

>>>The cabin temps appeared to remain at 40-45F according to the remote located at sink height (this was not continuously monitored but checked in the morning while temps outside were in the 20's)

The iButton devices look truly cool, and from a randomly found supplier's website they even appear to be reasonably priced.

I purchased a "starter kit" some years ago for $25 which includes one button and communications link to the PC. In large quantities the cost drops to around a buck per button. I've used them in a lot of engineering studies ranging from insulation efficiencies to how come my tropical fish are dying (one of the engineers didn't believe they were waterproof and tracked temps in his fish tank... air conditioner vent was just behind the tank and temps were getting too cold). Handy little things.