Escape Trailer Winter Sale price reduction

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by Cathy

Dale, I didn't think about the corner being cut off of the 21' bed. I'll be interested in hearing if that's any problem.

ModJim, of course you are having a big condensation problem with winter camping. I love the placement of the 19' bed with the big window and others but I can see why you might find the 21' better for winter. I like Norm and Ginny's solution to the cold: an electric blanket. I would think that might improve your condensation situation somewhat over perhaps depending so much on the furnace.

There is only one window wall next to the bed in the new 21, the other 2 walls are solid, with one being an interior wall. Has to be warmer than the 19' bed location. I have a mattress warmer and it made it worse. The bed needs to be away from the exterior walls to allow air circulation, once it was, my condensation went down. Also when sleeping you have to leave the blinds up to eliminate condensation on the windows because you are allowing the air to hit the glass, with the blinds down the moisture is trapped and then drips down. Thus with only one window versus 3 it should be better with the 21'.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Here is a link to Escape Forum discussion
21' Escape - MY impression - Escape Trailer Owners Community

Jim, Great comments both here and on the Escape Forum. Thanks for that link. Exactly the kind of stuff I wanted to hear from people who have been in both. I also didn't know a 21.5 is on the way. That should be interesting (read "tempting"), too. Dale

[Cathi]

Yes, we may have such condensation around the bed sometimes and I noticed that our foam and natural latex and whatever else is piled up can actually be moved away from the walls slightly to help that. They are not cut such that the bedding is snug around all of the walls. Don't know whether other Escapes would have bedding that could be given a little breathing room. Yes, that definitely helps so I can see how the 21' can be better for cold camping. In any case, you will have another floor to do!

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

There is only one window wall next to the bed in the new 21, the other 2 walls are solid, with one being an interior wall. Has to be warmer than the 19' bed location. I have a mattress warmer and it made it worse. The bed needs to be away from the exterior walls to allow air circulation, once it was, my condensation went down. Also when sleeping you have to leave the blinds up to eliminate condensation on the windows because you are allowing the air to hit the glass, with the blinds down the moisture is trapped and then drips down. Thus with only one window versus 3 it should be better with the 21'.

[War Eagle]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

...The bed needs to be away from the exterior walls to allow air circulation, once it was, my condensation went down. Also when sleeping you have to leave the blinds up to eliminate condensation on the windows because you are allowing the air to hit the glass, with the blinds down the moisture is trapped and then drips down.

I haven't heard anyone who is battling condensation talk about running a dehumidifier in the camper over night to help pull moisture out of the air before it can contact a cold interior surface and condense. My mother's home in Colorado was so tight (little air turn-over) that in the winter time, moisture in the air from showering, cooking, etc., would condense on the inside of the windows and then freeze overnight - inside the house. Then when the sun hit the windows the next morning, the ice would melt and the resulting water would damage the wooden window frames. A small floor-stand dehumidifier (Sears) pulled the moisture out of the air and solved the problem. So it seems that running a small dehumidifier at night might help reduce condensation during cold weather camping? Has anyone tried that? Or am I missing something related to the problem? Dale

[Jim Bennett]

The problem with a dehumidifier is that they (at least all I've seen) run on 120V. They won't work in a trailer unless you have a generator, or are in the grid.

[Donna D.]

We have talked about running electric dehumidifiers while camping... it's somewhere in the archives. If my rememberer is correct, the main problem is size. In order to work properly, the dehumidifier was really large. Then it becomes a space problem (where to carry the thing... storage?). Passive (like Dri-Z-Air) hardly work at all during camping times (works long term, not short term). So... both electric and passive are kinda relegated to storage time rather than when camping.

[JWoerndle]

I run an electric dehumidifier while storing our unit. The unit is noisy while it is running, in addition, it is fairly large. But it does prevent condensation and that musty smell, by circulating the air. However, the unit does not work when the outside temps is below 45 degree.

[cpaharley2008]

I use one of these n the winter, dehumidifies and it helps to keep the trailer above freezing. They come in various sizes Amazon.com: Davis Instruments 1458 130 Watt Air Dryer: Automotive