It was a very cold week, with temperatures and wind chill well below zero. On Wednesday, the water stopped flowing to the RV around 5PM. Since it was dark, windy and bitter cold, we headed off to the beverage center to purchase 5 gallons of water to hold us over until the problem could be remedied. Sometimes nature has a way of solving its own problems. When the sun came out on Thursday morning and started to warm the metal framed RV, the water began to flow again. The good news was the pressure tank, sitting atop the well head and covered in an R30 foam box did well. Adding a 250w halogen work light to the area, provided just enough heat to keep water flowing on that end. The Pirit heated hoses were champions and kept the water plenty warm from the well to the RV. The weak link, we discovered, was the RV spigot, which, although wrapped in pipe insulation, is extremely vulnerable with strong prevailing wind and below zero temps. The solution was to install another 250w work light under the RV, reapply spray foam at the foam board seams, keep the kitchen and bath cabinet doors wide open, and run the water in the sink when the temperature is below zero at night. To keep us warm and toasty inside, we added another 20 amp breaker to the service panel and 1500 watts of electric space heating, making the total of 4500 watts available, if needed. To date, the new weakest link is the door, which had to be "opened" with a hair dryer this morning. But no complaints. We're surviving, managing well, and even building a house!
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