After a long and arduous closing process, I finally settled my Airstream onto my own land in late October. It still feels surreal to say that. “My land!”
I had envisioned taking a moment to relax and soak it all in, but Mother Nature had other plans. A snowstorm and record-breaking single-digit temperatures were fast approaching, giving me only a brief window to prepare.
A Crash Course in Winter Prep.
Moving onto my land late Wednesday meant I had barely enough daylight to set up before work obligations kicked in the next day. With limited time, I had to prioritize the essentials.
Earlier in the week, I purchased a 3000-watt generator as a backup for my solar power. I debated whether a generator that large was overkill, but given the impending storm, I felt relieved to have it.*
Thursday afternoon, I raced to gather supplies: rigid foam for an insulation skirt, propane refills, a Mr. Heater tank-top heater, and fuel for the generator. My truck resembled a clown car as I squeezed in every last item.
Square foam and a round Airstream.
Constructing an insulation skirt for my Airstream quickly proved challenging. The sleek, curved body did not lend itself to rigid foam panels, leaving me to cobble together a rather sad-looking contraption held together with duct tape, that I hoped would eventually pull off cleanly and not leave a residue. There was no way this skirt would hold up in wind so I was relieved the wind forecast looked fairly calm.
Spoiler: The wind forecast would not stay calm.
By nightfall, I was exhausted, cold, and out of time. The generator remained untouched in its box, my hands too numb to tackle another task. I opted for a makeshift reward, firing up the Mr. Heater, cracking open a beer, and enjoying a quiet moment before the storm.
A restless night.
That night, I lay in bed running through worst-case scenarios. Would my pipes freeze? Would my batteries last? The RV forums had me convinced my Airstream might not survive the night intact. What if something did break? I’m 4 hours from the nearest Airstream dealership and finding contractors here in the Methow is already a challenge. I second-guessed my decision to stay off-grid instead of heading to the RV park in town. But I had my generator, and I had a plan. I think.
That was, of course, assuming I could get the generator running.
At some point I eventually gave up running worst-case scenarios through my head and went to sleep.
The storm arrives.
The next morning, I woke to the sight of falling snow, a beautiful yet ominous reminder that time was up. I needed to fire up the generator to keep my batteries charged and the furnace running.
Let’s just say the middle of a snowstorm is not the ideal time to learn how to operate your generator. I began filling oil using the funnel provided in the generator kit, but the angle of the funnel was so shallow it was tough to tell if the oil was moving slowly because of the freezing temperatures or if it was full and overflowing. I kept stopping to check the dipstick, but that only resulted in more spilled oil.
Hello, Exxon Valdez. I was convinced if I ever did get the generator fired up I’d probably have a generator fire.
I next struggled with installing the push-button start battery, that had the tiniest little hardware pieces to deal with. A total pain with the snow dumping and my hands frozen. My frustration peaked when, after all my effort, I hit “start” and the generator refused to start.
Then I realized I still had it set to “off.” Doh.
I turned the dial, pressed the button, and miraculously, it roared to life. The relief I felt was indescribable. I plugged in my Airstream, watched the microwave display light up, and knew I had power. Sweet, glorious power!
The funny reality was that even with my furnace going, refrigerator coming on intermittently, all my lights on and electronics plugged in, the generator wasn’t breaking a sweat. Now my new worry was whether I was generating enough of a load. New generators are supposed to have a break in period that doesn’t exceed 75% or so of their wattage, but it’s also not good to run them at nearly idle.
Every time I thought I had squashed one worry I created a new one. Good grief.
Enjoying the snow.
I busted out my coffee maker, thank you 3000 watt generator! I took work calls while enjoying fresh coffee and watching the snow. Over the next few hours the snow fell heavier and heavier until there was a few inches by afternoon. It was pretty amazing sitting inside my little Airstream watching the beautiful winter wonderland outside.
On my own land!!!
The generator kept things running smoothly and although I could hear it was running, I was impressed by how quiet it was. Most of the time I barely heard it above the sound of the furnace, but still, it wasn’t as great as my silent solar power. That night I set my furnace at the lowest setting, 50, and tried to go to sleep. The lows were forecast in the 20s but not as cold as they were going to get the next few nights. I crossed my fingers I wouldn’t wake up with dead batteries or frozen pipes.
Between getting used to the sound of the furnace coming on and off all night and worrying about my batteries and frozen pipes I admit that I had a rough night of horrible sleep. I’m sure I got up to check my battery voltage at least 10 times through the night.
In the morning, neither me or the pipes had frozen and both the furnace and batteries were still cranking along. I peeked out my window and Mount Gardner glistened in the sunrise with gorgeous new snow! I couldn’t bear to get out from under the covers, so I took a photo through the window and enjoyed the view.
Even though 50 sounds chilly, it’s actually a bit warm for sleeping, but unfortunately my furnace doesn’t have a lower setting. Once you’re out from under the covers though, 50 is chilly! I’ve never been so happy to see the sun rise over the mountains behind me. The solar panels started doing their thing and the Airstream warmed quickly.
It’s said that solar panels are even more productive in cold temperatures and with the incredible solar exposure on my land, my batteries were fully recharged by 2-3pm. I told myself though, that I needed a bigger battery bank. While the sun was up, Hudson and I explored our winter wonderland and I spent the day cleaning out a portion of the grain silo so I could use it for temporary storage and get some of my things out of the elements. It was a good way to make the sunny 35° day seem an awful lot warmer.
While the cover of the pole barn was fantastic I still had a lot of wet boots, wet clothes, and a damp dog. Even with the Airstream furnace cranking, and it was tough to dry wet gloves and clothes without a dryer. It was my first taste of RV living in winter and for the first time, my little 19′ Bambi seemed awfully small.
I tried to use my batteries sparingly until nightfall, saving them for running the furnace overnight. Before it was dark I closed all my blackout curtains and blinds to keep in as much heat in as I could. Once the sun went down it got cold fast and I heaped on the blankets.
By the third night, Sunday evening, I was finally understanding how much propane, fuel, and energy it takes to stay warm all day and night in these kind of temperatures in an RV. Though the weekend was spectacularly beautiful, it was a very small taste of what I had signed myself up for, trying to live in an Airstream in the winter, let alone on a property with no power.
The thought of stretching out in front of a fireplace sounded delightful, so I did the next best thing. After doing a fun project to install my geeky new weather station, I fired up my Mr. Heater propane heater and sat in front of it for a few hours, enjoying the peaceful quiet and the gorgeous mountains.
It was perfect.
A glimpse of the future.
No matter how much I read online, everyone has an opinion about the conditions required to freeze RV pipes. Some people say pipes only freeze when below freezing for more than 24 hours. Others say you can burst pipes overnight. Some say the newer PEX plumbing is unlikely to burst. Some say Airstreams are great in winter. Others say they’re not.
This early-season cold snap was a harsh glimpse into what the Methow winter had in store for off-grid RV living. Would I be able to endure sub-zero temperatures? Could my batteries, propane, and generator keep up? The logical choice would be to head to the RV park or even migrate south to Arizona.
But as I looked out at my land covered in fresh snow, I knew I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
I had lessons to learn and adjustments to make. My insulation needed improving, I needed to stockpile more fuel, and I had to accept that some things would just have to be figured out on the fly. There was no perfect plan, only a willingness to adapt and problem-solve.
Maybe I’d last the winter. Maybe I wouldn’t. But for now, I was here, under my pole barn, making it up as I went.
And likely setting a new personal record for “most Googled how-to’s in a single day.”
