An Off-Grid Airstream Winter

I’ve lived through eight Methow winters, but this past winter was the first I attempted completely off-grid. Last fall, after drilling a well on my land and installing a larger solar array and battery bank, I figured I was ready to take the plunge. I even joked that doing so would guarantee the coldest winter the Methow had seen in years.

Turns out, I wasn’t wrong.

For much of December and January, temperatures stayed below freezing, dipping dangerously close to -15°F for over a week. Then, on January 5th, a storm dumped 20 inches of snow—as much as 30 inches in some areas—in a single night. I spent the next morning comedically digging my way out of my Airstream.

I always seem to have a knack for finding adventure, and this past winter certainly didn’t disappoint. But despite the freezing temperatures, relentless shoveling, and losing both my mattress and hot water heater to a freeze explosion (more on that below), I survived. And now that it’s officially spring, I think I can call victory!

After spending an entire winter in a 19’ Airstream while using a portable outdoor toilet, you’d think I’d finally cry uncle on off-grid living.

Nope.

In fact, I feel more resolved than ever, especially in the face of the peanut gallery who insists on telling me how impractical and foolish it is to live off-grid. It’s a good thing I’ve never really listened to what other people think.

There’s something incredibly rewarding, intimate, and grounding about living in sync with Mother Nature. Experiencing both her beauty and harshness makes you appreciate every moment, especially the ones in between.

While I love winter, I now have a deep appreciation for the milder days of spring and, let’s be honest, things like hot running water and indoor bathrooms.

I’m pretty grateful I was able to spend the winter before last in my Bambi at Pine Near RV park in Winthrop. Even though the winter of 2020-2021 was fairly mild and I was hooked up to full power and utilities, I gained one winter of RV living experience that paid off immensely this season.

I could write a whole blog post about my battery system and how I kept it insulated and heated this winter, so I’ll follow up with a part two on that. In the meantime, here are some fun stories from an off-grid Airstream winter. 

Turkey pans and buckets.

One of the biggest challenges of winter RV living is keeping septic tanks and dump valves from freezing.

Back in 2020 at Pine Near, my tanks never froze, but I still spent too many hours thawing dump valves with a hairdryer and let me tell you, one hour of that is one hour too many.

Since I don’t have septic installed yet (coming soon!), I shut down my RV tanks completely this winter, draining them, pouring in RV antifreeze, and calling it good.

So how did I make it work?

• Toilet: I used a portable outdoor toilet serviced by the local septic company every two weeks.
• Gray Water: I found turkey pans that fit perfectly inside my Airstream sinks to catch gray water. Every day, I’d dump the water into a bucket and pour it into the portable toilet.

Honestly? It worked brilliantly! So simple and no frozen pipes, no septic disasters, and I never spent a minute under my RV with a hairdryer this past winter. Huge win!

Whenever I was in town I took advantage of the coin-op showers at Washworks. Especially in winter, it’s nice to take a 10 minute or longer hot shower and not worry about the limits of a small 6-gallon Airstream hot water tank or the possible headache of frozen tanks and valves.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there were certainly a few moments where I had to use the toilet in -10°F temps and thought, “What in the actual hell am I doing?“

But there was also something strangely invigorating about stepping outside in the dead of winter. I had unexpected opportunities to enjoy some beautifully clear starry nights, a snowy landscape illuminated by the moon, and equally beautiful sunrises I might not have experienced otherwise. I also learned to appreciate a nice hot shower!

Here are some of the beautiful scenes I chanced into seeing, simply because I had to go outside to use the bathroom, which included a brilliant display of Northern Lights at the end of March. Not technically winter, but hey, certainly worth including!

The big freeze and big bang. RIP water heater.

Last winter, I had no trouble using my hot water heater, so I thought I could get away with it again this year.

I was wrong.

In late December, we got hit with 9 straight days of single-digit highs and double-digit overnight lows. My poor little onboard propane furnace struggled to keep up, so I had to bust out my portable Mr. Buddy heater to help. The cold was so extreme, it created beautiful frozen fractal art on my Airstream windows.

But by the time I considered draining my hot water heater, it was much too late. It, along with my hot water lines, had been frozen solid for weeks. Somehow my fresh water tank avoided freezing, no doubt thanks to my ducted Airstream furnace.

One night, I was jolted awake by a loud bang from the back of the Airstream.

I knew it wasn’t good but after investigating for quite some time, I found no evidence of the cause.

When temperatures finally warmed to 40°F in late January, I lost water pressure at the kitchen sink—a telltale sign of a leak somewhere. I spent the evening twisted into a pretzel under my mattress, only to confirm what I already suspected: the water heater had cracked in the extreme cold.

Luckily, not much water had leaked since everything was still mostly frozen, but the damage was done. I cleaned up the mess, knowing that until I replaced the heater, hot showers were officially out.

To add insult to injury, about a month later I started having sinus issues, headaches, and sore throats. I kept noticing condensation issues around my bed and finally pulled up the mattress to investigate. Some water from the water heater had leaked into a storage compartment under the bed and under a rubber mat, which had turned a whole corner of the bed platform and mattress into a moldy mess. Ugh!

I cleaned up the mess, ran an air purifier for a few days, and immediately felt better. Unfortunately my mattress was toast along with my hot water heater. I have a portable memory foam bed I use in my truck that is now my temporary bed until the Airstream gets towed in for repairs at the end of the month. It’ll feel amazing to soon be able to take a hot shower in the Airstream again!

A comedic amount of snow.

One of the funniest, most ridiculous moments of the winter was the insane snowstorm we got in early January. Some places received over 30 inches overnight!

At 11 p.m., I peeked outside. The storm was just starting.

At 5 a.m., I was scared awake by my carbon monoxide detector.

Groggy, I pushed open my Airstream door and snow came spilling in. It was piled more than halfway up my windows. “Oh shit”, I murmured, especially when Hudson jumped outside and literally disappeared into the deep snow like a ship sinking in the ocean.

I nearly broke a rib laughing.

Then, reality hit. My furnace vent was buried, my windows were covered, and my solar panels had vanished beneath a mountain of snow. Shit, the furnace was likely venting back into the Airstream, hence the carbon monoxide alarm.

I spent the next hour wading through deep snow, excavating out the Airstream front door so I could actually get in and out, making a makeshift cover for the furnace vent, and then finding and shoveling out my solar panels. Since my panels are only temporarily located, they’re on the ground until I mount them higher in a more permanent location. Yes, I knew this might cause some extra winter shoveling, but I sure wasn’t expecting this much shoveling! 

My little Honda Rancher and snowplow were completely out of their league. Thankfully, my amazing neighbors came to the rescue with tractors and heavy equipment to dig us all out.

After shoveling for what seemed like two days, a strong wind storm came through and reburied everything. Sigh.

Again, I had great neighbors whose friends brought over heavy construction equipment and spent several hours digging their way through our severely wind drifted roads. I’ve always said the best thing about the Methow is the community and how we help each other out. This winter was certainly proof of that!

Would I do it again?

Despite all the snow, icy temperatures, shoveling, and the loss of both my mattress and hot water heater, this winter was somehow one of the most fun I’ve had in a long time. Yes, it had its challenges for sure, but my solar array and battery bank kept me powered all winter and I barely logged eight hours on my gas generator. Even during several days of fog inversions, I had enough filtered sunlight hitting my panels to keep my battery bank breaking even or barely discharging. Kind of amazing if you ask me!

The Airskirts I bought for the Airstream helped keep me insulated, as did the ridiculous amount of snow, though I’m certain I still set a record for propane use this past winter. All in all, I’m happy to have more or less survived this adventurous winter of off-grid Airstream living.

Now for the million dollar question: would I do it again?

I’d say a resounding yes to more winters off-grid and I’m completely invested in staying on my path. That being said, I rather hope this is my last winter spent in a tiny 19′ Airstream!

Here are some more scenes from a beautiful off-grid Methow winter. Happy spring!