Cold nose

[Rikadoo]

So as im getting ready for a week of camping, i have my rig (2003 Holiday Rambler Endeavor 36 ft) in front of my house. In preperation for the fun i have spent a couple nights sleeping in it, using the heater to keep the chill off i have come to notice the frontal area or the nose of the seating area is very cold, like you wouldnt even know the heater is on cold! I cant tell if its coming from the stairwell, the door, or the dash area. When im driving i dont feel any air gushing in, or wind whistle however just parked it feels like a radiating cold. Any thoughts on how to identify where or what you have done to solve your possable issues, or even if yours has or has not got this similar issue. 
 

[jacwjames]

There is not real any insulating done on the front end.  The firewall is thin, Monaco did try to seal all the penetrations but that's about it.  The stairwell is mostly metal with thin plywood on it, no insulating there.  The floor, at least on my rig, is 2 layers of 1/2" OSB, that's it, no insulating there.   The windshield and side windows provide no insulating and draw cold in.  So with all of the above it's pretty much a loosing battle. 

When I camped/lived in cold weather I made a wall of blankets across the windshield.  I had large sunscreens that provided some support and then had to get creative with bungee cords.  I then pull the front drapes.  This helped a lot but aesthetically wasn't very appealing  but where I was staying there was only another RV a couple of times, other then that snow. 

[FishAR]

My rig has one heat vent in the bottom of the dash console and then you have to go to the kitchen sink to find the next one. On diesel heat a thermometer up front will show 65 while up by the sensor near the other end of living room/kitchen it will be 72. So I have to turn up the heat. Not a problem on heat pump since there are vents all over the ceiling.

[MrAmbassador]

We have installed a curtain rod wall to wall , right behind driver and passenger seats, with blackout curtains. On cold night and days we close them to isolate the nose and make our heating area smaller. We also do the same in the hot weather if our ACs are running constantly. This has saved us a lot of money in heating and cooling. Hope this helps. 

[JohnC3]

On Our Rig, I have made Window Insulators out of 48" Reflectix from Lowes. I put it on the from window and drivers windows and lower all the Opaque window shades. That seems to help a good bit. I just don't stay where it is too cold for too long (<20). Other things we have done are: Get an electric blanket for the master bed. We can sleep with the air cooler and be comfy. Below 44 we run the Auqahot on Diesel but it seems to worry that I am paying for my heat when I am at a campground, so if I it is cold enough to run the Diesel boiler, then I also have a couple of 1500W heaters. I put one between the 2 captains chairs on low and (if its really cold) one in the bedroom. Both running on low will heat the space up pretty good and I find I can run them on the same circuit if I keep them both on low (750W).

 

 

[Rick A]

We are full time RVers on the west coast of Canada. (Lower Vancouver Island) the worst it gets to -8 C (About 15 F) 

The front area of our Diplomat is cold. We have a false floor cut from high density Pink Panther board that we drop in over the stairwell at night. It’s got matching carpet on it. We could use the false floor but it’d wear out fast!  The other thing we have is a two part ‘snap on’  front window shield cover. The outer layer is see through shade material (summer) that the inner layer is a  2 ply silver windshield blanket.  The silver liner blanket and sun screen prevent condensation on the inside and it’s not bad looking at all. 
I’m going to try to find a thick clear vinyl cover but it’s going to be expensive.

Yes the front is cold. Any other good space age type solutions? Gold plated unfolding umbrellas, used after-burner heaters? 😂 😆 😝

[Paul J A]

Closing the slides reduces the area that you wish to heat/cool. 

[cbr046]

That windshield is giant cold sink.  Like standing in front of a fire catching the radiant heat . . . . except you're the fire (source)

Our previous owner made heavy duty curtains for the front windshield.  Not a perfect solution but they do help (you can feel the difference from one side to the other).  If it's "real cold", like under 35F, I'll drop both layers of shades, and pull in all slides.  There's an electric blanket but I don't like running the genny all night long. 

But the piece-de-resistance is a battery operated heated hoodie my folks gave me one year.  I'll put it next to a thin layer, then a sweatshirt, then a jacket.  Yeah, I might look like an eskimo watching tv but I'm toasty!  I even run it on low. 

- bob

[Rikadoo]

Well it sounds like theres not a lot that can be done to stop the cold, i appreciate all the input, thank you

[Guest Ray Davis]

We were parked facing a stiff cold wind when decided to feel around for the cold.  I could feel it under the dash, so I got the wife wave the flashlight around under the dash while I looked from the front generator area.  I saw the light, literally. 😇                                                                                      My dash has a wood bottom/floor, it was supposed to be held up tight to a metal frame. Well, it wasn't, and I was afraid to drill with wires possibly in that area, so I ended up filling the large crack with foam.  Filling the crack made very noticeable difference.                                                                    It's easy to check

Edited February 15, 2022 by Ray Davis

[Rich Cutler]

Before trading up to our used 06 Windsor, we had a 38' 98 Endeavor.  Great coach, but like others we about froze.   We were headed from Houston to the Rose Parade on I-10 and could not get the front end warm.  We had generator running to power electric heaters, furnace running,  towels tucked everywhere, and we were wrapped in blankets.  After the Parade and game, we headed to UT to ski.  Mistake.  If overnight in VanHorn was cold, the base of the  mountains was worse.  Everything froze., even with trouble lights from the local hardware.  The Windsor is better equipped for the cold.

[Paul J A]

17 hours ago, Ray Davis said:

We were parked facing a stiff cold wind when decided to feel around for the cold.  I could feel it under the dash, so I got the wife wave the flashlight around under the dash while I looked from the front generator area.  I saw the light, literally. 😇                                                                                      My dash has a wood bottom/floor, it was supposed to be held up tight to a metal frame. Well, it wasn't, and I was afraid to drill with wires possibly in that area, so I ended up filling the large crack with foam.  Filling the crack made very noticeable difference.                                                                    It's easy to check

Right on Ray. That is something everyone should do at NIGHT. Makes a difference in all seasons. FMCA had a session on that back in 2006 at a Rally in Pomona, Ca. H D and Lowes had a real run on the foam insulation.

[Bob Jones]

On 2/15/2022 at 2:00 PM, Rikadoo said:

Well it sounds like theres not a lot that can be done to stop the cold, i appreciate all the input, thank you

I would concentrate on other areas first. On my 2000 Diplomat, in the early days, it was always really cold lying on the couch in the winter. Found out later there are three rollers under the couch/slideout in giant rectangular holes that lead directly to.....the outside. I filled those in with spray foam and trimmed the bottom under the rollers so they could still be adjusted. Massive difference. Under the slide out, on the outside, was a rubber strip that ran the length of the slide out. It had 3 screws in it from the factory. Should have had at least 12. That fixed a massive draft. I then used sprayfoam in other areas wherever I found through holes. Same thing, big difference. Then I aligned the main slide - another huge difference. I popped out the kitchen window and resealed it - that made a big difference. I'm going to pop them all this year. 

Let me put it to you this way, in the first two years I had spiders as big as your fist running all over the place. I then bought a Dyson and ran all over the place. Now, I never see them. I saw ONE this winter, a tiny one, on my bedroom ceiling. He was so small I let him be for a couple of days. I felt sorry for him. Pretty sure he landed on me outside somewhere and came in with me. There's not a lot you can do about the front other than spray foam it, I'll get to it, but at this point, the ability of my unit to hold heat must have doubled, maybe even tripled, just by going after the massive holes like under the rollers. 

My gut tells me that after I do all the windows I'll be very impressed with the heat retention and the drop in outside noise coming in. But I can measure my success in the drastic drop in spider incursions. The first winter I was in the unit it was -8c and I was located on the side of a 5 acre field. The wind and snow ripped across it and right through the motorhome. The furnace ran 95% of the time trying to keep the heat in. Today, if I was in the same location, it would be a much different story. I'll get to the dash area at some point but I think the next big improvement will be resealing all the windows.