Winter RV Boondocking on a Budget: How We Stay Warm Off-Grid in 20° Weather

Can you boondock in an RV during the winter without covering your roof in solar panels or carrying a huge bank of batteries?

We do.

And our system is actually pretty simple.

When Ed originally decided to make a video about our winter boondocking setup, he was partly making it for himself.

After an entire summer of traveling, it was easy to forget all the little things we’d done the previous winter to manage our electricity, propane and heat.

Then he realized those details might help other RVers too.

Because we’re definitely not traveling with an unlimited budget.

Our equipment is limited.

Our budget is limited.

But during our second winter on the road, we were successfully boondocking in Colorado with nighttime temperatures dropping into the 20s and even the teens.

Here’s how we managed it.

Can You Boondock in Winter on a Budget?

Absolutely.

But for us, winter boondocking isn’t about one magical piece of equipment.

It’s about managing several resources together:

• Battery power
• Solar power
• Generator use
• Propane
• The RV furnace
• Supplemental heat
• Water
• Insulation

We constantly adjust one depending on what the others are doing.

Ed described it as almost a game.

How much solar are we getting?

How much battery power do we have left?

How often is the furnace running?

Do we need the generator?

How much propane do we have?

Once we understood how all those pieces worked together, cold-weather boondocking became much less intimidating.

Our Winter Boondocking Electrical System

At the time of this video, our electrical system was pretty modest.

We had:

• One 100Ah Battle Born lithium battery
• A Victron battery monitoring system
• A 140-watt Zamp portable solar suitcase
• A Champion 3,400-watt dual-fuel generator

That’s it.

We didn’t have seven batteries.

We didn’t have solar panels covering the entire roof.

Would Ed have loved a system like that?

Of course.

But we didn’t have the money for it.

What we had was enough to make winter boondocking work.

Why We Chose One Lithium Battery

Our Battle Born lithium battery was one of the more expensive pieces of our setup.

At the time, Ed estimated that our initial battery and monitoring setup cost around $900.

That’s a lot of money when you’re talking about boondocking on a budget.

But the usable capacity was important to us.

Our single battery gave us approximately 100 amp-hours of usable capacity.

The important thing wasn’t simply owning a lithium battery, though.

It was knowing how much power we actually had available.

Monitoring Our Battery From the Phone

Ed installed a Victron monitoring system that allowed him to keep track of the battery from an app on his phone.

That made managing our electricity much easier.

He could see our state of charge and whether we were currently adding power to the battery or drawing power from it.

During the evening, when the solar panel was no longer producing anything, we’d naturally be drawing from the battery.

Ed’s goal was to go into every cold night with the battery as close to fully charged as possible.

That gave us the maximum amount of power available for the furnace overnight.

Why the Furnace Uses Battery Power

Our RV furnace burns propane to produce heat.

But it also needs electricity.

The furnace blower runs from the RV’s electrical system.

That meant we couldn’t simply say, “We have plenty of propane, so we’re fine.”

We also had to make sure we had enough battery capacity to keep the furnace blower operating.

In freezing weather, that became one of our biggest electrical priorities.

Lights and electronics were secondary.

Keeping the trailer—and particularly its plumbing—warm mattered more.

Using Our 140-Watt Portable Solar Panel

During the day, we put out our 140-watt Zamp solar suitcase when weather conditions allowed.

In full sunlight, that little portable panel did surprisingly well for us.

Even with the furnace running periodically in roughly 20-degree weather, Ed found that the panel could produce enough electricity to cover the furnace’s electrical demand and still provide a small amount of charging.

It wasn’t a huge surplus.

Sometimes we were only a couple of amps ahead.

That meant we still needed to watch what else we turned on.

If we ran additional electrical equipment while the furnace was operating, we could begin drawing down the battery instead of charging it.

So we prioritized.

Our Generator Filled the Gaps

Solar is wonderful when the sun cooperates.

Winter doesn’t always cooperate.

That’s where our generator came in.

We used a Champion 3,400-watt dual-fuel generator.

Ed initially broke it in using gasoline, but we didn’t want to carry gasoline all the time.

Instead, we primarily operated it from propane.

We carried a third propane tank specifically to help support our generator and supplemental heating needs.

When the battery needed charging and solar couldn’t do the job quickly enough, we’d run the generator.

Our Typical Cold Morning Routine

Our winter mornings developed a pattern.

We tried to make it through the night on the fully charged battery while using our heating system carefully.

Once quiet hours were over—often around 7:00 in the morning—Ed could start the generator.

The generator would begin charging the battery while giving us plenty of electrical capacity for the furnace.

We could warm everything back up comfortably without worrying about draining our battery.

Then, if the weather was clear enough, we’d put out the solar panel.

Once solar production was sufficient, we’d turn off the generator and let the sun continue charging the battery.

The goal was simple:

Get that battery back to full before the next night.

Then we’d start the cycle again.

Supplemental Propane Heat

We also used a small portable propane heater to supplement the RV furnace.

The purpose wasn’t to replace the furnace completely.

It was to reduce how often the furnace needed to run.

That distinction was important for our particular trailer.

Our furnace wasn’t just heating the living space.

It was also helping protect our plumbing.

Why We Still Ran the RV Furnace

Our trailer was a 2012 Keystone Bullet with a thermal package.

We hadn’t really appreciated how valuable that feature was when we bought the trailer used.

We certainly appreciated it once we started camping in freezing weather.

The furnace ductwork ran through the enclosed area underneath the trailer.

When the furnace operated, some of that heat helped protect the plumbing underneath us.

That meant we couldn’t simply heat the living area with a portable heater and never run the furnace.

We needed the furnace to operate periodically.

Keeping ourselves comfortable was only half the problem.

We also needed to keep the RV itself from freezing.

Our Trailer Stayed Surprisingly Warm

One morning, it was around 20°F outside with snow covering the trailer.

Inside?

We’d warmed it to about 74°F.

That thermal package made a noticeable difference for us.

If you’re shopping for an older RV and expect to do cold-weather camping, insulation and cold-weather features are worth investigating.

We didn’t realize how important ours would become when we bought the trailer.

Protecting the Plumbing in Freezing Weather

We also used a few very simple tricks we’d learned from living in colder climates.

One was opening the cabinet doors beneath sinks and around plumbing.

That allowed warmer interior air to circulate into those enclosed spaces.

We did this around the kitchen and bathroom vanity.

We also periodically ran water through the faucets during particularly cold nights.

We didn’t leave them dripping continuously because we were boondocking and didn’t want to waste our limited fresh water.

Instead, every few hours we’d briefly run some water.

Was getting up during the night to do that fun?

No.

But frozen plumbing would have been considerably less fun.

Managing Electricity Means Making Choices

Winter boondocking made us very conscious of how we used electricity.

On one particular day, I went into town to refill propane tanks.

Ed stayed at the trailer with one propane tank connected so the furnace could continue running.

The solar panel was out.

But the solar output was basically covering the electrical demand from the furnace.

That meant there wasn’t much extra power available.

Could Ed have turned on additional equipment?

Yes.

But then the battery would have started losing charge.

So he didn’t.

That’s the part of off-grid living that can be difficult to explain until you’ve done it.

You don’t necessarily have to go without electricity.

You simply need to understand where it’s coming from and where it’s going.

We Didn’t Need an Enormous Solar System

When you’re researching boondocking, it’s easy to become intimidated.

You see RVs with huge battery banks.

There are solar panels covering entire roofs.

There are sophisticated electrical systems costing thousands and thousands of dollars.

Those systems are wonderful.

But they aren’t the only way to boondock.

At the time of this video, we were getting through freezing winter weather with:

One lithium battery.

One 140-watt portable solar panel.

One propane generator.

Our RV furnace.

Supplemental heat.

And careful resource management.

That system wasn’t luxurious.

But it worked for us.

The Most Important Part Was Understanding Our System

The equipment mattered.

But knowing how to use it mattered just as much.

We learned when the generator needed to run.

We learned what our solar panel could realistically provide.

We learned how much power the furnace required.

We knew we wanted a full battery going into the night.

We learned when we could use extra electrical equipment and when we needed to conserve.

And we constantly kept an eye on propane.

Instead of expecting one component to do everything, we made the components work together.

Winter Boondocking Isn’t Completely Hands-Off

There’s definitely more work involved than plugging into a full-hookup campsite.

You may need to:

• Move and position solar panels
• Monitor your battery
• Start and stop the generator
• Refill propane
• Adjust your heat
• Protect plumbing
• Open cabinets
• Keep an eye on the weather
• Make decisions about when to conserve electricity

But we didn’t mind that.

For us, figuring out how to make everything work was part of the adventure.

A Note About Portable Propane Heaters

Our video shows the supplemental propane-heater setup we personally used at the time.

Anyone considering a portable propane heater in an RV should follow the current manufacturer’s instructions and safety requirements for the exact heater they’re using, including requirements involving ventilation, clearances, approved fuel connections and carbon monoxide protection.

Products and recommendations can also change over time.

Our experience describes what we did during this particular trip rather than serving as instructions for how someone else should operate a propane heater.

What We’d Tell Someone Nervous About Winter Boondocking

Don’t assume you need the most elaborate setup on YouTube before you can try boondocking.

Start by understanding what your particular RV needs.

How much battery capacity do you have?

How much electricity does your furnace use?

How much solar can you realistically produce during short winter days?

How will you recharge if the sun doesn’t cooperate?

How much propane are you carrying?

How is your plumbing protected?

How well insulated is your trailer?

Those questions matter more than simply copying somebody else’s equipment list.

Our Second Winter on the Road

By the time we made this video, we were going through our second winter as full-time RVers.

We were still learning.

We certainly didn’t have the fanciest equipment available.

But we’d developed a system that worked for us.

Temperatures around 20 degrees?

We were doing fine.

Temperatures dropping into the teens?

We could manage those too.

We had heat.

Our plumbing was protected.

Our battery made it through the night.

The generator and solar panel brought everything back up the next day.

Then we did it all over again.

That’s winter boondocking.

At least that’s how we did it.

You don’t necessarily need seven batteries and a roof covered with solar panels.

Sometimes you just need enough equipment—and a good understanding of how to make all of it work together.

We’ll see you down the road…and Over the Hills.

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