Camping in a pop up with no heat in January?

[NicInNC]

We soon leave for Disney and I have several off-site hotels that have rooms avaliable, but someone at my work today went on and on about Ft. Wilderness and how much they loved it. I checked and there are campsites available. We own a pop-up and it has air conditioning, but no heat. I'm wondering if it would be too cold to camp in it in January.

 

[campingcorgi]

Get one of those ceramic heaters and I bet you'll be fine. We use one in our rv instead of the regular heat and it is plenty.

 

[drafthorsecrazy]

You most likely will have some cool nights in Jan. Dont let that stop you from camping. Simply buy an electric space heater for your camper. We use one often while camping at the fort during winter months. The temperatures can vary alot in Jan. Some days can top out around 70-80 degrees daytime with lows in 50's. Or there may be 50degree highs with lows around 32 at night. Plan for everything.

 

[NicInNC]

I just had another idea pop into my head....electric blankets!

I'm currently trying to make our reservations, but the Disney site is giving me a fit.

 

[TheGreatGonzo]

Definately bring a ceramic space heater. If you also bring a #12 heavy duty extention cord (something rated at least 16 to 18 amps) you can use it to plug the heater directly into the power post, I'm pretty sure they have two 20 amp circuits there so you won't blow the breakers. Also electric blankets or electric materss pads may be a consideration as the bunk ends may still get chilly due to poor airflow from the heater and no insulation in the fabric of the roof and walls. I've done this many times with my PUP and never had to start the factory furnace once, even in below freezing temperatures.

 

[LarryJ]

Definately bring a ceramic space heater. If you also bring a #12 heavy duty extention cord (something rated at least 16 to 18 amps) you can use it to plug the heater directly into the power post, I'm pretty sure they have two 20 amp circuits there so you won't blow the breakers.

If you're staying in a full hookup site, I'm currently in the 1600 loop and just checked the 20amp circuits and there is one 20 amp circuit breaker for both the standard grounded plugs. Not sure about the partial hook up sites, but I bet they just have the two standard grounded plugs on a single 20A breaker so you could run your trailer into one and a separate one for just the space heater. A standard 16 Ga 50' cord should be rated for 13 amps which is enough for most space heaters.

Larry

 

[PolynesianPixie]

We were there last week and only needed heat once~but boy, we needed it! Bring layers to wear, ceramic heater, electric blankets, socks, hats, gloves~you never know! Hey, it's WDW! You'll have a blast whatever the weather! I bet you'll be hooked on FtW, too! Request the 1500 loop~it's a lot closer to stuff than the other pop-up (2000) loop.

 

[NicInNC]

I just made the reservations online and paid our site deposit!!!!!!! I'm now on the phone with them though because it didn't give me an option to request a loop or site number. Is it supposed to? They're having trouble finding my reservation #. I've got it right in front of me. I printed the confirmation screen and all.

 

[AuburnJen92]

You will have to fax your request in. I am sure someone here has the phone number. I can't find it under all this mess on my computer desk right now.

 

[mamaloya]

We camped last Dec in a popup with no heater. It did have a heat strip in the roof a/c which helped distribute the heat from our ceramic heater. We also bought wool blankets from the Mexican pavillion in Epcot. It was chilly but great. We are now in a TT and I miss the canvas little bit. It is also much easier to get a ressie at the last minute in a popup. Next month we are heading down and will be in our TT plus the teen boys in a tent. We will have the heater for them along with the wool blankets.

Oh, I also hung blankets on the support bar on the end to keep out the wind. Heated mattress pads would have made it a lot more comfy though. I am so glad you are going. You will love the fort!!!

Happy camping!!!

 

[lobogildisneys]

Electric heaters (try it out in the store to make sure the noise doesn't bother you) and if it's predicted to be REALLY cold, get 2. One will need to be plugged in directly to your power pole at Ft. Wilderness via a heavy duty (not household) extension cord (you can run it up through the canvas/vinyl where it's velcroed or bungeed into the inside of the camper. The reason for 2 separate lines if 2 heaters is it will trip your breaker otherwise.
You don't say what year etc your camper is, but most now are 30A and the older ones were only 15A. The power poles at Ft. Wilderness have 50A,30A and 15A on some not all . (never a problem no matter as hockey puck adapters (nicknamed for their shape versus the dogbone adapters (so called for their shape also and considered safer and better ) are okay for a few days use and cheap, available lots of places including Walmart. Just do not use a 14 gauge regular extension for the second heater.
If you want to really keep warm, you can't beat also adding Reflectix material inserts to your windows and (some say yes some say no on this next item) reflective covers on the bunk end tops reversed with the shiny side down.
As always, you will still need a small opening (couple of inches ) on each bunkend end window to avoid condensation if it's cold (the air you breathe out is warmer ergo condensation) or small fan circulating does the same.
There are also very effective heaters called Mr Buddy . One size takes one of the small propane cylinders. Another size they offer takes two. You are safe in the popup camper to run these because no popup is totally airtight of course and the new models have safety tipovers and oxygen sensor warnings.
Do not put any heater of any kind on a soft surface such as a cushioned seat or carpeting.
There are several websites dedicated to camping with specific areas for popup campers and complete websites dedicated to popups as well. Since you have one, you will find them of interest most likely not only for this situation.
Check out popupexplorer [dot com], popuptimes [dot com] and others; just do a 'search' the first one listed is considered to be the most helpful by some (you do not have to register to read but do have to register to post)
Do not use an electric blanket if you have a pet.
There are many choices of sleeping bags rated to -40 degrees effective and many more options I would suggest, but these so far should give you the answers you need I believe.
We spend considerable time several trips each year at Ft.Wilderness and 5 years ago in January, a young couple camped in an old popup next to us knocked on the door of our RV around 8pm and said they were just wondering if we had an extra blanket or two they could borrow as the weather had unexpectedly gotten much colder, indeed it was downright very cold by FL standards for a few days then. Even though our bedding and furnace were the most we had ever needed for any time we needed heat, we did keep 2 sleeping bags in storage in our RV for grandkids visiting and the like.. We gave those to the young couple and one of the two 1500watt electric ceramic heaters we kept stored as well for extra use if needed for emergency(electric out/propane out emergencies) The next morning early around 7am we took our dinghy and left for the day to do some things. The couple next to us appeared to be still in bed since their popup and tow vehicle, a van, were still there looking the same , and we had assumed they were warm with what we gave them to use for the night or nights that they needed since they didn't knock on the door again. We returned to our site around 6pm that night. The young couple and their popup were gone. And so were our sleeping bags and heater. My wife and I still laugh about it now years later, as all they had to have done was come to us and say thanks, that really helped us , we'll have to get a heater like that and maybe warmer sleeping bags -and we would most likely have said Keep them, we'd like to help you and it's not a big deal. But stealing is a different issue but what goes around usually comes around somehow.

 

[lobogildisneys]

A standard 16 Ga 50' cord should be rated for 13 amps which is enough for most space heaters.

Do NOT use a 16 gauge cord (much less 50' of it and outside) for this purpose.

Original poster, go to your walmart kmart ace mennards truevalue whatever- look at the outside cords -read the gauge - and- if you like color guides here it is-

* think YELLOW for the cheaper than BLACK but still safe, *

* orange in some instances acceptable but not recommended for running a 1500 watt heater (standard wattage for portable heaters whether ceramic or not) *

*Think brown, white, green - NOT GOOD.*

 

[TheGreatGonzo]

The reason most of us are so adamant about the cord size is because a 1500 watt heater draws 12.5 amps of power. When you use an extension cord you should try to not go over 80% of the amp rating of the cord. Also on longer cords there is line loss which also affects the cord. We would hate to see the cord overheat and cause some damage.

 

[SunshineCamper]

Jan. 2 is calling for freezing temps. It's 84 degrees today

 

[Fish Almighty]

We have a pop-up with the heat strip too, but it won't heat the camper very well. We have a small space heater, but based on the weather report for next week, we went ahead and bought a larger model and a heavy-duty cord.

A couple of years ago we camped with temperatures in the teens, and it got mighty cold in the pop-up at night. Just bring lots of blankets!

Here's the forecast for next week (Dec 31 - Jan 4)... Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday nights will be chilly... perfect camping weather!

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Monday...Partly cloudy. Patchy fog early in the morning. Highs in the upper 70s. North winds around 5 mph becoming northeast 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Monday Night...Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s.

New Years Day...Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s.

Tuesday Night...Partly cloudy in the evening...then clearing and turning colder. Lows in the lower 40s.

Wednesday...Sunny and cooler. Highs in the mid 50s.

Wednesday Night...Clear and cold. Lows in the mid 30s.

Thursday...Sunny and cool. Highs in the lower 60s.

Thursday Night...Clear and cool. Lows in the lower 40s.

Friday...Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 60s.

 

[NicInNC]

Fishalmighty,

I have family in Acworth, GA. Are you far from there?

I get VERY cold at night for some reason, so temps in the 40's are going to hurt me. I'm definentally going to buy electric blankets. I think that will help a lot.

Temps in the 60's during the day sounds perfect though.