Yesterday, the temperature dropped rapidly from the 50s to the 30s over just a couple of hours. We knew this was coming, but not so soon, so we scrambled to fill up a couple of water jugs before things froze in case our water supply from the house got cut off. I’d topped off our diesel supply the day before, and now the diesel heater is the only thing making existence in the van possible in these low temperatures. Fortunately, it’s working perfectly. Its so-called “thermostat” is terrible, so I’ve taken manual control over which of the five heat output settings it’s running. Last night was the first time I’ve ever needed anything more than the lowest setting to sustain a comfortable sleeping temperature overnight.
Though the indoor temperature reads a comfortable 70, it’s much colder down near the floor. I didn’t add insulation there because I didn’t need it for milder desert temperatures. I also didn’t buy LiFePO4 batteries with built-in heaters. They can’t take a charge below freezing without damaging them, but I never planned to put them into temperatures that cold. Well, things have changed, and I regret not getting the built-in heaters. My mom had suggested putting a light down in the electrical compartment to keep them warm, the way she used to keep pipes from freezing. Nearly all lights these days are LED and don’t generate heat, but I managed to pick up a work lamp and a small heat bulb for a lizard cage to point at the batteries. Thanks to the Bluetooth interface in each battery, I know they’re currently holding steady at 37º and 41º. They’re okay for now, but I don’t want them getting any colder. Without the lamp, there’s a good chance my batteries would be too cold to take a charge by now.
All of these things are technical issues resulting from not planning to ever be in temperatures this cold. My main reason for that, not wanting to drive my home in the snow, is still not a problem. The van can remain parked here indefinitely until the snow is gone. Arkansas doesn’t salt their roads, so my home still won’t turn into a rustbucket from driving on them the way my last one did. It’s really just a matter of figuring out how to make up for the van’s cold weather shortcomings for a few days until temperatures return to what I’m now used to dealing with later this week. Sure, that’s supposed to bring a winter storm and some snow with it, but that’s not actually a problem since it’ll be warmer. I just have to remember to brush the snow off my solar panels, something else I’ve never had to do before.
I never intended this van to ever see snow, but I also never intended to meet a wonderful woman in the desert and marry her. Now, both of those things have happened. She’s worth going through these technical challenges for. Winters here are short, especially compared to the six-month winters I escaped in New England. These are temporary setbacks. I’m learning as I go, and this will be the only winter we’ll be living in the van here in Arkansas. We plan to be living in the tiny house up on the hill by next winter, which will be designed to handle the conditions here. The van can go into winter storage mode, where the house batteries are disconnected, avoiding the problems of charging in cold temperatures. In the future, it could still take us back to the Arizona desert for the coldest part of the year, where we know it works just fine as designed.
Smokey Da Van 