How to live in a travel trailer?

I still think, were I in your shoes dsb, I'd buy an old trailer house from this spring's grads. You'll have more space, spend about the same amount of money and not have to worry about hookups and hassles

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

And make sure you winterize whatever you buy. Travel trailers are notorious for freezing the pipes.... Good luck!

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http://tubbsfarmstead.com/

You cannot live in a travel trailer in the Detroit area during the winter. It is too cold.

Find a room. You should be able to find someone who rents a bedroom or two in their house with kitchen privileges. This would be a much warmer, not to mention safer, alternative.

My son in law house sat during the school year for people who were snowbirds. He went to MIT downtown, the house was on one of the little lakes. A nice situation. Talk to students who are locals. They may have grandparents or other relatives who would like a house sitter while they are in Florida.

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Nothing is as strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength - St. Francis de Sales

Yeah, I'd think it too cold to live in an RV in Michigan during the winter. If anything, it's just not cost effective. I shudder to think of how much propane you would burn just to stay warm. And, you'd probably build up ice and moisture inside. I've got a 4 seasons 35' 5th wheel which is made for full-timing. It's quite comfortable for a single guy and his dog. The kitchen is plenty large for cooking, but admittedly I'd like something bigger since I enjoy cooking and rarely eat out.

The toilet issue spoken of is easily remedied if one remembers to always have water in the black tank, and to be generous in its use. There's a certain way you want to dump the black tanks, too. When I am on full hookups, I leave the grey tank open all the time, but leave the black closed. When the black water tank gets near full, it's mostly liquid. I make sure to close the grey tank before I am going to dump the black, and take a shower and do dishes. Then, the grey tank has a lot of water in it. I dump the black tank, then follow it up with dumping the grey. It cleans everything out. My 5th wheel also has a flushing system for the tanks.

Williston, North Dakota is full of them right now.
I doubt Detroit is any colder than North Dakota...

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

I have a fully contained slide-in Lance camper on the back of my pickup - it has everything I would need to live in it - refrigerator, stove , furnance, freezer, etc. - it also has a generator so I can run the microwave and charge the battery - everything runs on propance - I use it to go hunting and fishing - I know if I had to I could live in it full time - I could park it anywhere - even in shopping centers - truck stops .etc - can always move it if I have to - now if you can't arrange something that is at least somewhat confortable I would then rent some place and live in it while I go to college - there are times that going in debt is the thing to do - as long as it is for something worthwhile - good luck -

Oh - I forgot - you could even park it in the school's parking lot -

I heard, "You can't live in a travel trailer in the cold!" from several people on this forum.

I'm doing it. I have a trailer built for it. Is the propane a bit spendy? Yeah, sure, but it would still be cheaper than renting an apartment. I do keep the thermostat as low as I can without having the pipes freeze.

The key is getting a trailer designed for cold weather and meant to be lived in. Your average weekend warrior rig isn't going to cut it. Mine's a mid 90's Avion fifth wheel and does just fine in the cold.

It's about 25 degrees out, with 30-40mph winds. The furnace is kicking on maybe once an hour, if that.

I've heard of people spending over $750 per month on propane in arctic cold. You could rent a place cheaper.

Two things, we have no problems with septic or gray water stinking or plugging up. I use a bio-degradable solution that prevents that at least not in 16 years.

As for cold we lived in ours in Northeastern Nevada,(Elko NV) with temps to -20 degrees at night with a day time warm up to the lo +20s. I skirted the trailer with 1/2" R-Max insulation & heat tape outside water. I put a 75w light under the trailer. It is amazing how much heat a light bulb puts off.As for pipes freezing the nice thing with pex is it doesn't break like the grey pipe or copper.
But I will say it is a full-time job at those temps having a oil filled heater on all the time is a must.

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"Contempt prior to investigation can leave a man in forever ignorance"
My paraphrase from a Herbert Spencer quote.

Bette and I lived in a 34 foot travel trailer a keystone sprinter for over two years before I got the house were we could live in it. we had three dogs at the time too and she used a old ringer washer for the clothes. the only problem we had was the hot water system didn't make enough hot water. we were hooked up to electricity, water and sewer. I put in while we were building.