We survived the Polar Vortex in our OEV Summit

Trail Talk

Well-known member
On a mad whim, we picked up our Summit from Overland Explorer Vehicles last week and headed straight for Banff National Park to spend a week at Lake Louise campground during the coldest days of the year when nights dropped to -38C and daytime highs maybe creeped up to -20C. OEV had just installed an Airhead separating toilet and also promised a final fix for our leaking hydronics. This adventure would test both.
 

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Trail Talk

Well-known member
The Airhead is a winner for us. Being "dry" we didn't worry about freezing waste water. The installation was accomplished by OEV, running the exhaust fan out the old cassette toilet access door.

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The hydronics also worked without any leaks for the first time! OEV reworked the valves so now we have four 2-ways instead of two 3-ways. On the truck circuit, we were able to heat the cabin from the engine while driving, or reverse the flow and heat the truck engine with the Webasto before starting. Once settled, we turned the valves and the Webasto was dedicated to the cabin circuit only. As we were on shore power at the campground, we ran an electric space heater during the day, while we were out, and overnight while sleeping. We fired up the Webasto during the evenings and early mornings. With both sources of heat, we had no trouble maintaining a comfortable inside temperature but moisture was an unavoidable issue. Running the fan while cooking helped a great deal but the large overhead Bomar window had to be wiped free of ice often.

Our plans for post-covid involve winter travel off grid so our take-away from this experience is that a supplemental source of heat will be required when temps drop this low and the electric space heater isn't an option. We have a Mr. Buddy but fear that would introduce too much moisture.

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Blowby

Member
Those are some seriously cold temps!Not sure I would be as brave as you guys in temps like that,but nice to hear how your experiences with your OEV is working out.
 

gdaut

Active member
Nice photos and a nice looking camper. FWIW, I have an XP (now Nimbl) camper with a Webasto Dualtop. I and other Nimbl owners often camp in the winter and find the Webasto sufficient to keep the camper warm and comfortable. Granted, the temps are not usually as extreme as you experienced, but I would guess those temps would be an exception for you as well, so you should be OK with just the Webasto for heat.
 

lbarcher

Adventurer
Those temps are expected up here but every so often we get a winter without them.
Those conditions are what make me shake my head when people from other places talk about winter.
 
Looks like you are leaving all your drawer and cabinet door latches open when you are parked? I'm curious about the story behind this - it seems like a perfect "catch something" opportunity as you move around the habitat.
 

Trail Talk

Well-known member
Granted, the temps are not usually as extreme as you experienced, but I would guess those temps would be an exception for you as well, so you should be OK with just the Webasto for heat.

I'm not comfortable with just one heat source, especially at extreme temps when things tend to break more easily. On this trip we carried three! While I admit that in a campground near civilization this is overkill, but up north there isn't much traffic and no cellular signal so you are on your own.
 

waveslider

Outdoorsman
Agree to at least having two heat sources and in our case the truck itself would be considered a third.

Curious as to what did you carry as a backup? I just have a little buddy propane heater since I carry few small bottles for use with our infrared bbq grill.

We didn’t have anything close to your minus 30f but at zero degrees the furnace was definitely working overtime.
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Trail Talk

Well-known member
Agree to at least having two heat sources and in our case the truck itself would be considered a third. Curious as to what did you carry as a backup? I just have a little buddy propane heater since I carry few small bottles for use with our infrared bbq grill.

Nice rig and awesome photo! Sounds like we have a similar heating plan. Without shore power our main source is the Webasto hydronic circuit, with a Little Buddy as a back-up. Truck hydronic circuit is used to heat the cabin while driving and can be a back-up heat source if necessary. With shore power, the electric heater can supplement the Webasto or used as stand-alone if mild enough. Last resort - propane cooktop :eek:
 

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