First winter overnight in the RTT on R1T

[Andystroh]

Hi, just wanted to share our experience with the rooftop tent in the winter. We have an FSR high country series 55" softshell rooftop tent, with insulated walls (website description: 3 Layers of 150D Poly-Oxford with 60g/M2 Poly-fil). We largely picked this one to explore overnight trips in the winter due to the insulated walls, minimal overhangs that would hold snow and the quick setup for a softshell tent.

In October we took it out and the temp dropped to the high 20s, and we noticed we were not all that comfortable in the tent outside our sleeping bags. For this trip we picked up a 1500W Space heater (link) to see if the heater + insulated tent material would keep it comfortable to hang out in when the sun drops early this time of year.

Temps were around 10 degrees when we set the tent up, and we stayed up for a few hours using the heater in the tent. With the heater running, we could hang out in the tent without jackets - I was just in the base layers I sleep in my bag in. We were pretty happy about this, since we could play cards or watch netflix or whatever else without needing to be buried in the bags.

The mattress was insulated enough that we stayed warm in our 0 degree bags overnight. We should have opened up the windows some more after we turned the heater off because we had pretty bad condensation (not a shock). Moisture management has always been a challenge camping in the winter, we are going to experiment on future trips with how to deal with it. For one night it wasn't much of an issue but if we had to fold it up and use it again it might not have been pleasant. If anyone has got moisture management recommendations for rooftop tents I am open to hearing them.

I was planning on posting details on the draw, for the two hours at night we ran the heater it seemed to use about 3kW or so (According to the trip energy usage values), but we had some funny percentages in the morning - a drop of like 10% overnight, that then recovered several percentage points after a short drive in the morning, and did not align with the energy usage displayed in the trip details, so I am not too confident in those details. But overall we are satisfied with the results.

Only took one photo unfortunately, but here is the tent with Winter Park in the background.

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[Inkedsphynx]

Could you get a small de-humidifier to run in the RTT?

 

[Andystroh]

Could you get a small de-humidifier to run in the RTT?

Probably could. We will explore opening up some windows first, because once the heater is off it got pretty cold inside and I don't think that the insulation helped us too much during the night, but if that doesn't work we may look into a fan or dehumidifier.

 

[jjswan33]

A heated blanket to run during the night would up the ante, they use very little energy. Won't solve the condensation issue though.

 

[av8or]

If you can stand going to the gas station, I hear diesel heaters work well drying the air while running and it would definitely draw less juice.

 

[Andystroh]

A heated blanket to run during the night would up the ante, they use very little energy. Won't solve the condensation issue though.

Yeah the heated blanket is a good idea. If we are going out and its forcast to be closer to or below zero we might have to get one, I couldn't go much colder in my bag.

If you can stand going to the gas station, I hear diesel heaters work well drying the air while running and it would definitely draw less juice.

Definitely have friends with vans that like the diesel heaters. I am going to try to keep it limited to the battery for fuel but that is a good idea.

 

[atebit]

Dehumidifier might solve both problems, the one I use in the summer in my garage outputs a lot of warm (dry) air.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Technically not winter yet

 

[Andystroh]

Technically not winter yet

lol after I posted this that did cross my mind. I operate in terms of:
powder skiing = winter
Corn skiing = spring
skiing not worth it (in Colorado) = summer

 

[Madsen203]

I second the diesel heater option. There is combined AIO units on eBay for cheap. Pipe in the heat. A 5-8kw system should suffice in sub freezing temperatures. They sip
Fuel too.

 

[av8or]

I second the diesel heater option. There is combined AIO units on eBay for cheap. Pipe in the heat. A 5-8kw system should suffice in sub freezing temperatures. They sip
Fuel too.

I check out the f150 lightning forum on occasion, someone on there mounted a diesel heater and plumbed it into his cab for more winter range. ?‍ I guess whatever works.

 

[Madsen203]

I check out the f150 lightning forum on occasion, someone on there mounted a diesel heater and plumbed it into his cab for more winter range. ?‍ I guess whatever works.

Dollar to dollar, it’s cheaper to heat with diesel than electricity. Although that is a dumb idea there. Stepping over a dollar to pick up a nickel.

 

[Tonicart]

Could you get a small de-humidifier to run in the RTT?

I wonder if a bucket of dessicant would work... (Damp-rid)

 

[iansriv]

Wow! That is incredible! And here I am being apprehensive about going camping in normal conditions once I get my R1.

 

[Revtruk]

I just spent 3 nights car camping solo in my R1T in a snow storm at Mammoth Lakes CA. I'm 5'6" and fit okay across the bench seat. I used a 4 season bag rated for Temps to 0F which was warm enough & had additional blankets if needed but I felt fine despite temps under 10F. I vented a window for air and hopes to reduce condensation but still woke up to plenty of inside ice window build up. However, the Warm window defroster worked really well at clearing the ice fast. I didn't do anything for condensation build up on the glass roof so that sucked, I left it all 3 days and since the roof was covered in snow it didn't get warm enough to drip much. Thanks for suggesting dehumidifier and electric blanket ideas.

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