Which to comprimise on? Toilet or Heat?

[larkyblast]

I have narrowed down my search to two campers that fall in budget: Cirrus 820 and Northstar Laredo. You might remember my previous thread where I agonised over this. I had eliminated the 820- but have now found one at an blowout price that is only 3 hours away. The Cirrus 720 has everything we want but is out of budget.

We need a camper for winter camping, must have good insulation and thermal windows.The price is almost identical. We do not camp at RV parks, so we will be exclusively without hook ups. I want a cassette toilet for the ease of winter use while the rest of the water is winterized.

The 820 has the Alde heat, better styling and more storage and is local-ish to us. It is heavier and has a traditional black tank. The advantage is the efficiency of the heating system, uses far less battery than traditional furnace. Floors are also heated, much more comfortable than forced air.

The Northstar has traditional furnace, cassette toilet. I really want cassette. It also has a better dinette layout. It is a 7 hour drive so we are seeing sight unseen.

I am waiting to hear back from several RV repair places on pulling out the traditional toilet and putting in a cassette in the 820. It would require cutting an access door in the side of the camper. I've called Alde, the system would be over 3k to buy to retrofit the northstar. I've also looked at Propex, Wave and Truma as options. Propex and Truma are about 1k.

Which do you think is better to compromise on (or more difficult to retrofit)? The Heating system or toilet? We are in Canada, solar is very ineffective in winter and temps are very cold. I want to be as independent as possible and try not to have a generator, so battery usage is key.

[Bionic_Man]

larkyblast wrote:


For winter flushing of the toilet, you winterize your fresh tank then use the antifreeze/washer fluid to flush by adding it manually?

Yes

[joerg68]

Scroll down to Full time RVing on the main page. There is a Winter Camping sticky there in the first position.

https://forums.trailerlife.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/listings/forum/33.cfm

[larkyblast]

pianotuna wrote:
A wise choice!

Do read the full time forum on winter camping.

Where is the winter camping forum? On this site? I can't seem to find it in the topics. Thanks for the tip!

[larkyblast]

Thanks everyone! We pick up our camper on saturday. I'll report back once we get settled in.
I am really nervous about the weight since it's much heavier than I wanted to go, and in a fantasy land I'd still like to tow my small horse trailer with one horse, but I'll cross that bridge later. The price was just so much less than the lighter campers I was looking at. I'm confident we can still tow our small aluminum flat deck sled trailer that I can move by hand.
I am already planning some mods to cut weight like removing the enormously oversized microwave. At least the transfer of stuff from our existing camper is lightweight; a few pillows, a tupperware of plastic dishes and a few lawn chairs, we travel light.

For winter flushing of the toilet, you winterize your fresh tank then use the antifreeze/washer fluid to flush by adding it manually? This unit does have heated tanks but I'm very leary to use them since it gets really cold here, I can't imagine how cold the camper could get while driving at highway speeds when the air temp is -20.

[hedge]

I'll be interested to hear your feedback on how the heating system works in the winter. I like the idea but don't have any experience with it.

[Wardster]

Bionic Man wrote:
Get the one with traditional toilet and use washer fluid or RV antifreeze to flush it.

This is what we do and it works great.

[jimh406]

If you winterize the lines with RV antifreeze ... not poisonous windshield washer fluid, you can flush like normal. In my area, it’s about $2 a gallon if you look around. Sure, you may have to look for a sunny/warmer day to dump, but I haven’t really had an issue. The question though is ... are your dump stations open in Winter where you live. I can cheat since I can dump at home. If you blow out lines, then you can flush with a gallon of fluid, but that’s quite a bit more of a hassle. In other words, there are viable alternatives to cassettes which have their own issues and can freeze as well.

Many commercial RV parks will allow you to dump even if you don’t stay there for a fee. I’d call around and find out when they are open.

[Grit_dog]

I don't think you compromised at all.
Never have really ad trouble finding a dump site. Winter is a different story though, so that could be a consideration, but I have no desire to pack and dump 5 gallon cans of ____ in a toilet! Uuurp!!
Find a sewer or septic clean out somewhere you can use when dump stations are closed or the local turd farm (sewer treatment plant).
Awesome choice in campers, love the look of Cirrus campers.

[maxum1989]

larkyblast wrote:
Thanks! We've decided to go with the one with the better heating system and make the toilet work.
We did look at northern lite but a bit too expensive for us.

You made the correct decision in my opinion. There are several ways of dealing with the toilet for winter use. Simplest is as mentioned already, use window washer fluid or rv antifreeze to flush, which ever is cheaper at the time needed. Can even water it down some depending on how cold it really is. Very difficult to aftermarket a heating system as good as the Alde.

[pianotuna]

A wise choice!

Do read the full time forum on winter camping.

larkyblast wrote:
Thanks! We've decided to go with the one with the better heating system and make the toilet work.
We did look at northern lite but a bit too expensive for us.

[Lwiddis]

Just because a TC has a black tank doesn't mean you can't use a cassette. Handy to use the one you choose based on temperature.

[jaycocreek]

hedgehopper wrote:

RickW wrote:
A porta potty is a portable, smaller "cassette", easy to store, cheaper alternative for winter camping. Put it in the shower and drain the TC water supply. If you need more capacity, buy two and just carry the second cassette.

We have owned two porta potties. Both worked fine for liquid waste. But neither worked for solid waste.

I also have two Porta Portties and have never had an issue with solid waste..I use them especially in the winter..I blow out the line's and use bottled or jugs of water and ofcourse,the Porta Potties...Combined with the catalytic heater,it makes winter camping a breeze.

[hedgehopper]

RickW wrote:
A porta potty is a portable, smaller "cassette", easy to store, cheaper alternative for winter camping. Put it in the shower and drain the TC water supply. If you need more capacity, buy two and just carry the second cassette.

We have owned two porta potties. Both worked fine for liquid waste. But neither worked for solid waste.

[larkyblast]

Thanks! We've decided to go with the one with the better heating system and make the toilet work.
We did look at northern lite but a bit too expensive for us.