I own 40 acres of recreational land that is a 20 minute drive from Tawas City, MI in the northern lower peninsula. We boondock on my land regularly, up through late November and Early December. Consumers Energy wants $7,800 to pull a line 100 feet from across the road, and drop a single pole. Don't get me started. . . .
I figured I could buy a lot of generator for that. 10 years ago I bought a Honda EI-2000. It is very quiet. It will not operate the AC in the summer, but runs everything else when needed. I bought a plastic dog house and put a couple cabinet handles on it to ease the regular opening and closing of that when the generator is inside. I added some plywood to the dog house front that diverts the exhaust sound 90 degrees, away from the trailer. The doghouse is placed far away from the trailer, and I use a very heavy duty extension cord to reach it. I also have made a steel cable that I loop around a tree and through the generator's handle to prevent it from growing legs over night or while away from camp. The Honda has a switch that makes it run at 50%, quieting it down a lot. That said, if the weather is cold we run it all night to avoid draining the battery from the furnace fan. We do not run the generator at night when the weather is good and the windows are open.
We have converted from the normal bulbs to the LED lights. Mine are the cheapo blue ones that my G.F. does not care for but I think are fine. I could have upgraded to the "warm" ones but they cost a lot more at the time I converted. They may be less now. I got the blueish ones off Ebay for 50 cents each as a I recall.
Temperatures can drop into the 50's even in summer as you know. It typically is in the 20s or even less when we are hunting in November. At someone else's suggestion on this site I went to Walmart and bought a full size Sunbeam electric heated mattress pad to put onto the queen bed. Our queen mattress is shorter than a household mattress, so I went with a full size pad for the correct length. I turn that onto setting 5 or so a while before bed, then drop it to its lowest setting. It keeps the bed toasty without making the generator run on its higher setting (which is louder).
If you will be camping when it is snowing I suggest that you retract the awning. The predicted inch of snow turned into several inches, sagging the awning to the point we could not get out the door. I had to use a bail-out window then drop the awning edge to unload the snow.
I installed a tiny accumulator tank next to the pump to limit it's on/off cycles.
when we have company they sleep in the bunks in sleeping bags. I recently got a complaint that the windows were drafty and cold when it was in the teens. I think next winter I may either seal the windows with one of those kits sold in a hardware store, or try applying bubble wrap as an insulator.
I routinely leave the grey water tank valve cracked open to prevent it from freezing. I drain it after someone takes a shower. Black water is trickier. We typically drain that as needed into a blue tank, waiting until it's a warm sunny afternoon, as the black tank and valves are to the southwest.
For fresh water refills I bought a fresh water bladder kit from Camping World. It reminds me of an infant-size waterbed that holds 45 gallons. It is placed onto my hart top truck bed cover, and I create a siphon to transfer the refill water to the fresh water tank. If I leave the trailer during the week and freezing weather is expected a re-winterize everything with red-pop, draining the hot water tank (yes - it has a bypass installed) and fresh water. The extra gallons that the refill bladder holds is enough to purge the red-pop upon our return.
Oh - we have a "no shoes / boots " rule inside. Those come off and sit on a mat by the front door, to limit the ice water and mud inside.
When boondocking in late fall and winter we have found that the amount of outerwear is a real problem. I tried regular coat hooks but they would pull out. I recently bought several of the new heavy duty Command hooks from Meijers. they are white, matching the trim inside, and hold 7.5 pounds. I put four hooks up by the front door, two back by the bunks, and two up in the master bedroom. They are great to hang up the bibs and heavy coats from everyone even when we had four staying in the 27 foot trailer.
I also learned many years ago that the ground can get challenging when wet. I leave my trailer for three weeks on my land in mid November into early December. I have had tires and stabilizer pads sink into the ground a bit and freeze in place. T o solve that I bought a 2" x 12" x 10' treated board, and had it cut in half to park the tires upon. I use a couple smaller 1' square plywood pads under the stabilizer pads. If they are frozen to the
ground when I go to pull the trailer then I'll retrieve then the following spring.
I hope this helps.
