Trip report: Yosemite in Snow
The big news is that the water lines and tank did not freeze -- we recirculated the hot water into the tank. (There is a link in the blog post on the crude method we used to do that.) Anyway, if y...
Forum Discussion
Cal, the only difference between too cold and too hot is that we can put on a lot of clothing in very cold weather and still stay comfortable. In the heat, there is a limit to the amount of disrobing one can do! Also, in the cold we can run the heat at showertime without firing up the generator. In the heat, you'd need a big generator running all the time to run the air conditioning.
On the other hand, sitting outside at night is much nicer in a warm place than in the snow!
Launch, I personally would not run a hose directly from the water heater to the fill pipe -- that would sabotage the "safety" portion of the safety relief pressure valve. The other problem is that you would have to go outside to turn on the hot water recirculation. With my very crude technique (a hose running from the kitchen faucet to the fill pipe through the outdoor shower access door), I can run the hot water into the fresh tank without going outside. And it only takes a moment to unhook the hose from the faucet, and the hose drains and is then stored under the sink in the cabinet, without dripping.
As I have said before, though, if you were someone who camps many nights a year in subfreezing conditions, my primitive device would not be adequate. You'd want a thermostatically controlled valve running from the hot water line to the fill pipe, all properly and permanently plumbed, inside the RV. But for someone like me, who camps in freezing weather maybe ten nights a year at most, my cheap little hose will do the job.
On the other hand, sitting outside at night is much nicer in a warm place than in the snow!
Launch, I personally would not run a hose directly from the water heater to the fill pipe -- that would sabotage the "safety" portion of the safety relief pressure valve. The other problem is that you would have to go outside to turn on the hot water recirculation. With my very crude technique (a hose running from the kitchen faucet to the fill pipe through the outdoor shower access door), I can run the hot water into the fresh tank without going outside. And it only takes a moment to unhook the hose from the faucet, and the hose drains and is then stored under the sink in the cabinet, without dripping.
As I have said before, though, if you were someone who camps many nights a year in subfreezing conditions, my primitive device would not be adequate. You'd want a thermostatically controlled valve running from the hot water line to the fill pipe, all properly and permanently plumbed, inside the RV. But for someone like me, who camps in freezing weather maybe ten nights a year at most, my cheap little hose will do the job.
