Going out in cold temps

If indeed you do not have heat going into your bays things could get pretty cold. Your only hope is to add a lightbulb or small heater but care must be taken to avoid starting a fire from either of those being too close to something flamable.

And, as previously mentioned...if you will be boondocking you will need to run the generator 24/7 for your furnace and any heating device down below. Most generators use approx. 1/2 gallon per hour so plan to have plenty of fuel on hand. Your battery bank won't support the load of the furnace and heater running for more than a very short time.


Do a search on winter camping on this website and you'll find more info than you can read in a week!

The best thing winter travelers can do is buy a mini weather station with remote sensors. We keep one sensor in the water/utility bay to monitor the temperature in there. If that reading drops below 32 for more than a couple of hours we put a 60W drop light in there to keep the pump from freezing. That plan has worked for us down to sub-zero. The other sensor is behind the drawer of the generator up front so we have an idea about outdoor temp.

Another area to watch is your ice maker if you have a 2 way absorption/RV type refrigerator. The valve is on the back of unit exposed to outdoor temps and will easily freeze. After replacing 2 of them and realizing we don't like "tank water ice cubes" we took ours out. However you can shut off that water line and drain it so it will not freeze.

One thing you should not do is keep any faucet dripping to prevent freeze ups. I know folks do that in a stick house but all you'll do in an RV is run the pump more and fill up your waste tank. If hooked up to a dump site with the dump valve open it will fill up the dump hose with ice and make it impossible to drain.

Enjoy you winter holiday! If it were me, I'd give it a try but if running the generator is too expensive or a hassle you might have a back up plan--find a nearby RV park.

we have traveled at below zero,we drained everything ,used rv anti freeze for black tank.dash heat for traveling,dry camped a couple times but rv parks are more compfortable. we are usually ok after 2 nights from mt to southern Utah then dewinterize ken

Hi Michelle,

Read the thread I linked to.

Winter Camping

You may have limited power where you are staying. 100 light bulbs on a drop cord may be enough to keep the tanks from freezing.

Leaving the WH on 24.7 will help too.

michelled wrote:
Thanks for all the advice already! The tanks and plumbing are in the enclosed belly (that's what you call a basement, I think, right?). But no, the "basement" isn't heated. I've read that you can put a small space heater down there for extra reassurance. Is that correct?

So here is what I'm thinking (my husband is the person who does all the maintenance, so bear with me if I don't use the correct language):

- Fill the fresh water tank the very last thing before we leave NH
- Put some RV antifreeze in the black and gray water tanks
- Make sure we've insulated any water pipes we can get to
- Have a space heater at the ready to warm the basement if we need to
- Make sure the propane tank is full and be prepared to need more propane
- Dump the tanks on the way home before we hit Northern temps
- Winterize again as soon as we are home (or maybe even before we get home)

Does that plan make sense?

Thanks!

- Michelle

Be careful insulating pipes. The insulation can keep heat from getting to the pipes and they will freeze. Also RV antifreeze is designed not to freeze when full strength. As soon as it is diluted all bets are off. Better to keep a heater in the bay to keep above freezing. A little rock salt in the waste tanks will help too.

The space heater idea works, but you are talking about boondocking, so that means running the generator all the time. If you have electrical plug in at your friends place the space heater may work just fine. As long as you're heating the interior of the motorhome, the exposed piping in the basement area and your holding tanks shouldn't freeze unless it gets really really cold. Heat will radiate from the motorhome into the basement so I'm thinking you're good like that down to temps in the teens. If you're talking 20 below then there's things you have to do.

I don't winterize my motorhome at all in California. I have a space heater with a freeze protect thermostat that kicks on at 40 degrees. I keep that inside the motorhome. I don't do anything to my storage tanks or plumbing in the basement. We get temps into the low to mid 20's and I've never had a problem.

I have endured those temps many times over the years in my 96 Dolphin. Maintaining temp indoors is the key, if you get a cord down to your coach just one electric heater supplements your furnace by reducing cycles. Make sure your generator is working in case lower than normal weather occurs enabling use of more electric space heaters, your propane will last longer. I carry a 60 watt clip on lamp to put near the sewer valves in the basement. In case of snow keep the exhaust cleared and CO monitor working.

Edited to say: Any time you run the furnace you should get some stray heat into the basement.

Thanks for all the advice already! The tanks and plumbing are in the enclosed belly (that's what you call a basement, I think, right?). But no, the "basement" isn't heated. I've read that you can put a small space heater down there for extra reassurance. Is that correct?

So here is what I'm thinking (my husband is the person who does all the maintenance, so bear with me if I don't use the correct language):

- Fill the fresh water tank the very last thing before we leave NH
- Put some RV antifreeze in the black and gray water tanks
- Make sure we've insulated any water pipes we can get to
- Have a space heater at the ready to warm the basement if we need to
- Make sure the propane tank is full and be prepared to need more propane
- Dump the tanks on the way home before we hit Northern temps
- Winterize again as soon as we are home (or maybe even before we get home)

Does that plan make sense?

Thanks!

- Michelle

Tell your husband we said that if Momma ain't happy, nobody is happy and if he values his life he should keep the plumbing going no matter what it takes.

We have traveled in freezing temps a few months and the main thing I do is bring the water hose in at night as it tends to freeze up and then is a problem till it thaws out.

What they said. If the tanks and plumbing are heated and you leave the furnace turned on, you'll be fine provided the propane supply holds out. Just work off of the on-board water system. Unless you have available dump facilities at or near home, you might want to winterize somewhere in Virginia. Flying J on I-81 near Wytheville, Va could accommodate you. Of course you may get better info from someone familiar with an open dump station further north along your route.