How long freezing?

I live in mine but use space heaters as much as possible and not the furnace that heats the tanks and pipes. I have a heated hose so my outside connection isn't a problem till below 15 when the spigot tends to freeze up. I can handle down to 20 degrees for a night or two and won't freeze even if the high temp only gets to 35ish, but more than that or much lower than that and the pipes on the RV start to freeze. If the furnace is on then I never have a problem with the RV.

DownTheAvenue wrote:

John&Joey wrote:
In my part of the world the third night freeze you'll have damage.

This is very interesting. Freezing temperatures for the first two nights don't freeze water but the third night, it does. And all this time I thought that water always froze at 32 degrees regardless whether it was night or day and how many days it was.

I guess in your part of the world, you have to fill your ice trays, but them in the freezer, the next day empty the water out of the trays and do this three times before you have ice!

Very interesting.

No, your cynical side got the best of you. What happens is everything retains heat, houses, garages, RV's. That residual heat keeps things protected that first night freeze, maybe even the second, but never the third "in my part of the world." By the third night freeze the RV will be cold to begin with so the freeze will occur sooner and last longer before the sun warms things up once again. This is the night the water will expand and crack plumbing.

I guess in your part of the world, you find it more important to show your smarts, then help someone on the forum with an answer. I see you never did give the OP what he was asking for just BS to me. That also is very interesting.

We travel mostly in the Winter with temps down to, and occasionally below, zero. We only hook up to shore water and sewer to empty our waste and fill the fresh water tank again.
We do not use our furnace very often and rely on electric heaters for comfort. If it looks like it is going to be below freezing, we have a thermostatically controlled incandescent light that will come on in the wet compartment that has always prevented any frozen pipes.
Basically for us it seems to be that if it is warm enough inside the coach for human comfort, we have never worried about any of our water lines freezing.
I should add that our experience is based on our Monaco RV. Not all RV's are created equal and not all RV's may have the same insulation for the water lines or wet compartments. Only experience, trial and error, may tell you how your coach does in cold weather.

We are around Knoxville and they said 28 tonight so I went out and filled our water tank and put hose away. The host said our pipes are covered you should be fine . But I will sleep better tonight knowing it is unhooked .Cant wait till we get to Naples 87 today.

Do you really wanna dance with Murphy.

At 32* or the prediction of 32* I winterize. No guessing.

I lucked out one time many years ago it got down to 25* and nothing froze.

It comes down to, if you do not have a leak you do not have a problem.

TLI too little information.If the plumbing is PEX it is a bit more flexible and less likely to crack, fittings a bit more vulnerable.

John&Joey wrote:
In my part of the world the third night freeze you'll have damage.

This is very interesting. Freezing temperatures for the first two nights don't freeze water but the third night, it does. And all this time I thought that water always froze at 32 degrees regardless whether it was night or day and how many days it was.

I guess in your part of the world, you have to fill your ice trays, but them in the freezer, the next day empty the water out of the trays and do this three times before you have ice!

Very interesting.

When water freezes, it expands. Water freezes at 32 degrees.

How fast the water will freeze is a function of the amount of water (mass), the ambient temperature (the colder it is, the faster the water will freeze), the time water is exposed to freezing temperature (the longer that time the more likely water will freeze) and the wind chill (how fast the mass will reach the ambient temperature).

Anytime a pipe with water in it is exposed to freezing temperatures, there is a risk of damage. What your risk tolerance is only you can answer.

No correct answer. An unprotected outside water line is first to freeze - most will disconnect that in very cold weather - no big deal. The stuff many focus on is inside the rig and whether that gets damaged depends on whether the rigs occupied (heats on), how the interior water lines are routed and whether those compartments have access to heat.

An occasional severe drop in temp won't usually result in a problem if the rigs occupied and you have heat on ... but if the rig isn't set up for winter and the temp is extreme/prolonged you may have an issue - probably not a concern this time of year.