How to keep propane from freezing

mowermech wrote:
DO NOT use hay or straw bales for skirting! It is a fire hazard, and attracts rodents & insects. Under certain conditions (heat buildup due to rot), spontaneous combustion can occur.

Yeah, you are correct on that. It's an old time method with lots of hazards associated with it. Not appropriate for K-Falls.

I was up in Fairbanks, Alaska a few years ago and spent the winter there. Some people up there do still use the hay bales, but not until October after it's gotten really cold.

DO NOT use hay or straw bales for skirting! It is a fire hazard, and attracts rodents & insects. Under certain conditions (heat buildup due to rot), spontaneous combustion can occur.

I live in upstate New York and its not unusual for the temps to get-10 in January and February my propane works just fine in those conditions.When I do my monthly generator tests I run the furnace and it works just fine.

So to reiterate, if you can, rent a 100 gallon tank from your local supplier. They should both connect it for you and keep it filled over the winter. You can ask your RV park mates what they do and who they use. If you can, blanket that tank...you could also wrap it with thermostatically controlled heat tape under the blanket (and some people use whatever low cost thermal blankets they can find). This is because propane will actually gain BTUs when it's warmed up, which makes it last longer.

Still outside, forget any hose wrappings and that sort of thing for water and just use your on board water tank. Keep a hose inside the RV so it's flexible and when necessary, run out, connect it to the parks water, fill your tank, drain the hose, bring it back in. May have to put a 100 watt standard light bulb in the water tank basement compartment to keep it warmish but you can probably find a mechanics light assembly at a thrift shop for a buck or two. The black and grey tanks are left connected all the time with the hoses supported...no dips, but the valves are left closed until you need to dump. Dump once a week if it's just you. Don't take as many showers. Don't wash dishes as much, maybe get paper or plastic dishes. And take the Navy kind of shower (wet, water off, wash, rinse, done).

Still outside, skirting if you can. Maybe even bails of hay. If you can, add light bulb heaters to any basement compartments that might need it...especially the wet bays. Most people that are overwintering wrap the grey and black drain valves & some of the pipe with heat tape. Very good idea to prevent them freezing closed. Disaster if they do.

Inside, get some blue foam insulation sheets and cut them to block off the front of the RV. That huge window up front really sucks the heat out of the RV. Further back, add layers of plastic to the windows so you have multiple panes. Or, get that pillow type sheets of insulation that has an aluminum side and small air bubble side, it's about 1/4" thick. You can cut it to fit every window. And it can be removed easily so you can look out at the snow occasionally.

Every night, open any cabinet under sinks. Turn off the water pump whenever it's unused (just a habit to learn) and when you're in bed turn it off and open a faucet or two. Also the showers faucets.

If you don't already have one, get a small electrical element for your water heater (goes in the tanks drain hole)...really saves on propane and keeps your water tank and area around it warm so it won't freeze. Plus gives you hot water. You can run an extension cord to it if necessary.

Also get those 14" vent pillows for your vents mentioned before, or make your own.

Finally, get an electric blanket for your bed. Best purchase ever. I found one at a thrift shop for $7 about 5 years ago. Still have it. Works great.

It's already mid-September and I'm running my furnace occasionally up here in Burns so you probably know you don't have much time to scrounge the thrift stores for stuff.

Good luck and happy wintering!

JaxDad,

I live in Saskatchewan. We do get to -40 in the winter.

pianotuna wrote:
Just for fun I looked up the freezing temperature of propane.

It is a mere -188 C (-306 f).

Yeah, you don't have to worry about that down south where you live......

Now if you lived in the suburbs of Wollaston Lake it might be a different story. ;)

Just for fun I looked up the freezing temperature of propane.

It is a mere -188 C (-306 f).

Freezing can occur in the pressure regulator. Lack of sufficient vaporization can happen a few degrees above the boiling point. Running the furnace takes lots of vapor. Hence the need to raise the temperature of the tank.

I a magnetic block heater I can use. It does double duty as I can use it on my generator too.

Magnetic block heater 200 watts

All I could afford wrote:
I think A lot of people use the term "propane freezing" to describe not so much freezing,

simply because it describes what is happening better than any other phrase. Kinda like saying sun rising, when it is really the earth spinning.

I think A lot of people use the term "propane freezing" to describe not so much freezing, but the temperature dropping below or close to the boiling point, which results in little or no appliance function. It's hard for a lot of people to say "boiling" when it's negative something fierce degrees outside.