I fulltime in a 08 Fleetwood Fiesta. Currently I'm in Tennesse. I've made it through the winter so far with a handful of nights that have dipped a few degrees below freezing. I set the furnace to 65-70 so it runs fairly often, and I leave the lights on in the storage bays that have water lines in them. I just use water from the freshwater tank. No other winterizing has been done. The holding tanks are enclosed, but there aren't any holding tank heaters. The furnace MAY have a line that goes to them or passed by them. I'm not sure on this. Any one know?In a couple of days the forecast says it could get as low as 16 degrees overnight, which makes me nervous. Is that too low not to take any additional steps?

Some caged 100 watt drop lights in those bays should keep things from hard freezing.

If you are on hookups, I don't run my propane furnaces during the day; I use electric space heaters....saves on propane refills and $$. My rig has three separate heater vents going to the holding tank and storage bay areas, so running my propane furnace at night keeps these from freezing. The bay doors also have about 1 1/2 inches of styrofoam insulation, which helps.I also open all my under-sink cabinets at night to let heat in there to keep those pipes from freezing.Last year, my ice-maker valve froze and cracked spilling water everywhere under the fridge when it thawed out. I now turn off the water to the ice-maker and disconnect the line to the valve to bleed off the water inside, then reconnect. I only do this if the temps will dip below 20 deg F.

If there's a furnace duct going to the holding tank bay, you might be able to see it. Mine looks something like a vacuum cleaner hose end sticking through the ceiling of the bay.I would rather doubt that you'd have no heat in the holding tank bay given that it's enclosed and the rig otherwise seems to be built to at least basic winter operation standards (i.e. the pipework is within the heated envelope of the RV, etc.)

My Winnebago Vista had an open area under the bed that allowed heat from inside to move to the wet bays.

If hooked to water you can leave a faucet dripping. This is what I do and have never had any freezing. You also have to be hooked to sewage and have the gray water valve open.

It's about to get cold.... | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

lonewolf80
Explorer II
Jan 11, 2016
I don't know of any RV'ers that keep chickens in there basement storage. LOL!
down_home
Explorer II
Jan 10, 2016
zach477 wrote:
I called Fleetwood. They said the tanks are heated by the furnace. They also said that the storage bays are insulated and should be good until it gets below 0. That seems a little low, don't you think?

We've never had our Tanks in the Revolution freeze.
At Disney world one year it got below freezing a couple days. We left with full water tank. It was cold below 20 all the way home about 750 miles. The furnaces ran in the coach.
coach stayed outside storage facility for a day and night plugged in with furnaces running. Never froze.
down_home
Explorer II
Jan 10, 2016
On the subject of using severe duty light bulbs in a caged holder, I ran across somewhere of people doing this for chickens. It killed every one of them.
Some people got sick from them in another incident.
Some of these bulbs are no coated with a plastic, to contain glass, if it shatters or such, that turns to poisonous gases. In an enclosed space it killed the chickens.
zach477
Explorer
Jan 10, 2016
For the record, I spent most of my life in Minnesota, so I don't personally think its THAT cold in Tennessee, haha. Just worried about the RV...

I bought a couple of caged light bulbs. The only ones they had at the hardware store said they were rated for 75 watt bulbs. I've got one in the bay with the water pump and filter, and the other is in the bay with the city water hookups and black/grey tank valves. I also leave the storage bay lights on.

I left a small Dixie cup of water in one of the bay's over night to check for freezing. So far so good. Tonight it's supposed to get down below 20 degrees. A little colder than last night, but I'll keep the furnace cranked and see how it goes.
mchero
Explorer
Jan 10, 2016
GTN_and_Catz wrote:
louie david wrote:
Cold is relative. It was minus 15C here a couple days ago....

You're absolutely right.
It's 55F with a North wind blowing and I'm freezing!

Who was with me New Years in Klamath Falls when it was 10 deg. BELOW zero?
Our wet bay is indeed heated by a vent from the forward furnace. It's in the curb side bay BUT the vales/pump & such is on the street side! I put a small ceramic heater in the compartment (street side). When the genset would start the bay would get a good shot of heat. 100 watt bulb is a good idea, one cold night a 60 watt was not enough!

Decided to migrate south a tad quicker after that night!
xctraveler
Explorer
Jan 09, 2016
I've said this elsewhere. For a sub 25 F night be sure your fresh tank is full then turn off and drain your hose at dinner time. Also close your grey tank valve and be sure the stinky slinky is empty. I disconnect and lift the connector end up then milk the hose. The only thing worse than a frozen water hose is a frozen stink slinky, I know from personal experience - ONCE - 13 years ago, it was a sufficient lesson.
GTN_and_Catz
Explorer
Jan 09, 2016
louie david wrote:
Cold is relative. It was minus 15C here a couple days ago....

You're absolutely right.
It's 55F with a North wind blowing and I'm freezing!
louie_david
Explorer
Jan 09, 2016
Cold is relative. It was minus 15C here a couple days ago....
Dutch_12078
Explorer III
Jan 09, 2016
zach477 wrote:
I called Fleetwood. They said the tanks are heated by the furnace. They also said that the storage bays are insulated and should be good until it gets below 0. That seems a little low, don't you think?

Even our older '95 Coachmen Class A handled zero temps ok. At 4 below zero in southern VA one January, the only pipe that froze was a short stub that connected the accumulator tank to the main cold line. The only problem that caused was losing the effectiveness of the tank, with the pump running every time a faucet was turned on. About five minutes with a hair dryer fixed it. Our current coach has only been down to 6 degrees since we've owned it, but it handled that just fine.
Mr_Mark1
Explorer
Jan 09, 2016
Zach477, keep your fresh tank full as you can on cold nights. It will transfer heat to the bay area (or, absorb the cold from the bay area).

Running a drop light to the bay area like someone said above will give you piece of mind.

Good luck,
MM.