Hello to All! My husband and I finally took the plunge and bought ourselves a MH at the end of July of this year and we are not ready to put it away for the winter just yet. We've planned to head up to Northern Wisconsin in the later part of October and stay at a State Park which is open year round. Now the concern is that the temps during that week have been known to get down to near freezing at night, while during the day it is historically in the 50's. I've spent the morning looking at various websites which have recommendation for mostly hard core winter temperatures, i.e. skirting, space heaters, insulating pipes and windows. We will only be spending 2 nights in the area before we move on, I am hoping for some guidance.Many thanks,Renee

Highs near 50 and lows near freezing isn't what I call winter camping. Ha. BTW we'll be up in Door County WI next month and I fully expect to be wearing shorts. You will have no issues other than you might want to unhook the hose at night.

Excellent! That is what I would like to hear. Of course when I talked to the folks at Collier (our local RV store) there was doom and gloom and strong suggestions to winterize. Glad to hear you are expecting shorts weather, that would be a treat!

Do you have heated basement, If so as long as the heater is working then you should be OK. 32 will not freeze most indoor pipes. On my unit the heat for the basement comes from the heat inside the unit provided by gas heater. That in turn is draw into the basement by a fan located in the basement and the heater fan draws the return air back into the RV thru a vent under the shower pan. A complete path. I also was lucky many years ago to find a short oil fill heater 110v that is mounted in the water bin if need. If you do not have heated then see if you can find a oil fill heater if you can fine one that are small to fit the bin. If not a light bulb in the water valve bin also works. Now is the time to check it out and ensure that its working and you know how it should work. Fill up your fresh water tank and do not leave water or sewer line connected. Dump and fill during the middle of the day and just before you leave. Remember to drain off 1/2 to 3/4 of your fresh water on your return trip dependents on what you normal have on board. Don't want to carry all that water weight around. Enjoy your trip and new RV.

Any decently recent RV(10 YO or newer) will EASILY handle temps around the freezing mark and more. Fire up the furnace and/or bring some compact electric heaters and use them as well so you're not using all your propane. Tanks at that temp even exposed will be just fine if they have a decent amount of fluid in them, especially if temps are heading into the 50F/10C plus area during the day.I regularly camp at temps approaching -30C/-20F so I know a little about WINTER camping. You're camping in the shoulder season, it's easy peasy. What you are doing is not even close to hard core.

No need to winterize yet but good idea to read about it and procedures. If you got a new MH there should an owners manual that has some info. Alot has been posted on this forum. Basically 2 ways to winterize. Either just blow out lines with air or use RV antifreeze in the lines. Either way works and works well. The biggest problem and why some RVers say one or the other doesn't work is because if you do it wrong neither way works. Me, like many others hate to admit we screwed up. Makes us feel better if we can blame it on someone or something else. :B

New to RVing and Cold Weather Use | Good Sam Community

15 Replies

2gypsies1
Explorer III
Apr 10, 2016
This post is from September. I think they've figured it out by now. :)
Earl_E
Explorer
Apr 10, 2016
You are in great shape. You can easily go down into mid 20's for a brief time at night and not have to worry. I fill up the fresh water tank and use that water, then you can put the hose away and not worry about it freezing. Of course when you get home...that's another story where you have to winterize.
J-Rooster
Explorer
Apr 10, 2016
I don't know what type of coach you own! I researched this when I bought new and bought a Winnebago top of the line gas coach which is winterized. Very good insulation, heat goes to all under storage bays.
gonesouth
Explorer
Apr 10, 2016
The place we often winter in Florida generally has freezing nights during Christmas week and many of us have been caught. Usually the hoses go solid but water pressure returns by 10 or 11 AM. Just make sure that your furnace checks out before you go. Most problems are caused by people trying to deal with a non-functioning furnace or running out of propane.
SDcampowneroper
Explorer
Sep 23, 2015
In suspected freezing temps use your propane furnace to heat your underbelly water systems.Use your fresh water tank and pump. disconnect from
and drain all your hoses from camp water hookups.

Please do not use the' trickle method'. to keep your waterlines from freezing. Doing so wastes 100s of gallons of water daily, as well as risking turning your wastewater Hose into a 3" Poopsicle woth the much slower flow , with the consequence of flooding
Be watchful, aware,
bluwtr49
Explorer II
Sep 23, 2015
I can not imagine you would have any problems. What coach do you have and is the heating hydronic or propane.

I think you are borrowing trouble where none exist. Last night it was 34F at our campground in northern Idaho and tonight will be the same in Montana.

Regardless, that's not tough conditions. Just live in it and if you're comfy so will be the coach. The only thing you might do is shut off you water hose and live on internal water at night.
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Sep 23, 2015
Renee,

There is the big problem with your plan.
It is not taking the coach out in cold weather.
It is what happens when you get home and don't "put the coach to bed" for the cold and then you freeze things and that gets expensive with little warning.

While you are in the coach, you will heat it and use the water. when you park it and sort of put it out of your mind.......

Oh, one thing to think about. If you are out in cold weather and have hooked up water, shut it off and drain the hose at night. Even bring it inside. It is difficult to deal with as a 25 or 50 foot iron bar.

Enjoy the time. You can meet some great people out there and this is particularly true in the off season.

Matt
Busskipper
Explorer
Sep 22, 2015
Mrs. M wrote:
Hello to All! My husband and I finally took the plunge and bought ourselves a MH at the end of July of this year and we are not ready to put it away for the winter just yet. We've planned to head up to Northern Wisconsin in the later part of October and stay at a State Park which is open year round. Now the concern is that the temps during that week have been known to get down to near freezing at night, while during the day it is historically in the 50's. I've spent the morning looking at various websites which have recommendation for mostly hard core winter temperatures, i.e. skirting, space heaters, insulating pipes and windows. We will only be spending 2 nights in the area before we move on, I am hoping for some guidance.
Many thanks,
Renee

Fall and Winter are really different - Weekend VS Month - again very different.

Just turn on the Heat and enjoy the weekend, most Coaches will actually work best in the fall and the spring, a little heat is a really easy thing.

When you get back let us know how you did.

BOL,
ocean_bound
Explorer II
Sep 22, 2015
you do not have to worry about pipes you will be fine in oct where you are going
Billinwoodland
Explorer
Sep 22, 2015
I'm heading out in the next week. My rig has a dedicated basement heater which works off 12v. I do not plan to hook up my water, will just fill it as I need to so will just rely on the internal pump. I also have a Mr. Heater catalytic heater for use when I am awake. My windows are double pane. I have not used this MH in temps down to the twenties, which will happen on this trip. Also have a nice big warm dog to keep me warm!