Winter in warm-ish climates
I live in southern Arizona. My rig lives in a storage lot here in Tucson, and I'm thinking about some trips in the next month or so. I'm wondering about winterizing. I know how to winterize the rig,...
Forum Discussion
It very much depends on your motorhome and how it's plumbed and how things are connected up. I don't think there is any real standard for how things are designed. Some RVs are much more winter capable than others.
On my Coachman Santara 315QB of the same vintage, the plumbing is all enclosed within the heated envelope of the vehicle, and there's a little furnace duct outlet in the bay where the gray and black tanks are. So long as the furnace is running and keeping the interior somewhat tolerably warm, there's no problem with camping out in consistently below freezing temperatures. I do suspect that really cold temperatures, say sustained temperatures below zero, might start to cause problems...but I don't really intend to camp under such conditions. It would be a drafty experience regardless.
I would guess that you would not have any troubles with what you're proposing, doubly so if the plumbing is at all similar to my rig. However, I disclaim any responsibility for burst pipes etc. if my guess is inaccurate.
As you probably already know, you can also winterize by draining and blowing the water out of the plumbing with an air compressor, which saves on antifreeze (some is still needed for the drain traps) and makes it less time consuming to dewinterize as there's no need to get the antifreeze out of the plumbing system before using it and no antifreeze aftertaste. People have their own preferences here.
On my Coachman Santara 315QB of the same vintage, the plumbing is all enclosed within the heated envelope of the vehicle, and there's a little furnace duct outlet in the bay where the gray and black tanks are. So long as the furnace is running and keeping the interior somewhat tolerably warm, there's no problem with camping out in consistently below freezing temperatures. I do suspect that really cold temperatures, say sustained temperatures below zero, might start to cause problems...but I don't really intend to camp under such conditions. It would be a drafty experience regardless.
I would guess that you would not have any troubles with what you're proposing, doubly so if the plumbing is at all similar to my rig. However, I disclaim any responsibility for burst pipes etc. if my guess is inaccurate.
As you probably already know, you can also winterize by draining and blowing the water out of the plumbing with an air compressor, which saves on antifreeze (some is still needed for the drain traps) and makes it less time consuming to dewinterize as there's no need to get the antifreeze out of the plumbing system before using it and no antifreeze aftertaste. People have their own preferences here.
