Best way to winterize yet still use unit in winter?

In Atlanta? I wouldn't think there is much of a winter.
We lived in Maryland. We waited until the first long hard freeze to winterize - as early as November or as late as January. We kept the tanks and water lines dry and put antifreeze in the traps. Our first season, we winterized/dewinterized four times(antifreeze in the entire system). It got old quick. But on those trips, we took drinking water in jugs.

Son of Norway wrote:
I thoroughly winterize my RV in the fall. I occasionally take a short trip during the off-season when there is good weather, usually for fishing. When I do I leave the water system winterized. I take along several square blue 5 gal jugs that have adjustable spigots that I put on the counter and run them into the sink for cooking and washing etc. I keep plenty of anti-freeze in the waste tanks. This avoids the winterize/de-winterize problem for me.

Miles

We do the very same thing. Inconvenient, but it works.

Hi,

It would be hard to have enough panels to keep the RV thawed out. It is not impossible, but watts are watts.

Here is a simple flow chart.

Budget-->Energy Audit-->Battery bank size-->number of watts-->PWM or MPPT. What ever type of controller is chosen, make sure it has adjustable set points and a temperature probe that is on the battery.

One rule of thumb is between 60 and 150 watts of panels per 100 amp-hours of storage. The smaller the battery bank the higher the wattage needed (per 100 amp-hours). Here is a link to the rather special spreadsheet which includes an energy audit, that N8GS has created to help size solar battery charging systems!

Solar Spread Sheet N8GS

For a nice explanation of solar, try this link:

Golden rules of solar

I thoroughly winterize my RV in the fall. I occasionally take a short trip during the off-season when there is good weather, usually for fishing. When I do I leave the water system winterized. I take along several square blue 5 gal jugs that have adjustable spigots that I put on the counter and run them into the sink for cooking and washing etc. I keep plenty of anti-freeze in the waste tanks. This avoids the winterize/de-winterize problem for me.

Miles

Blow water lines out with an air compressor. First remove the drain plug on the water heater. Replace the plug.
Be very thorough in blowing all the lines out. Don't forget the toilet. If you have an outside shower, it is best to disconnect and block them off for winter. Pour 2 cups of RV antifreeze down each drain.