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mdoverkamp's avatar
mdoverkamp
Explorer
Nov 10, 2018

RV water hose/spigot issue (winter)

Good afternoon folks. You guys have been super helpful over the last few weeks so hopefully you can help.

We are currently living on out land in the fifth wheel as are building our home.

We have a garden hose hooked to our well and the spigot is outside the the well house. We do have a heat lamp inside the well house but this am when the temps dropped to 18 degrees we had our water freeze.

I’ve done research. Went to Ace and Sutherland’s and can’t seem to get any straight answers on the correct way to do it.

The first thing we found was a heated hose which is fine (and expensive) but that doesn’t help our freezing spigot issue. Then we have the heat tape but they all warn against putting heat tape on hoses.

Should we build a small area around the spigot and put another lamp in that small enclosure? Should we wrap insulation around the entire hose and spigot? Is there anything we need to be concerned about with pipes under the camper (bathroom etc)?

Thank you for any help or guidance.

We are in Missouri so this weather will be prevalent throughout the winter.

Thank you.
  • Not on our MH connection but in the "Global Cooling" was about and wells were freezing deep. I used a heat tape in the well house but still had to set a small heater in there. The well house was very wele insulated too but... all the surrounding ground froze. The lakes froze over, and the high for weeks was well below freezing. We had snows on top of snows already here and this was in..Tennessee. Uncle who operated apple and peach orchards in Indiana had it much much worse. Couldn't get to a paved road and no electricity, and wells froze deep.
    They lived off deer and rabbits in the orchards and cut fruit trees to burn in the huge fireplaces.
    So it depend on how cold it is going to get. I would buy an expensive but effective headed insulated hose, and construct good design insulated small shed or whatever the term should be over the hose bibb and going into the ground for a ways. If the bibb doesn't freeze I would just fill my tanks and disconnect the hose perhaps but not as convenient. The wet bay is poorly or not at all insulated so a severe duty not polymer coated bulb in the bay, or if you can find one and a safe arrangement a small heater. I'm not really a fan of this last idea unless there is one designed with a very good thermostat that is moisture proof and won't decide to overheat things.
  • Wastewater draining is a unit specific site specific issue. I champion open valves, graded even heated drain hose, no matter how well your waste tanks are protected, supposedly heated.
    The challenge is to NEVER ''trickle' water to keep your fresh and inside water lines from freezing as that could result in a 3" poopsickle backing up into and flooding your unit. You must use sufficient water to carry it through the drain. Fill the commode twice, flush twice to sufficiently move the waste. Do dishes with a full sink, wash and rinse water.
    I have been criticized for this open valve practice by ' cold weather' campers. The criticism came from mid states cool weather ' campers' not from full timers who have lived the life.

    We Have been there over 4 winters in the Canadian prairies. I seek to educate, to inform.
    The fact is in cold weather you will have to protect your absorption fridge by blocking off its outdoor cooling vents for it to continue cooling. You must be proactive daily on this, adding or removing blockage as weather warms or cools. Foam pool noodles are my preferred way.
    Open valve waste tank also requires you to know the depth of the underground waste lines, Are they below frost line? Slow flow such as open valves could also result in a frozen underground line which then could also back up.

    So much more from experience I could help you with. I hope this helps you and others.