I'm in the Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) and we are forecast for about 2 days of freezing temps Monday and Tuesday. The low right now is expected to be around 26 degrees. We are in a motor home with no skirting outside. I will keep the house temp at least 70 degrees through the night and I plan to keep the cabinets open and drip the faucets. Am I safe from frozen pipes or do I need to shut off the water and drain the pipes during the nights? Have you actually been camping through similar temps?

I'm seeing a lot of posts on the topic from folks in Texas right now (we're Texans but not in Texas at the moment). If you run the main furnace rather than space heaters, it should keep the basement from freezing. We're in a fifth wheel rather than a motorhome, but we've weathered temps as low as 10 - 11F with high winds and survived. Rob

Disconnect and drain hose after filling fresh water tank. Operate off fresh water tank while freezing. Open cabinet doors to allow heat to get to pipes. Run water heater to heat water in tank. Make sure propane tank is full. Run small electric heater to supplement coach heater. Pull slides in if possible to use coach while in. Empty black and grey tanks. Camped as low as 12 degrees Fahrenheit.26 is not really that cold but you never know , it is expected to be 15 here.

If you have an enclosed underbelly, disconnect the hose going to the rig, let the furnace run overnight (60s ok) and don't worry about it. Even without the furnace upper 20s for a few hours won't penetrate. JK

Thanks bgum. I plan to do most of that.

DallasSteve wrote:I'm in the Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) and we are forecast for about 2 days of freezing temps Monday and Tuesday. The low right now is expected to be around 26 degrees. We are in a motor home with no skirting outside. I will keep the house temp at least 70 degrees through the night and I plan to keep the cabinets open and drip the faucets. Am I safe from frozen pipes or do I need to shut off the water and drain the pipes during the nights? Have you actually been camping through similar temps?Well for someone that is use to camping above freezing the world doesn’t end a 32 degrees. We go down to mid 20’s high teens with an insulated heated water hose and running the furnace to heat the belly. In your case fill water tank, and disconnect water hose, keep furnace over night. Our furnace is either gas or electric and run electric most of the time. It is currently 33 degrees outside, and our basement at the outside wall is 50 degrees.

Short Term Freezing Weather Tips? | Good Sam Community

time2roll
Nomad
Feb 14, 2021
Most any RV is good to about 25F while in use with no special precautions.
DallasSteve
Nomad
Feb 14, 2021
Thanks again for the tips. One last question as the temps drop to freezing here in "Almost Mexico". I was going to leave the faucets dripping tonight, but I disconnected from the water main and drained my hose. My fresh water tank is full, but if I leave the faucets dripping it may use all the water overnight. Is it important to leave the faucets dripping?
time2roll
Nomad
Feb 15, 2021
No. Do not drip the faucets in an RV.
DallasSteve
Nomad
Feb 15, 2021
OK. Thanks.
cross21114
Explorer
Feb 16, 2021
down home wrote:
Be sure your propane tanks are full.

With what we've seen in Texas on the Weather Channel I would not drive my rig out to fill up with propane. If you have an extended stay valve on your rig, and have a safe way to get some propane, get some 20# tanks and use them. You could get 2 days per tank used sparingly.
DallasSteve
Nomad
Feb 16, 2021
cross21114 wrote:
down home wrote:
Be sure your propane tanks are full.

With what we've seen in Texas on the Weather Channel I would not drive my rig out to fill up with propane. If you have an extended stay valve on your rig, and have a safe way to get some propane, get some 20# tanks and use them. You could get 2 days per tank used sparingly.

Actually my Winnebago Intent has 2 20 pound tanks that are removable. I took one over to fill it today. I'm helping them with 2 electric heaters. Tonight is a freeze and then we have a couple of days above freezing; then one more night of freezing temps followed by 70s. I'm ready for those 70s.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Feb 16, 2021
So did you survive?

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