Using RV in winter, including water

Have a look at the full time forum thread on Winter Camping.

If possible, don't put the slide out.

Check the weather history for the location and go with the "worst case" numbers.

Weather Underground has a history function.

We are near Kingman Az for several months on a family mission now 6 months
Didn't expect to be here this long or have cold weather.
We are at 3700 ft and have seen snow and may nights in the twenties.It is not the brutal mid west winters of course.
We have had our water hose get some ice in it in the very late night early morning.
The heat pumps have done very well down into the low thirties though one sounds like a locamotive. hd to replace the front unit and upped the size. When the temps cause the heat pumps to reach their limits the furnaces come on automatically. The rear furnace also heats the tanks.
If it was prolonged cold might have to run the furnaces exclusively. Quiter for sure....the wet bay has some small drain holes as well a clearances for sewer hose and water hose and no insulation. My intent is to run a circuit for a small forced air thermostat statically controlled heater into the area with GFCI of course. The luggage compartment light puts out some heat from the 12 volt bulb as if,,,,,if left on.Before we leave I may have to put a drop light into the wet bay and buy a heated water hose, something we just kept putting off.

The one thing that is not really enough Propane capacity. We ahve pulled up and had to go fill the tank four times. It is supposedly a 38 gallon tank. Maybe the indicator or gauge is not accurate.
We filled it with 28. soemthing gallons when it indicated it was at 1/4 tank and two other times it only took 24 gallons even, once when it said it was about empty.
So having a 100 lb tank delivered and a connector installed would seemingly make sense.
While the front heat pump was otu of commission we ran a small 15 amp 120v forced air heater in the front of the coach and it cued the rear heat pump to cycle off because it was quite warm. Two of them would probably be all the heat needed down into the low twenties and maybe below. However with two circuits can't run tow or the toaster and te heater or the convection oven and heater. I have to reset the button on the Inverter and once the breaker under the bed. Makes no sense where is my second circuit and why would the converter/inverter care on 120 volt ac?
Now if there is a lot of cold moisture the rear heat pump when it cycled off would drip water onto the floor. Our coach is now 15 years old.

Put insulation under your rig to the ground. Skirting. Most people use heat tape and or insulation on the waterlines going in and out.

Easy at 50 degrees below freezing? One little slip up by OP and his TT is toast.

You may be able to keep the fresh water system from freezing, depending on location of the fresh water tank and associated plumbing. What about the other hookups, electric to keep the batteries charged and operating furnance (blower), propane, depending on temps and wind, you may use 20 lbs a day.
And finally, gray and black holding tanks, Heated? Heated dump valves? and a place to dump?
Is it possible to use the RV for sleeping accomodations without using any water related uses.

Ken

garyemunson wrote:
Depends on whether those are sold s "4-season" campers. Those are fine as long as they are kept heated with the built in furnace. A space heater will not deliver heat to utility bays as the furnace can with dedicated ducts.

Very sage advice.

I'm presently camping at Algonquin. Tempe expected to hit -20C this evening. Easy peasy if you really want to do it. Pm me if you're really interested.

How cold is cold? Enclosed underbelly? Otherwise you just need to give it a go. Adjust your expectations or preparation as needed. Be ready to burn a lot of propane.

I added tank heaters and a hot water circulating system to go down to about -10F, Maybe lower.

Also depends on where your water tank and water lines are. If the system is comfortably within the RV, you can open the cabinet doors at night to make sure the heat reaches the pipes. If the water lines run under the floor, you will have a hard time preventing things from freezing during cold weather.

Depends on whether those are sold s "4-season" campers. Those are fine as long as they are kept heated with the built in furnace. A space heater will not deliver heat to utility bays as the furnace can with dedicated ducts.