Need some advice with cold weather

profdant139 wrote:
I do a lot of cold weather camping -- my trailer is not four season at all -- and we routinely camp in 20 degree weather, night after night, no problem at all. But last week, it got down to 11 degrees, and our water line froze. It thawed later that day -- no damage.

Bottom line -- I don't think you have anything to worry about. Enjoy your trip!

I do the same often..Each trailer is different but I don't start to worry until it gets to around 15 degree's before I do other things to prevent the water lines from freezing.Last time my water line froze it was 17 degree's running a catalytic heater instead of the furnace.A hair dryer and running the furnace quickly thawed it out..Mine is also not a 4 seasons!

We had three nights in the upper twenties with sunny days in the fifties. It was not cold long enough to do damage. I would not want to push it though. A cold spell could be an issue if it did not warm up during the day.

Temmcarthy's advice is good -- if the forecast is for really cold temps (much below 20), that is cause for concern. The good news is that the National Weather Service now posts fairly detailed discussions of the seven to ten day forecast for each state, so you can plan in advance.

dvitale300 wrote:
Hi everyone!

So I have a 31' Starcraft TT with the Arctic package. We are going on one last trip this year, on December 3rd through 6th to Dallas - before I winterize the trailer until spring.

Only problem is that we're going to see a 26 degree night tonight, and then a couple of similarly cold nights next week before the trip. We live in West Texas - and the nights right now have lows of about 45 - with only a few nights getting below freezing.

My question: Am I going to be OK turning on the interior heat and water heater for those 2 or 3 nights before our trip and my final winterization? Making sure all tanks are at least 1/2 full, etc? Or should I winterize immediately and get a hotel for my trip in early December? This is my first year owning a TT and ya'll's advice has been priceless.

thanks - david

Well-- sounds like most of the advice is to go and take your TT.... Seems like a risk to me knowing that North Texas weather is very unpredictable that time of year having experienced it living in Dallas.. Might be 60 every day-- might be 0 or below zero! You probably will be OK if you take ALL the precautions mentioned in these multiple posts.. Question is.. Do you feel lucky?

Golden, that is a great point about running the water heater when towing in freezing weather -- thanks for the tip!

You should be fine if you keep the furnace on when it is below freezing, open a few cabinet doors where the sinks are, and run the water heater at night.

Make sure that the water heater is on while driving - because the cold air will quickly pass through the heat exchanger, and will quickly cool the water to the outside air temp. Better to waste a gallon of propane than risk a $600 water heater tank.

If you find you are pulling in 32F weather, take time to stop at a rest area, warm up the inside, so that it will stay warm. While towing, you will bring in a LOT of outside air, and the RV will quickly become close to the outside air temp.

Good luck,

Fred.

I think you will be fine with running some heat and the water heater. We live just north of Dallas and usually don't winterize until after Thanksgiving. It is going to be around 30 deg tonight and I am running a small cat heater just to be sure no freeze damage. Our water heater has been drained as well as the tanks and the low point drains are open. I expect it will be 48 deg or so in the trailer in the morning with outside temp at 30.

Dick

I have a TT made for 3 seasons, max. But, I use it throughout the winter in Colorado. I have been down to 9°, with daytime highs of 35°. Other than not being able to drain my gray until the sun was on it for a while, I have had no problems.

If it gets that cold (normally in the low-20s), I will run 6 gallons of hot water from my outdoor shower into my fresh tank, to bring the temp up for the night. I keep my water heater on, so that won't freeze. My gray tank is exposed, so I take some RV antifreeze to pour in, if it is to get below 20° overnight. I put salt in on earlier trips, and had no freezing problems. My toilet is a cassette, so I have no black tank to worry about.

Then, my only issue may be my low-point drains when the trip is over. They may freeze and prevent me from using them to off-load weight for the trip home But, I can run remaining fresh through the shower into a 5-gal bucket, and get rid of that easily.

Pay attention to the weather, but don't worry. Awareness can let you camp in all kinds of weather with few, if any, problems.

temccarthy1 wrote:
I lived in Dallas for 4 years .. I will never forget the Christmas week we had in 1988 when the temps went to -5 degrees for 5 days! (actual air temps..not wind chill!) This was our first winter in Texas and we could not believe how cold it was! Everyone's pool froze up and we had thousands of $ in insurance claims! Welcome to Texas! The point is, there is NO way to predict weather in North Texas in winter-- 70 degrees one day-- 20 degrees the next-- or colder!! Black Ice is frequent-- Forget driving on it with a car let alone a trailer! I would not take a chance that late in the year and get a hotel! Even if you winterize, it will not be fun to bring bottled water and have to use public toilets or someone'
s bathroom you are staying with. Not worth the risk in that area in December!

This is good advice for this part of the country at this time of year. The trailer freezing up could be the least of your problems if we were to get freezing rain or sleet which can happen this time of year. I have been rving since 1974 and I would not do it in this area at that time.

I do a lot of cold weather camping -- my trailer is not four season at all -- and we routinely camp in 20 degree weather, night after night, no problem at all. But last week, it got down to 11 degrees, and our water line froze. It thawed later that day -- no damage.

Bottom line -- I don't think you have anything to worry about. Enjoy your trip!