We just got back from the RV show in PA and I've got questions about the best way to protect the tanks and piping underneath the TT from freezing. I understand that even though some RVs claim to be 4 season campers, they usually aren't. Now we're not looking for, nor do we expect a TT to function up north in the dead of winter, but were I'd like to camp in the fall you can get a day or night where it drops well below freezing and I'm worried about the consequences and the best way to protect the TT against it.Some of the manufactures claimed that they heat the underneath area of the TTs. Some used forced air, some claimed to wrap the pipes and use heating pads. Do these methods really work? Some claimed to use an abundance of insulation. Some also claimed to have tested their TT to 15 or even zero degrees. Ca I trust that or is this all just marketing hype?Is there anyway that I can climb underneath the TT and add some extra protection my self?Thanks

Our trailer has the heated underbelly. We were visiting family in northern Utah last November. I wasn't even thinking about the cold temperatures at night until our water stopped working. Everything in the trailer was fine, but the hose from the spigot had frozen solid. So I guess the heated underbelly works. An older trailer we owned had heat pads glued to the underside of the tanks, which would help them, but leave the connections unprotected.

Any and all measures you mentioned can help to varying degrees in varying circumstances. Enclosed underbelly for a first step, then decide on how youre to use the tt. If you are using it in a campground, using all elec space heaters to warm you in the winter will not help protect your tanks as much as the furnace on a unit that uses some of the furnace heat to warm the tank areas. Pad heaters are great, as are heat tapes on piping, but you have to have sufficient electricity to power them. For a weekend trip, where temps may dip just below freezing in the evenings, most units claimed as "4 seasons" will be fine if you are keeping the interior at a comfortable temp. But once you go below freezing, time and temp are working in tandem against you, prolonged time can make even moderate freezing temps a problem.

If you get a night of below freezing temps in the fall, in PA and have a factory covered and insulated belly with direct heating from the furnace you have ZERO to worry about.If you are like me and camp in Northern Ontario at -22F for 5 days then you have something to worry about.

ours has the covered underbelly with "radiant" heating. E.G. no direct heat vent to the underbelly. I modified that slightly by pulling up one of the floor vents and drilling a 1/2" hole in the side of the vent to direct some air into the underbelly. Then I dropped a temp probe in the far end of the underbelly. underbelly stays well above freezing even in cold temps. And at night we set the heat to 45F, turn in on in the AM. We've had nights well below freezing, with daytime above freezing with no issues.the limit is likely the lowest average temp where the furnace can keep up with heat loss during the day and bring the trailer up to temp in the morning.

You have to look under there and see what 4 season means. Plenty of people in places like Alaska and Wyoming live in RVs year around. They figure out ways to make everything work in extreme temperatures.

TT ability to withstand the cold. | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

ktmrfs
Explorer II
Sep 18, 2018
ours has the covered underbelly with "radiant" heating. E.G. no direct heat vent to the underbelly. I modified that slightly by pulling up one of the floor vents and drilling a 1/2" hole in the side of the vent to direct some air into the underbelly. Then I dropped a temp probe in the far end of the underbelly. underbelly stays well above freezing even in cold temps. And at night we set the heat to 45F, turn in on in the AM.

We've had nights well below freezing, with daytime above freezing with no issues.

the limit is likely the lowest average temp where the furnace can keep up with heat loss during the day and bring the trailer up to temp in the morning.
shum02
Explorer
Sep 18, 2018
If you get a night of below freezing temps in the fall, in PA and have a factory covered and insulated belly with direct heating from the furnace you have ZERO to worry about.

If you are like me and camp in Northern Ontario at -22F for 5 days then you have something to worry about.
wanderingaimles
Explorer
Sep 18, 2018
Any and all measures you mentioned can help to varying degrees in varying circumstances.
Enclosed underbelly for a first step, then decide on how youre to use the tt.
If you are using it in a campground, using all elec space heaters to warm you in the winter will not help protect your tanks as much as the furnace on a unit that uses some of the furnace heat to warm the tank areas.
Pad heaters are great, as are heat tapes on piping, but you have to have sufficient electricity to power them.
For a weekend trip, where temps may dip just below freezing in the evenings, most units claimed as "4 seasons" will be fine if you are keeping the interior at a comfortable temp. But once you go below freezing, time and temp are working in tandem against you, prolonged time can make even moderate freezing temps a problem.
RSD559
Explorer
Sep 18, 2018
Our trailer has the heated underbelly. We were visiting family in northern Utah last November. I wasn't even thinking about the cold temperatures at night until our water stopped working. Everything in the trailer was fine, but the hose from the spigot had frozen solid. So I guess the heated underbelly works. An older trailer we owned had heat pads glued to the underside of the tanks, which would help them, but leave the connections unprotected.

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TT ability to withstand the cold.

14 Replies

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