Whats the coldest you've camped w/o problems

We spent this past (Thanksgiving) weekend camped in Eastern Washington in temps that fell to 10F at night and were in upper 20's during the day. We were at a friends house so were able to be hooked to electrical power, and used the water tank for water. It was fun to wake up to a warm trailer and snow falling outside. Kept the electric heater on and set the furnace temp just below that and the trailer stayed very comfortable for five days and the furnace didn't need to run very often. Only downside, I forgot to put antifreeze in the black dump tanks so I've got a big poopsicle situation. Tank wasn't real full so I'm not too worried. Weather here on west side is cold too, so have to wait a few more days for things to thaw out.

Piano, I had no idea that the phase change would require so much more energy! Thanks for the tip. I think what this means is that if I fill my water tank pretty full, it will be less likely to freeze -- my concern was with the low point drain, which is where the pump pickup tube is located. But if the water in the tank does not freeze, maybe the natural circulation of the water in the tank is what kept the low point from freezing.

profdant139 wrote:
We just returned from a trip to southern Utah -- the temps each night were around nine or ten above zero, although the days were in the mid 30s. We expected to have some problems with freezing, but we didn't, which is strange. One night, the line to our cold water faucet froze, but it thawed during the day. Nothing else froze. And we did not use a heater at night -- the temp inside the trailer was in the low to mid 20s, every morning.

We were pleased with how well the trailer handled the cold, but I am not sure why it did not freeze!! The underbelly of the trailer is insulated with about three inches of pink fiberglass, covered with a black vinyl sheet. The walls of the trailer contain a thick layer of styrofoam, as does the roof. I put a layer of reflectix around my tanks. We do not have heat tape. We had full hookups (at Kodachrome Basin State Park -- a great place!) but did not use a heater during the night. (Lots of blankets, in case you were wondering -- we slept like hibernating bears.)

Based on this experience, we are planning to do some snow camping. But if anyone can solve the mystery of why we did not have problems with freezing, I would like to hear your thoughts!

If you had full hook ups why not have heat? I' not into survival missions. Not my kind of fun.
If daytime temps are above freezing, you should not have any issues.
Problems begin when daytime temps do not exceed freezing. When its below freezing for 24 hour stretches you need to be concerned.

Hi,

Another way to think about it.

To get the water in a 20 gallon tank from 40 to 32 only takes about 1300 btu's.

To freeze that water takes an additional 27000 btu's of heat removal.

It is still prudent to take precautions if you know you will be in the cold for long periods of time.

Hi Profdant,

Change of state from liquid water to ice. It takes a LOT of energy to do so.

For example to freeze one gallon of water takes about 1368 btu's of heat removal.

Since even a small water tank would have 20 gallons it takes a long long time to freeze--and if it DOES it takes a long long time to thaw. Temperature change would be 32.1 to 32. The total amount of energy would be about 27000 btu's--or similar to running the furnace for one hour!

Probably if temperatures go up to 40 during the day, most Rv's can tolerate 28 F during the night. Below that, and water lines (which don't have much water in them) start being a problem.

Pianotuna, I am not sure I understand -- if the water in the tank is already pretty cold (I am sure it was no higher than 40 degree water), why would it take so much energy to freeze the tank?

And if it is true that we will not have serious freezing problems if the daytime highs are above freezing, that is a game-changer for us -- we usually camp in the Sierra Nevada, where daytime highs are often above freezing during the winter. So if that is the magic bullet protecting us from freezing, that means that we can be much more adventurous in our winter camping plans.

Hi,

It is no mystery. It is a case of thermal mass. It takes a long time for an RV to freeze up. The amount of energy required to freeze water is the same as that required to change the temperature by 170 degrees.

If day time highs do not reach 32 F, then the RV will eventually freeze up.

profdant139 wrote:
We just returned from a trip to southern Utah -- the temps each night were around nine or ten above zero, although the days were in the mid 30s.

Based on this experience, we are planning to do some snow camping. But if anyone can solve the mystery of why we did not have problems with freezing, I would like to hear your thoughts!

When we camped in very low temperatures we had no problem but we had no running water thru the lines. We flushed the toilets by pouring water into the toilet and did that only if we had to get up during the night. Otherwise we walkded down to the park bathrooms. I think we poured some antifreeze down the toilet after we flushed. Did not drink anything after dinner so we were less apt to have to get up. It was much colder than it is supposed to be this weekend.
And with all our precautions we still worry each time.

We just returned from a trip to southern Utah -- the temps each night were around nine or ten above zero, although the days were in the mid 30s. We expected to have some problems with freezing, but we didn't, which is strange. One night, the line to our cold water faucet froze, but it thawed during the day. Nothing else froze. And we did not use a heater at night -- the temp inside the trailer was in the low to mid 20s, every morning.

We were pleased with how well the trailer handled the cold, but I am not sure why it did not freeze!! The underbelly of the trailer is insulated with about three inches of pink fiberglass, covered with a black vinyl sheet. The walls of the trailer contain a thick layer of styrofoam, as does the roof. I put a layer of reflectix around my tanks. We do not have heat tape. We had full hookups (at Kodachrome Basin State Park -- a great place!) but did not use a heater during the night. (Lots of blankets, in case you were wondering -- we slept like hibernating bears.)

Based on this experience, we are planning to do some snow camping. But if anyone can solve the mystery of why we did not have problems with freezing, I would like to hear your thoughts!

Caveman Charlie wrote:
Like the one where his underwear froze to the wall, lol

Mmmm, that just seems wrong..............LOL!

Had my DD's hair freeze to the front wall of the bunk house :B