Winter-Proofing your RV in cold locations....

[chrisandoctavia]

We're currently on a 10 day RV trip during which we have had to change our plans....

Originally we were going to spend a few days at my favorite National Park here - Zion - but a Utah paper had said that overnight temperatures there were going to fall to 22

We had no idea what winter-proofing things might have been done to our RV prior to our purchasing it in August, so changed our plans and went to another location further south.....

My question to any of you who are either full-timers, or who go RV'ing in the winter is what do you do to protect systems in the RV?

Do you do anything to prevent internal water pipes from freezing - or the external water hose?

We don't plan to go to any of the really cold northern states in winter, and will largely stay here in the west with temperatures falling no lower than say 20

Thanks for any advice you can give

Chris

[PSW]

Thanks smkettner for the link in your post to the tank heater manufacturer.

I have those on the Phoenix Cruiser and I had no idea how they were made until your link let me to the site. My water tank is under the bed next to the furnace, so no worries. My black and gray tanks are under the rig but are wrapped with insulated material and have the heaters under the insulation mounted on the tanks as shown in the site you linked in your post. Nice to be informed about what I own and I thank you. This thread is educating and encouraging me to take some trips a little earlier (March) than I normally would think of doing.

By the way, we boondocked many times when it was in the upper 20s overnight in our former unit(Roadtrek 210 Class B) and all three tanks were exposed and not insulated. Never a problem. It was always in the fifties by middle of the day.

Paul

[chrisandoctavia]

Thanks to all for your great replies which are much appreciated

Chris

[KRumm]

Buy a couple gallons of RV antifreeze (Not car antifreeze) to keep on hand... In a pinch if you are somewhere and it starts to freeze dump a gallon in your toilet and the other gallon in all the other drains (to fill the P traps and the grey tank)... This is only if you are pinch to keep the black & grey from freezing for a short time

[Bobbo]

I have a 2007 Winnebago Outlook 31C, which is the same RV. We have camped, even boondocked, with temps getting down to the mid 20's at night, but above freezing during the day. We had no problems whatsoever. We have camped in late December in Tennessee, and boondocked in Yellowstone National Park in mid to late September.

We did not use our tank heaters. We kept the heat at about 50 or 55 at night, and cabinet doors that hide plumbing open.

[chrisandoctavia]

If it helps provide answers here - our RV is a 2007 Itasca Impulse 31 foot C Class

Chris

[time2roll]

chrisandoctavia wrote:
Forgive my relative inexperience here....

What exactly do you mean by "tank heaters"?

Is this the hot water heater that I can turn on on the system test panel along with the Water Pump?

Chris

www.ultraheat.com

Most RVs are fine down to 22 while in use as long as you get above freezing during the day.

[DrewE]

There are quite a few answers here, and they vary quite a bit, mainly because we don't know how your RV is equipped.

If it's set up at all for cold weather use, disconnecting the hoses and turning on the furnace (and heating pads for the tanks, if you have them) should be sufficient. It would not be a bad idea to have the water heater on at least periodically as well.

If the plumbing or tanks are exposed underneath, things are a lot trickier.

The furnace uses quite a bit of battery power if you aren't connected to shore power. I would want a minimum of two good batteries (either two 12V or a pair of golf cart batteries) for boondocking and even so plan on recharging them each day, probably morning and night. A single battery would be pretty marginal, I think.

[WyoTraveler]

What motorhome do you have? Class C or class A? Brand? Would be helpful if forum members knew what you have.

[garyhaupt]

You do mean for your continued trip, right? If so...go to a hardware store and purchase a small-ishy ceramac heater. You'll be parked in RV lots, right? Plug it in...open up all your cupboards to allow the warm air to keep your lines ice-free. Open up at least one window..yeah, I know...counter intuative..but you are creating mositure just thru breathing never mind cooking, washing, etc., and that moisture will make you feel really really cold.

22 isn't life threatening for you in your RV, it's just cold. You can't be just out boondocking ..that's parked without power, if you haven't prepared for that adventure. Your battery(s) will die a fast death

As far as winterizing...it all kinda depends on where you are parking the RV overwinter. From what I have read, you plan to camp over winter. If you have power, just leave the ceramic heater on low setting with the cupboards open. Then, start asking questions about how to do the camping thing. It is great fun, you just need to learn how to do it.

also..I have sent you a pm.

Gary Haupt

[2oldman]

chrisandoctavia wrote:
Do you do anything to prevent internal water pipes from freezing - or the external water hose?

Leave the heat on. Use your tank and pump.

[Searching_Ut]

By tank heater my assumption is that he means electric heaters that you can turn on to keep your tanks from freezing. To know what sort of options you might have when it comes to cold weather we really need to know more about your specific RV. It's been years since I owned a motorhome, and the one I had didn't have any heat options for the tanks. My last two towables used the furnace heat to keep the underbelly warm, and as long as I used the furnace they were good down to around zero. A TT I owned prior to that had the tanks, and many of the plumbing lines completely exposed underneath and didn't handle cold weather well at all. There is a lot of variation so good advice will only come with knowing what you're using.

[EV2]

No, tank heaters are usually heating pads that are attached to the bottom surface of exposed gray and black water waste tanks. Preinstalled are often 12 volt controlled by a switch on your panel and optionally may also have 110 volt plugs attached for use when parked with external power source available. The 12 volt heaters may be used while in motion and your alternator should provide ample power to avoid battery discharge while running. On coach models that have the tanks enclosed in the basement and heated by the furnace the pads are not necessary. If you're traveling and get caught for short periods, you may wish to consider dumping the tanks and leaving them empty. For very limited use you can also poor antifreeze into the tanks but that will become expensive quickly and is not environment friendly.

[chrisandoctavia]

Forgive my relative inexperience here....

What exactly do you mean by "tank heaters"?

Is this the hot water heater that I can turn on on the system test panel along with the Water Pump?

Chris

[WyoTraveler]

Assuming since you put it in MH area you are posting about a MH. If your dump valves and tanks are in a heated area you'll probably be OK as long as you keep your heat on. Normally I don't winterize on the road unless the temp drops below 10 degrees but that depends a lot on your MH and if the tanks are heated by your furnace.