Do we have to winterize if we use our RV during the winter?

[forrman]

We live in Southern Utah, where temperatures are starting to dip in the low 30s and high 20s at night. But during the daylight hours temperatures are in the high 40s to Lowe 50s. We still plan to go camping every 3-4 weeks from now through the Spring. Do we still need to winterize bnow and de-winterize right before our next trip?

[rhagfo]

JIMNLIN wrote:

forrman wrote:
We live in Southern Utah, where temperatures are starting to dip in the low 30s and high 20s at night. But during the daylight hours temperatures are in the high 40s to Lowe 50s. We still plan to go camping every 3-4 weeks from now through the Spring. Do we still need to winterize bnow and de-winterize right before our next trip?

There is no simple answer as we have no idea how well your rv is insulated. Nor do we know how cold it gets during the winter where you will be camping or where the unit is stored.
Winds with below freezing temps can cold soak a rv and freeze water/drain lines even with the furnace going. RV trailers don't all have the same floor/walls/roof R values.

There is a simple answer to this, we live in the PNW near Portland. Temps in winter can get into the high teens, when we would get back from a trip I would look at upcoming weather and if mild would just park it in the storage yard.
If the weather looked to turn cold, I would go and use compressed air and blow the lines and drain the W/H, put pink stuff in the drains. This process usually took about 30 minutes once at the yard.
I never put pink stuff in the water lines as DW could taste it for weeks, and most the parks we went to in winter were not full hookup making flushing difficult.
There were winters I did this six times, other winters might be once.

[CFerguson]

Also remember that most forecast temps are for 'the airport' or a central to everybody spot. Microclimates exist everywhere.

[JIMNLIN]

forrman wrote:
We live in Southern Utah, where temperatures are starting to dip in the low 30s and high 20s at night. But during the daylight hours temperatures are in the high 40s to Lowe 50s. We still plan to go camping every 3-4 weeks from now through the Spring. Do we still need to winterize bnow and de-winterize right before our next trip?

There is no simple answer as we have no idea how well your rv is insulated. Nor do we know how cold it gets during the winter where you will be camping or where the unit is stored.
Winds with below freezing temps can cold soak a rv and freeze water/drain lines even with the furnace going. RV trailers don't all have the same floor/walls/roof R values.

[JimK-NY]

You will need to use an electric space heater to keep the temperature well above freezing. In addition there are some other areas of concern such as the HW tank. In most RVs the tank receives little heat. If the temps start dropping into the 20s or below you might want to turn on the HW heat in the evening at least to warm up the water in the tank.

I would also recommend you get a remote temperature sensor so you can track the temperature from inside the house. I thought I had everything working but snow pushed down on the power cord to the point where the space heater stopped working. Fortunately I had winterized the water system and only lost some food items.

RV antifreeze is pretty cheap. You might want to winterize, not have to worry about freeze damage and save the cost of electricity for the space heater.

[MrWizard]

If you are not going to have it heated, for 3 weekS
YES winterize
A sudden hard freeze could damage your rv , if not winterized

[wowens79]

I’m in Georgia, and in the winter it may be in the teens for a few days, and then in the 70’s in a few days, so I winterize a multiple times per year. I’ve gotten it where I can winterize pretty quickly.

[blofgren]

CFerguson wrote:
While there are certainly ways around it, I'd advise winterizing everything at risk- multiple times if called for. It's just not that much effort and if you are wrong, the expense/aggravation can be huge.

Perhaps adding some thermometers to check 1st thing each morning could give you a better idea how cold those critical spots are actually getting overnight.

x2. Sometimes temperatures dip without much warning; I would winterize it and then it is not a worry. It doesn't take much effort/time/expense to do it.

[CFerguson]

While there are certainly ways around it, I'd advise winterizing everything at risk- multiple times if called for. It's just not that much effort and if you are wrong, the expense/aggravation can be huge.

Perhaps adding some thermometers to check 1st thing each morning could give you a better idea how cold those critical spots are actually getting overnight.

[we3]

For me the answer is always yes if there is any question. I have had frozen lines once and I am sure that drives my decisions. Not a fun time. Im sure that it will get cooler no matter where you live and as was mentioned it has more to do with how long rather then how cold. I am set up so I can winterize in about 5 minutes. Then when I dewinterize I save the antifreeze from the lines to use in the drains next time. By doing that I can winterize with only 1 gal of antifreeze. For me that is not worth the chance that it may freeze up.

[bukhrn]

Not sure about the Wildwood, but my Forester has all the water lines and fresh water tank above the floor, so if you have power available, use an electric heater as mentioned above.

[Desert_Captain]

forrman wrote:
Thanks for your reply! I saw another post where someone said it's best to run hot water through the shower and sinks, and flush the toilet, at night and in the morning, also. What do you think?

Two different ways to go... if you are living {camping - traveling} in the rig then flushing toilets and running hot water certainly could not hurt and would be easy to do. If you are not and the coach is not immediately available {as in your driveway vs a distant storage facility} then these methods probably would not be all that doable often enough to effect much protection.

Once I have drained the fresh water from the rig the only thing that goes down any drains or the toilet is the pink RV anti freeze. When we are ready to travel again I just refill the fresh water tank and turn on the pump and we are good top go - with no need to flush the antifreeze as it will just be pushed from the traps into the black/gray tanks.

As always... Opinions and YMMV

:C

[forrman]

Thanks for your reply! I saw another post where someone said it's best to run hot water through the shower and sinks, and flush the toilet, at night and in the morning, also. What do you think?

[Desert_Captain]

I'm seeing similar temps here in central Arizona {at 5,000'} and the short answer is "Yes".
An occasional dip into the mid to high twenties is not likely to damage but... if it drops into the 20's and stays there for more than a few hours or so things will begin to freeze, and not in a good way.

I haven't had the need to blow out the lines and refill them with antifreeze but I do drain all of the water from the coach {and then drive it around for about 5 miles with the drains open and that chases most of the water from the lines down and out} and fill the traps {sinks and shower} with a cup or two and put about a quart in the black and gray tanks.

Our class C resides in the driveway and has AC power 24/7 so anytime the temps are headed south I can just run a small electric heater set to around 50 - 60 degrees. Opening drawers and cabinet doors help circulate the warmer air. Also the rig has tank heaters and I will turn them on anytime the temps are going to stay below 30 for any length of time.

We usually use our coach throughout the year but this is our first winter up at 5,000' so I will adjust the above as needed. good luck.

:C

[d3500ram]

If you get into the 50's during the day and are able to open it up, do so at the height of the day. Let that cold air out and the warm in.

Close it back up once the temps start to dip. The fresh air won't hurt either.

[corvettekent]

No, not if you can get it above freezing in the daytime. I put an electric heater in my 5th wheel that will keep the inside just above freezing temperature.