Rookie questions about the cold

[dedmiston]

My wife and I are going to be touring Arizona and New Mexico next month. We live in Southern California and dry camp a lot in our deserts during the winter. It's not unusual for our camping temps to be in the 40s during the day and 20s at night. We've never given a second thought to anything freezing except for the dog's water bowl. (Seriously, there will be a half inch of ice on the dog's water bowl in the morning, but it's always nice and toasty inside the trailer.)

We have NEVER winterized. The joke with our friends is that "winterizing" means taking the trailers out of storage and going camping, because the summer heat is finally over.

So my question is, do we need to be concerned about the winter temps overnight in Arizona and New Mexico? I'm looking at the weather at some of the places we want to visit in New Mexico, and it looks like it will be in the teens overnight.

We keep the trailer warm enough at night for us humans and our dogs. We have an enclosed belly and there was a sticker showing a snowflake being vanquished by the beefy all-weatherness of our trailer when we bought it.

We're obviously venturing into uncharted territories for us though.

[dedmiston]

Thanks everyone.

A couple of things I should have mentioned:

The "rookie" part only refers to camping in parks with hookups during the winter. We've been doing this for many years, but at least 80% of our camping is dry camping in the high deserts from Fall through Spring.

Next, the dog bowl is outside when it freezes. :B That's when we're boondocking in our local deserts and we let the dogs run feral during the day (as long as we're in camp and not out riding), so their water and food (empty food bowls) stay out at night.

We've camped in plenty of cold temps here in our high deserts and even had snow, but usually these are just overnight temps of 20s and daytimes in the high 30s and low 40s.

We got quite a bit of snow last March when we were in Utah, but it never seemed cold enough to worry about the pipes freezing.

Usually when we dry camp near home, we use the space heaters in the front bedroom and the garage to conserve propane and batteries. We'll be staying in parks with hookups though, so refilling the propane won't be hard and we'll have all the power we need.

We'll go ahead and run the furnace. I like the idea of leaving cupboards open to spread the warmth. I usually set the temp to 55 at night, but I'll turn it up to warm the belly.

As far as ducting goes, our furnace ducts run through the belly under the floor but above the tanks and up to the vents. The duct runs to all but the last 12' of the trailer (the garage). The fresh water and gray/black tanks are in the main belly of the coach, and then the two gas tanks are under the garage in the rear.

I'll keep a good amount of water in the fresh tanks just in case, and I always leave the gray/black valves closed until I'm ready to dump and leave.

Thanks for all of your input. Happy camping!

[midnightsadie]

it all come down to where you,ll be camped.100miles makes a big difference.

[RGar974417]

We have camped numerous times in cold weather. One trip we were in Amarillo and it was 90. The next night we were in Gallop,NM and it was 15 and snowing. We were hooked up to water and the hose froze.So I would suggest fill up your tanks and disconnect water and sewer hoses.You will be fine as long as you keep the unit heated. Yopu may also want to open the kitchen sink and vanity doors to allow warm air to circulate.

[momentum_rv]

MrWizard wrote:
i've been to "Q" three times and never had to worry about freezing

but if your going to Grand canyon / flagstaff, anyplace with altitude

i suggest you bite the bullet, use the LP run the furnace, and keep the Fiver warm
don't let the dog dish freeze and your tanks and pipes should be OK

there should be some heat ducts and warm air circulation into those areas
as long as you "use the furnace" and keep the interior in the 50's or warmer

you can do for this trip, don't play Eskimo and you should be OK

^^^^ X2

[harley-dave]

We don't boondock so its not an issue to run the furnace at night and use an electric heated water hose to prevent it from freezing. Our Itasca has an enclosed under belly and heat ducts for warming down there. I still have a wireless out side thermometer that I leave in the wet bays to check the temps down there at night. Never gets below about 36 even with outside temps in the 15 - 20's range.

Dave

[MWJones]

Coolmom42,

Please don't give the poster a false since of security about his underbelly having heat ducts going into it. THEY ALL DON'T !!!!
Including those that have labels at the door indicating they do.
I know from first hand experience.
Also a dealer told me the same as well.

PS: This applies to insulation in the underbelly. They all DO NOT have it, even when they are "supposed to have".

[coolmom42]

Be sure to have enough battery to get you through the night with the furnace running. It just needs to blow enough air into the underbelly to keep things from freezing. Leave cabinet doors open so the plumbing underneath them gets some warm air circulation.

Don't make the mistake of using electric heaters to the extent that your furnace won't come on. The electric heat won't do the underbelly any good.

If you have water hookups, only use your hose to fill the tank and don't leave it connected. Disconnect and drain it well after every use.

[old_guy]

here in Oregon we do get cold snaps but come elk season we get real cold. I've never worried about freezing any of the pipes in my TT. just keep the thermostat on 60 or more and you should be OK. you might run low on propane if you are out very long

[FLY_4_FUN]

I would watch actual temps where when/where you camp and be prepared to winterize if it becomes required. A mild freeze overnight is not going to do any damage to stuff unless it continues for part of the day also. With that said read up on all the unprepared campers across the US right now posting about freezing their "4 season" rigs. I know nothing about the area your headed...but freezing is freezing and damage will happen to rigs that are not suited for harsh temps if they stick around long enough.

Daryll

[MrWizard]

i've been to "Q" three times and never had to worry about freezing

but if your going to Grand canyon / flagstaff, anyplace with altitude

i suggest you bite the bullet, use the LP run the furnace, and keep the Fiver warm
don't let the dog dish freeze and your tanks and pipes should be OK

there should be some heat ducts and warm air circulation into those areas
as long as you "use the furnace" and keep the interior in the 50's or warmer

you can do for this trip, don't play Eskimo and you should be OK

[Lwiddis]

Because of the possible repair expense I get nervous and take preventive action when temps are estimated to be below 28 without wind. Don’t push your luck into the teens IMO.

[NMDriver]

Where in NM. Up north in Feb you will get freezing temps. Down south not as likely.

Most of the time by mid Feb southern NM is seeing above freezing temps at night and 60-70 in the day. Here Altitude is the difference between freezing and above freezing.

[azdryheat]

I have never winterized in Tucson.