RVing in cold weather

[garmp]

Being a new RVer, living in the midwest (St. Louis, MO) and heading south for warmer weather, how do I handle the water/freezing issue in the RV? I mean that I am leaving a cold, below freezing at night (20ish degrees) and heading to Florida with a night over in Mississippi/Alabama where it might also get below freezing at night. The system is now winterized. Should I de-winterize it at the first night over where temps might get into the upper 20's, lower 30's and fill with water? Or can I do it at home before leaving where temps should be in the upper 30 to 40's during the day, but still in the upper 20's at night.
thanks

[Dutch_12078]

We left upstate NY in early January with a temp of 6℉ and a full fresh water tank. We didn't see above freezing temps both day and night until we reached southern VA, and had no water problems along the way. We've done pretty much the same thing for a number of years now, including seeing a few degrees below zero at times. As long as our furnace is in regular use, our tanks stay above freezing.

[rk911]

garmp wrote:
Being a new RVer, living in the midwest (St. Louis, MO) and heading south for warmer weather, how do I handle the water/freezing issue in the RV? I mean that I am leaving a cold, below freezing at night (20ish degrees) and heading to Florida with a night over in Mississippi/Alabama where it might also get below freezing at night. The system is now winterized. Should I de-winterize it at the first night over where temps might get into the upper 20's, lower 30's and fill with water? Or can I do it at home before leaving where temps should be in the upper 30 to 40's during the day, but still in the upper 20's at night.
thanks

we wrestled with the same questions before leaving Chicago for Phoenix. we ultimately decided to not de-winterize and to spend the first two nights in a motel. that was an excellent decision for us. we ultimately stayed in a motel for just the first night as the weather improved on the second day and overnight temps were in the mid 40-s. so we found a camoground and de-winterized there. after that we didn't encounter any sub-freezing temps. we used the All-Stays Truck & Travel app to find motels with truck parkng areas.

[magicbus]

Dick_B wrote:
X2 for DutchmenSport. We use pink stuff to flush the toilet and bottled water. Try not to get them mixed up!

Doing that right now in our class B. Tomorrow we hit Tennessee and can finally dewinterize. One thing I miss about my previous DP is the heated basement tanks and plumbing.

Dave

[Dick_B]

X2 for DutchmenSport. We use pink stuff to flush the toilet and bottled water. Try not to get them mixed up!

[kerrlakeRoo]

Have to agree with Drew. You could also go ahead and flush the system the morning you are leaving, and then just put 10-20 gallons in for the trip. I assume your furnace will put a little heat down below to help with keeping things warm overnight. If you have heating pads on the tanks, then you're doubly protected.

[DutchmenSport]

When we go to South Carolina or Florida the week of Christmas, we leave Indiana winterized and once out of the "freeze zone" unwinterize "there". We have found over the years, that it is pretty safe to unwinterize once we reach midway through Kentucky. If campgrounds have water turned on at the campsites, then it's pretty safe to go ahead and unwinterize.

Coming back home, usually on Dec 31, we winterize at our destination spot, right before leaving. We use to plan on driving one day, spending the night in Tennessee and winterizing there, then driving the rest of the way home. Except Christmas week 2017. I winterized in South Carolina and we ended up driving straight home as temps were called to reach as much as 10 below zero in Indiana that week.

We have in the past, until we learned about where that line is where campgrounds leave water on, stayed winterized until we reach Florida and stayed the first night traveling in a motel. Those days are gone now, since we've learned about where that line is, between the freeze zone and the non-freeze zone is, and now plan on campgrounds and unwinterize the first night.

[DrewE]

A lot depends on your specific RV. If it's set up to handle below freezing weather (as I think a Phoenix Cruiser would be), with the tanks enclosed in the heated envelope of the house, and you keep the interior warm while underway (which with a Phoenix Cruiser you undoubtedly would), there should be no trouble at all with turning on the heat, dewinterizing, and going with full tanks and full use of the plumbing system.

A unit with exposed tanks and pipes that is unheated while underway would be rather a different matter, though even there a few hours of upper 20's would probably still be okay...probably, but not absolutely certainly.