Turn heater on for the night or winterize?

[RedJeep]

I'm in Portland, Oregon. Temperature is supposed to get to 25F tonight. I was getting ready to go winterize the motorhome when it occurred to me that I might be fine just going over to the storage lot and turning the heat on for an evening.

In Portland we might see two or three days of below freezing. We camp year round so it just might be a waste of time, water and pink stuff to fully winterize.

Anyway, just wondering if any of you also just crank up the heat for a night when it gets below freezing for just one night?

---Robert

[Us_out_West]

RedJeep wrote:
Normally I winterize, dewinterize, winterize again, etc.

Us out West wrote:

RedJeep wrote:
I'm in Portland, Oregon. Temperature is supposed to get to 25F tonight. I was getting ready to go winterize the motorhome when it occurred to me that I might be fine just going over to the storage lot and turning the heat on for an evening.

In Portland we might see two or three days of below freezing. We camp year round so it just might be a waste of time, water and pink stuff to fully winterize.

Anyway, just wondering if any of you also just crank up the heat for a night when it gets below freezing for just one night?

---Robert

What do you normally do at this time of the year...winterize or run the furnace?

There you go...your way (winterize) is what I would do therefore no worries.

[DrewE]

westend wrote:

A lot depends on the pipes in use and if there is pressure in the lines. Typically, if there is pressure in a line, 25f won't be a problem if temperatures rise during the day. Unfortunately, most guys will kill the 12V battery power while in storage and that means no water pressure. The flip side of this coin is that if the pump is left on and a pipe does burst, the pump will run until it's shut off. Pumps are dumb.

The freezing point of water has virtually no relation to pressure at any reasonable pressure for a plumbing system (below atmospheric pressure through 1000+ psi). See the phase diagram at http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/water_phase_diagram.html; this is the region where the division between solid and liquid is vertical.

[Tom_Barb]

Tom/Barb wrote:
We turned on our heaters tonight, but we are at home and plugged in, I have two little bee hive heaters to keep the coach above freezing.

I don't run the furness

Certainly glad we did, it was 24 over night. camper is toasty warm this morning.

[westend]

rr2254545 wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
Like Terry said, if it is only a few nights of freezing temps, you should be fine. As long as the temps are above in the day..

I can winterize with 4 gal of pink stuff or $16 - if the power goes out and it freezes how many repairs can you make for $16 - its easy for other to say you will be fine they do not have foot the repair bill if they are wrong

Says the guy from MN. Yup, us guys from MN have experience with freezing pipes and low temps. Also, it doesn't have to be 10f before damage sets in.

A lot depends on the pipes in use and if there is pressure in the lines. Typically, if there is pressure in a line, 25f won't be a problem if temperatures rise during the day. Unfortunately, most guys will kill the 12V battery power while in storage and that means no water pressure. The flip side of this coin is that if the pump is left on and a pipe does burst, the pump will run until it's shut off. Pumps are dumb.

If it was my situation, I'd drain and blow the lines, pink out the traps and tanks, and get a good night's sleep.

[boomersooner198]

We watch the temperatures and when it gets below freezing we turn on the heat (low, about 60 degrees). We are hooked to shore power where I store our camper, it is outside but under cover. We make several trips to the camper to turn the heat on and off, but that is just what we choose to do. Throughout the winter I will probably go through both of my 30 gallon propane tanks, so it costs me about $60 to keep the heat on during cold weather (in Georgia, so not to bad but we do get into the teens a few times).

[Sinnettc]

One or two nights is probably OK around here, given that temps will rise above freezing during the day. We spent about 2 months living in ours at the KOA in Corvallis this time last year. We only had problems when the temps stayed below freezing for several days and then it was the water hose & black tank outlet that froze. Of course we were running heat (space heater during the day with furnace added at night) so the trailer itself never got below mid-50's at worst.

The hose had heat tape and insulation on it but the 15A GFCI outlet on the pedestal had failed so it didn't work. Once the outlet was replaced the hose thawed out and we were good. Black tank was an hour of running a hair dryer outside and pouring hot water down the toilet on the inside. Luckily we got the keys to our new home (on Christmas Eve) before the next hard freeze came along so we only had to deal with the frozen tank once.

[Tom_Barb]

We turned on our heaters tonight, but we are at home and plugged in, I have two little bee hive heaters to keep the coach above freezing.

I don't run the furness

[rhagfo]

rr2254545 wrote:

ford truck guy wrote:
Like Terry said, if it is only a few nights of freezing temps, you should be fine. As long as the temps are above in the day..

I can winterize with 4 gal of pink stuff or $16 - if the power goes out and it freezes how many repairs can you make for $16 - its easy for other to say you will be fine they do not have foot the repair bill if they are wrong

I can winterize in about 20 to 30 minutes with about a 1/2 Gal of pink stuff (for P traps), and a good blow from the TV on board air compressor.

Yes, living in Portland can mean winterizing several times a Winter!

[RedJeep]

Normally I winterize, dewinterize, winterize again, etc.

Us out West wrote:

RedJeep wrote:
I'm in Portland, Oregon. Temperature is supposed to get to 25F tonight. I was getting ready to go winterize the motorhome when it occurred to me that I might be fine just going over to the storage lot and turning the heat on for an evening.

In Portland we might see two or three days of below freezing. We camp year round so it just might be a waste of time, water and pink stuff to fully winterize.

Anyway, just wondering if any of you also just crank up the heat for a night when it gets below freezing for just one night?

---Robert

What do you normally do at this time of the year...winterize or run the furnace?

[RedJeep]

I'm at an RV storage lot. No power. Going to go ahead and err on the side of caution and winterize. Thanks all!

[Us_out_West]

RedJeep wrote:
I'm in Portland, Oregon. Temperature is supposed to get to 25F tonight. I was getting ready to go winterize the motorhome when it occurred to me that I might be fine just going over to the storage lot and turning the heat on for an evening.

In Portland we might see two or three days of below freezing. We camp year round so it just might be a waste of time, water and pink stuff to fully winterize.

Anyway, just wondering if any of you also just crank up the heat for a night when it gets below freezing for just one night?

---Robert

What do you normally do at this time of the year...winterize or run the furnace?

[goducks10]

I leave a small space heater in mine. I'm in Keizer Or. I only turn it on when the temps are in the 20's at night and barely reach freezing during the day. Which doesn't happen all that often. All I've done so far is blow the lines and drain the HW tank. This cold weather coming in the next day or two won't faze it. I'm not even turning on the heater.

[RAS43]

I have had occasions in the spring and fall where the temps dropped below freezing and our trailer is not winterized. I set the furnace to 40 degrees, the lowest setting, and it has been fine. I do have it plugged in so a low battery wouldn't be a problem and if the forecast if below 25 then I would drain the system.

[rr2254545]

ford truck guy wrote:
Like Terry said, if it is only a few nights of freezing temps, you should be fine. As long as the temps are above in the day..

I can winterize with 4 gal of pink stuff or $16 - if the power goes out and it freezes how many repairs can you make for $16 - its easy for other to say you will be fine they do not have foot the repair bill if they are wrong