Winterized Camping

[andrewh]

While camping last year in our 2015 Thor Ace 29.2, I had some concerns about the freezing weather and how it would affect the water pipes and tanks. As soon as it dropped close to freezing, I disconnected our water hoses from the RV park spigot. We don't have anything installed at this time time to prevent the systems from freezing. Are there any recommendations for keeping the pipes, water pump, and tanks from freezing. Are there any heat pads or space heaters that I could be using to prevent expensive damages to my water systems?

[time2roll]

www.ultraheat.com

[drsteve]

Bill.Satellite wrote:

I have used 100W light bulbs but incandescent lights are getting hard to find.

Auto parts stores have "rough service" incandescent bulbs made for use in drop cord lights.

[Bill_Satellite]

andrewh wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
andrewh, what kind of RV do you own.

It's a 2015 Thor Ace 29.2

OK, so you have a fully enclosed Class A motor home. I will assume you have propane heat and if that's correct then you also have heat ducted into the "wet bay(s)". The good news and the bad news is that you have heat ducted into the wet bay(s). The good news is that your tanks will stay nice and toasty warm as long as you keep the heat running. The bad news is that you can burn a lot of propane trying to keep enough heat running inside the RV to keep the bays warm.
I suggest that you get a weather station with remote temp. sensor to monitor the temps in the wet bay. If things don't look good in the bays running the right amount of heat to keep the interior warm then you should install another heat source in the wet bay(s). I have used 100W light bulbs but incandescent lights are getting hard to find. There are also some tiny 200W personal heater that would keep your bay(s) warm assuming you have a 120V source available.
You just need to keep an eye on the way bay(s) with some kind of a temp. monitor and adjust what needs to be done to ensure you don't freeze a line (disaster!) I was always wondering if I was OK until I installed a remote temperature monitor down there and I have been happy every since.

[BarneyS]

If you have an enclosed underbelly on the trailer you may very well have heated tanks. Usually all it consists of is a duct leading to the underbelly area from the furnace ducting. You have to run the furnace to have it do any good.

Without that, there are several things you can do to camp in below freezing weather.
1. Use your fresh water tank onboard to supply water - if the tank is above the floor as many trailers have.

2. Remove your water hose from the campground pedestal after using it each time.

3. Open cupboards to let warm inside air circulate among the pipes inside the trailer.

4. Keep your gray tank valve open and let several faucets run or fast drip to keep the water flowing and prevent freezing.

5. Use bottled water for everything and forgo using the trailers water system altogether. (This is usually what we do when traveling South for the winter for the first couple of days. We carry a gallon of RV antifreeze to use for flushing the toilet and we dump all waste water into the toilet also.)

Hope this helps.
Barney

I am going to move this to the General RVing Issues forum. This forum is for DIY modifications and upgrades. Thank you for your post.

[andrewh]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
andrewh, what kind of RV do you own.

It's a 2015 Thor Ace 29.2

[Bill_Satellite]

andrewh, what kind of RV do you own.

[Dutch_12078]

andrewh wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Our main LP furnace has an outlet that supplies enough heat to our waste tank bay to keep it above freezing even at sub-zero temps.

What would I look for to see if I have a similar setup?

Ours has a 2" flex hose connected to the main duct that lays between the two waste tanks and blows warm air down where the water valve panel and pump are located. The rising air also keeps the tanks warm.

[boogie_4wheel]

All of my tanks, and some plumbing is exposed (not covered belly).
I used UltraHeat stick on tank heaters on my gray and black. They have a chart for what size heater depending on the tank capacity. For the exposed plumbing I used Easy Heat heat tape premade from Home Depot, and then covered it with foam insulation.

I didn't use my fresh water tank. Another Easy Heat on my fresh hose. I bought this one longer than my hose and wrapped it around the spigot, then covered the spigot with fiberglass insulation then a heavy trash bag.

With my trailer skirted with thin chipboard with 1" Styrofoam, I was good to -22*F.

Without anything (insulation, skirting), the fresh water hose shushed in the mid 20's.

[andrewh]

Dutch_12078 wrote:
Our main LP furnace has an outlet that supplies enough heat to our waste tank bay to keep it above freezing even at sub-zero temps.

What would I look for to see if I have a similar setup?

[Dutch_12078]

Our main LP furnace has an outlet that supplies enough heat to our waste tank bay to keep it above freezing even at sub-zero temps. Our water tank is under our bed, so it's not affected either. We do of course, use the onboard water tank under those conditions, connecting the to the park water spigot only long enough to refill the tank as needed. We're generally only in those conditions for a couple of nights though, as we head for warmer weather.