Winterizing versus Heating RV Interior

[DarkSkySeeker]

I live north of San Francisco. "Cold" for us is when the temperature falls below 45F. Tonight there is a frost warning and I am wondering about my Travel Trailer's water lines.

I do not think the the overnight temperatures will fall below 30F. Should I be concerned? Is there any benefit to running an electric heater inside the coach to keep it at 65F?

[DarkSkySeeker]

After all this fuss, the overnight low was 35F.

The weatherman said this morning, "the North wind kept the temperatures from going lower". Funny thing. I thought north winds were colder.

[wa8yxm]

I have of old fashion C-9 "Outdoor" christmas tree lights in my basement about 270 Watts as I recall, along with a 100 Watt Rough Service light bulb (Also old fashion Incansadent) that keeps the lines UNDER (Well they are enclosed) and water tanks liquid down to around 23 or so. Plus the heater (Furnace if its really cold (Another 10 degrees) But it gets that cold where I camp. I've added furnace 2 nights this year not on the road.

11 degrees I had one line freeze overnight but it was in a "Safe" area so when it thawed the next day it was 100% no problems.

I'v also had outside temp hit -6.. That cost me $10.00 and labor.

[drsteve]

No worries. The beer in your cooler is colder than your water lines will get with those temps.

[ReneeG]

Grit dog wrote:
Based on the forecast I just looked at, there’s nothing that would prompt me to Winterize there.
If it’s well above freezing during the day (40deg +), a light frost at night isn’t going to freeze anything up.

What he said.

[DarkSkySeeker]

rexmitchell wrote:

This^ even a couple hours in the 20s isn’t going to wreck everything. When you have a hard freeze for 12+ hours is when I’d start worrying. I forgot to winterize my trailer and it got down to 24 degrees one night but was only below freezing for 3-4 hours. No problem there.

I think I am pretty well calibrated here now.

[rexmitchell]

wildtoad wrote:
Don’t do anything based on the forecast you provided. Temps have to be really really cold for extended times. Your chart shows it only drops to 32, and only then for two hours before it warms up again. Leave it alone, sleep well.

This^ even a couple hours in the 20s isn’t going to wreck everything. When you have a hard freeze for 12+ hours is when I’d start worrying. I forgot to winterize my trailer and it got down to 24 degrees one night but was only below freezing for 3-4 hours. No problem there.

[wildtoad]

Don’t do anything based on the forecast you provided. Temps have to be really really cold for extended times. Your chart shows it only drops to 32, and only then for two hours before it warms up again. Leave it alone, sleep well.

[2oldman]

DarkSkySeeker wrote:
No anti-freeze in the toilet?

I'm not sure why you wouldn't just drain the toilet.. not that 28 is even close enough to freeze any pond of water inside your rv.

[DarkSkySeeker]

2112 wrote:
Even for those few times we get an overnight low of 28, I open my low-point drains and faucets. Let them drain for about an hour and close the low-point drains. Leave the faucets open. Never had a problem. You have a low of 32. Nothing to worry about.

No anti-freeze in the toilet?

[2112]

Even for those few times we get an overnight low of 28, I open my low-point drains and faucets. Let them drain for about an hour and close the low-point drains. Leave the faucets open. Never had a problem. You have a low of 32. Nothing to worry about.

[DarkSkySeeker]

bikendan wrote:
Lived in Napa for 12 years. NEVER had to winterize my trailer. No such thing as a hard freeze in the SF Bay Area.

I recall years back a week-long spell when the overnight lows were in the high teens, and then probably 40-50F during the day.

[bikendan]

DarkSkySeeker wrote:
This is the forecast.

Lived in Napa for 12 years. NEVER had to winterize my trailer. Never needed to run a heater. No such thing as a hard freeze in the SF Bay Area. Grew up in the Sonoma Valley for 15 years and never saw a hard freeze.

[DarkSkySeeker]

Thanks all - I really appreciate the combined knowledge of this forum.

[colliehauler]

DrewE wrote:
Not a few travel trailers have no provision for heating the water lines at all; they're outside the heated compartment, and there's no basement heat or similar. Not all, of course, but many. If you have one like that, with exposed plumbing, neither the furnace nor an electric heater will do much good.

If the temperature only droops below freezing for a brief bit, and warms up afterwards, you generally have little if anything to worry about for freezing plumbing. There's enough thermal mass to prevent the water from freezing solid in that short of a time. This is doubly true if the unit is designed for cold weather use with the plumbing within the heated and insulated envelope of the trailer, which for a brief overnight cold spell would not dip below freezing.

This^^^ I would not worry about it.