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?

[2oldman]

Not worth worrying about...assuming those temperatures are what actually occur at YOUR location.

I found a good use for a Nest camera in this situation. I put one in the coldest part of my basement, facing a thermometer. Then I checked the temp on my smartphone every hour or so. As long as your household wifi is strong enough to reach that far, that'll tell you exactly what's going on.

[DarkSkySeeker]

This is the forecast.

[DrewE]

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.

[Grit_dog]

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.

[2oldman]

No. Use your furnace.

[Second_Chance]

Heating the interior of the coach with a portable electric heater won't keep the lines that are under the floor from freezing. RVs that are designed to do so will heat the "basement" with the main propane heater - but your TT may not be built that way. The easiest and fastest thing to do is blow the water lines with a compressor and pour a little RV antifreeze in the P-traps and toilet.

Rob

[Lwiddis]

Do you have an enclosed underbelly? If so is it heated by the furnace?