Camping With Below Freezing Temps

[far733]

So, my family and I were planning on doing a long weekend trip this weekend. Where we planned on camping, the temps are as follows: 45H/30L, 48H/30L, and 51H/29L. The water is on the campground which I planned on using. So my concern is with my water lines freezing at night. Obviously the day time temps are good, but I was concerned with it being below freezing for 3 nights. Just looking for your thoughts and recommendations about this. Thanks!

[far733]

Thank you all for your responses! 🙂

[rbpru]

When we cold camp we just dry camp and use the heated wash house. It is just a lot easier for a weekend or a few days of snow shoeing.

[time2roll]

Fill the propane and fresh water tank and you are fine at 30F.
Run the furnace and have some fun. No worries.

[scbwr]

Ditto what has been said. You can also open any cabinet doors that are covering areas where there are water lines. Doubt it is necessary at the temps you are anticipating, but if in a situation where it is below freezing for longer periods, opening cabinet doors helps get heat to where any water lines might be running.

Another option is to get a Camco water hose that is heated. I've ordered one as we're going to be in the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier in early to mid June.

[dave17352]

Probably not cold enough even with the hose hooked up to cause a problem. But to be sure unhook the water hose as others have said. If you have a enclosed underbelly you should be able to camp a lot colder than that with no problem, with the hose unhooked.

[CampingN_C_]

We just camped a couple of weeks ago where it was in the mid teens at night. Only issue we had was the campground spigot froze and was unusable until around noon each day.
As said, unhook from the water source and make sure to drain/blow out your hose. They take forever to thaw, ask me how I know!

[pianotuna]

Run off fresh water tank. There is should be no problem at all.

[dadmomh]

Agree on unhooking the water supply. Also, just for additional peace of mind, you might want to open the cabinet doors under the sink, bathroom vanity, any place there is a water supply. The heat from inside will help in those areas. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I seem to remember folks saying NOT to allow a faucet to drip, like you might do at home. This doesn't mean it's correct, just seems like I remember it. Otherwise, since you'll be above freezing for all but a very few hours, you should be fine.

[Big_Rig1]

I can't see where you would have any problems as long as you drain your hoses & put them away. I definitely wouldn't turn the heat off in the camper, even if you didn't have hookups, I would just turn the heat down. But since you have hookups that is not a problem. When we have hookups we run an electric heater to conserve our propane.
We got caught in a snow storm in New Mexico one time where it got down below zero. The bathroom water was froze up so we couldn't use it. I left the furnace running as we headed down the road the next morning. The pipes thawed out & all was ok, no problems.

Big Rig

[eichacsj]

handye9 wrote:
Use your fresh water tank. It might be cold enough to cause issues with the hose, but, it won't be cold enough to freeze the tank.

Fill the tank, put the hose away, and enjoy the weekend.

X2, we fill the FW in freezing temps, when it empties we refill it. To much of a pain to worry about that small hose.

[SoundGuy]

far733 wrote:
The water is on the campground which I planned on using.

Presuming what you meant to say was "the water is on at the campground" I'd ask if you're sure that's the case. Here in S Ontario our weather isn't much different than yours and it will be a couple of weeks yet before we start seeing park water systems fully functional. That said, I'd echo others who suggest you simply fill your trailer's fresh water tank, pump from it, and just forget about hooking up to the campground supply even if it is up & running. A few overnight hours a few degrees below freezing won't make any difference at all when you're drawing from the tank ... mine's full right now, has been the last couple of weeks, no way I'd drain it now even if overnight temps temporarily drop below freezing ... just not necessary at all.

[RoyB]

We always unhook from the camp ground water at night. Trailer heater should keep you all just fine...

When its cool in the mornings the fresh ground bean coffee really taste great... I will most often have a nice bonfire going outside at daybreak sitting around it drinking coffee...


Roy Ken

[bgum]

The bear is right. Have fun.

[handye9]

Use your fresh water tank. It might be cold enough to cause issues with the hose, but, it won't be cold enough to freeze the tank.

Fill the tank, put the hose away, and enjoy the weekend.