Electric Heater vs Winterizing
Have you tried keeping tanks warm with a small electric heater instead of winterizing. How has that worked for you?
Forum Discussion
- Great...but I live in Las Vegas, NV and only have to do this a couple times a winter.
- Are you living in it?
2oldman wrote:
Are you living in it?
No, but why is that relevant?- Hi,
You need to figure out how many degree days there will be. You would need to leave the furnace set to cut in should the power fail.
I heat nearly 100% electrically. See the thread "winter camping" under full time RVing. - It'll work until it doesn't. My brother gets away with it in Vancouver, WA, but I wouldn't try it. Once you learn to winterize, it should take less than two hours.
Bill - Depending on your model, you may need to run a fan to move the air into the basement area. The other factor is how often you plan to use it over the winter. If you park it and only use it once, I would probably just go ahead and winterize it.
However, down here near the coast in SC, I only have to worry about it a few times. Usually throw the furnace on at 50 on nights I know it is going below about 28. That is the temp I find the inside gets down to about 34 for a low. As soon as the cold snap is over, I turn it off. Battery is good for a couple cold snaps before I have to recharge (usually at 70-75% according to trimetric). Usually use less than a 20# tank of propane over a winter and have gotten good at watching battery useage by the furnace to know when to start checking the tank.
If it is going into the teens, I bring it home or take it to my father's place for electric so I can run a 600w fan forced electric heater. Have this connected to a baseboard thermostat so can set it at desired temp. Have a mark set for 40* to prevent freezing and 50* for sleeping at night. - I live in Seattle and we try and use the camper a fair amount in the winter. As such I don't winterize. I pay attention to the weather forcast. Generally I run an electric heater and a fan to push air underneath. When it gets really cold I turn on the furnace too. One if ny fall projects is to install a double throw switch so I can manual turn on the tank fan without relying on an external fan to push air underneath.
- Iwinterized my previous TT in about 15 minutes. In my MH I have W/D so takes about 25 minutes. I winterize on the road as needed. Not a big deal. I just blow out my lines.
hedgehopper wrote:
You asked about heating tanks. Heating the tanks, if the unit is unoccupied, is unnecessary.2oldman wrote:
No, but why is that relevant?
Are you living in it?- Why not winterize?
