Hi! A quick question for you here...I am in Canada and I want to use my small travel trailer during the weekends up to thanksgiving or so (in Canada thanksgiving is October 13th) but the temperature during the night are VERY near of the freezing point and I am wondering what I can do to protect my travel trailer for the upcoming month because I am not ready to go with the winterizing procedure yet.My first idea now is to install a small (and very safe) electronic portable electric heater inside the camper and set on the freezing protection point (around 5'C). Since all water connection and hose are inside the camper's cab and since floor and walls are slightly insulated, do you think it can be enough to prevent damage by freezing?Of course the temperature are not very low at this time, the lower it can be during night is like 0'C or maybe -1'C...

We often use our TT right through to Cdn. Thanksgiving. We do not winterize until after and have no problems. You really need a hard freeze to do any damage. We have had snow on the roof at Thanksgiving and not a problem so long as day temps go above freezing.

I guess if you're confident that all of the water lines are in places where a bit of heat will keep them from freezing, that's a perfectly good plan. I did a lot of designing in my TT to make sure that all compartments have good airflow. I used mesh fabric for panels and cabinet doors. I've insulated the floor fairly well and also the walls. I have a complete thermal break inside walls, floors, and ceilings , using foam insulation between interior paneling and the frame. What I've found is that without fans to push heated air into those tight spaces, they will remain cold. October temps in Canada might not cause a freeze in those separate areas if a heater is used but I wouldn't be confident about that theory in the dead of Winter. I'm in MN, BTW.

If you have a 12V compresser blow out the water lines with air and make sure that you dump the tanks before heading home. Start with the cosest to the city water hook up and blow the line until you get nothing but air, close the valve and move to the next valve. You don't need much air pressure to get the water lines empty. Don't forget to drain the fresh water low drain point.I have been blowing out the water lines for years now and the only anitfreeze I use is what I pour down the drains.

We camp like that often. With the heater operating, I open all the drawers and cabinet doors to allow the warmer air to get into the hidden spaces.No problems so far.Plus. I keep the hot water heater on.Have fun.

Hey, I'm in the Muskoka region in Ontario. I use my TT until the weekend prior to Halloween. We take the kids out to Algonquin Park for the annual Halloween event. Last season there was snow on the ground already and overnight lows below freezing, daytime highs slightly above freezing.We used a combination of the built-in propane furnace and a portable infrared electric heater. We also used heated blankets on the beds. Using the heated blankets allowed us to drop the air temperature inside the TT, since there is HEAVY condensation due to the outside air temperature difference.You will need to vent the moist air outside resulting in losing most of your heat for a little while each morning.. but it is still a fun way to camp!Where do you live in Canada?

Extended season use of TT near freezing temperatures

ktmrfs
Explorer II
Sep 21, 2014
we boondocked for the last two weeks in eastern oregon. Every night was below freezing, the coldest was 24F. Turned the thermostat on the furnace down to 45F (the lowest it would go) for the night. No issues. Overnight low temps in the fall are seldom long enough to cause freezing problems. Another issue when it seldom goes above freezing during the day.

our trailer does have an enclosed underbelly, but no direct heat vent to the underbody, just radiant heat from the furnace ducting.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Sep 20, 2014
Hi,

I would become concerned at -3 C (27 f).
VegasBT
Explorer
Sep 20, 2014
I live in Las Vegas, and we are just now getting into the season when we can use our TT most weekends (Summer necessitates a 5 hour drive to the nearest mountains to escape the heat). My question is how cold does it have to get before I need to worry about blowing out the lines? We get occasional cold fronts that will drop the temperatures into the mid 20's for 5-6 hours. I know that that's enough to ruin pool pumps and outdoor irrigation systems that aren't covered. How cold does it have to be before I need to worry about blowing out my lines and pouring antifreeze down my p traps?
vlopddap
Explorer
Sep 16, 2014
Hi, if 5'C is not warm enough I can't see any trouble to set it to 10'C during night... anyway my small Honeywell ceramic heater doesn't have a gradated thermostat knob, so I'll set it to minimum and it'll be probably more like 10'C than 5'C...
time2roll
Nomad
Sep 16, 2014
I would just blow out the lines and forget the heater idea.

Otherwise put the heat exactly where it is needed. www.ultraheat.com
pianotuna
Nomad III
Sep 16, 2014
Hi,

As westend said, you need a fan to circulate the warm air.

Opening the doors would rely on thermocycling--and that only works if there is a large temperature difference. 5 C is not a large difference.

I replace the return air grill for the furnace with dual window fans. Happily for me, that pressurized the heat ducts and keeps the cabinets warm.

dual fan

vlopddap wrote:
I'll not touch on the bath and kitchen sink drain yet and I'll connect and install my small ceramic electric heater set at 5'C tonight, just in case... I'll open the cabinets door to make warm air to circulate everywhere there's water pipes. I'll also drain the water heater because it only took a minutes to do.
westend
Explorer
Sep 15, 2014
Nvr2loud wrote:
westend wrote:
October temps in Canada might not cause a freeze in those separate areas if a heater is used but I wouldn't be confident about that theory in the dead of Winter. I'm in MN, BTW.

I guess it depends where in Canada the OP is, you might be at a higher latitude in MN then the OP is LOL.
Mon Dieu, il es possible! I'm at 44.9 N.
JnJnKatiebug
Explorer
Sep 15, 2014
A couple of years ago we were planning on making a two week trip to Florida at Christmas. I put a 100 watt light bulb in the wet bay which has the hookups, water pump, dump valves and set the heat on 45 degrees. I also opened all the bottom cabinet doors. We had several nights that went down into the low 20's but would warm in the 30's and 40's during the day. We had no problems and when our trip came my propane level had barely moved so I know the heat ran very little.
vlopddap
Explorer
Sep 15, 2014
Thank you very much for all your comments and advices!

I am from Quebec only 15 minutes north from the US border (Vermont & Maine).

Tonight I'll take a few minutes and blow the fresh water pipes because I have the blow-off adapter already and it only take a few minutes, but I'll not touch on the bath and kitchen sink drain yet and I'll connect and install my small ceramic electric heater set at 5'C tonight, just in case... I'll open the cabinets door to make warm air to circulate everywhere there's water pipes. I'll also drain the water heater because it only took a minutes to do. Fresh water tank is already empty so as the gray and black tanks.

FYI I use a mini oil circulation space heater (25$ Walmart) when we are camping with the trailer, this thing is just amazing because it take very low power (700W, so safe on small RV circuit) and because of the mineral oil (sealed, close circuit), it come pretty hot (still safe against burn) and stay hot for a while after the heating element turn off. But the best part is it doesn't do ANY noise at all (ZERO!!) like ceramic space heater and it doesn't do any light during the night like halogen heater. But during the storage I'll use my Honeywell ceramic heater because it's easier to setup because it already have the "anti-freeze" function on the thermostat.
Nvr2loud
Explorer II
Sep 15, 2014
westend wrote:
October temps in Canada might not cause a freeze in those separate areas if a heater is used but I wouldn't be confident about that theory in the dead of Winter. I'm in MN, BTW.

I guess it depends where in Canada the OP is, you might be at a higher latitude in MN then the OP is LOL.