Relocating south, heated tanks or not ?

[Gisty]

I have a few questions today and I didn't want to split them up between forums. My wife and I have a 2011 coachmen chaparral 28RBS trailer. We are looking at whether we would be able to live in it year round in the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina or possibly on the Southern coast of Florida. The trailer does not have heated tanks currently, but that would be something that we could have installed before the weather changes if need be. Eventually we would like to get into a different camper altogether, so this in a way would be temporary until we switch or find an apartment for us and our 3 dogs. We have stayed in our camper for extended periods of time already, so we don't have any issues with space in it. My worries are simply the temperature without having the camper winterized. I have spoken with a few people all of which give different opinions including my Father whom has traveled all over the country with his class A rv. Any information would be greatly appreciated as we are hoping to finalize our plans soon and start preparing.

[Gisty]

Thank you all very much for the information. It is greatly appreciated and one less thing I have to worry about now.

[westend]

1. Heated tanks unneeded in FL or MB unless climate change get's us all.
2. Ethylene glycol antifreeze (automotive stuff) is NOT to be put in RV holding tanks. Automotive antifreeze should be recycled and NOT put into a sanitary sewer system.

[spoon059]

Last year it got right cold down into central Florida. OP, I probably wouldn't worry too much about it. Chances are that you will have a good amount of liquid in the tanks, so it will take some time to freeze... probably a day or 2 with it being way below freezing. You can buy the add on electric pads for your current one if you feel strongly about it.

Something I might research is the effects of pouring automotive grade antifreeze into your tanks. The RV stuff doesn't prevent freezing, it just doesn't expand until much colder temps. Automotive grade antifreeze actually lowers the point that the liquids freeze. If you poured a gallon of antifreeze into your black and gray tanks, that would probably be sufficient to lower the point at which that liquid freezes. The only potential problem would be environmental concerns when you dump that antifreeze. I don't know how safe it is for the environment or sewage systems...

[majorgator]

IMHO, in order for freezing to be concerned, you have to have sustained cold temps at or below 32 deg. I can attest that nowhere in FL would I expect to need heated tanks. If you're planning on going to South FL, then its absolutely not necessary. I live in North Central FL, and many folks around here don't even put insulation on their exterior water pipes.

[shenandoahvalle]

Our tanks are in a closed underbody with a heat vent from the furnace. Spent a winter in MB and another at Cape Lookout NC with no issues. With the heated underbody I don't have to remember to turn heaters on or off.

[time2roll]

Heated tanks are for overnight lows below 25. Doubt it is needed.
JMHO.

[wildtoad]

It does get cold in MB from time to time and a few times a year it can freeze but typically not for long. I have heated tanks but have only turned them on once or twice on three years.