When to worry about Freezing

I occasionally get similar temps and have never winterized. I do have tank heaters that I turn on when temps are predicted to drop overnight. I also have an oil heater that I turn on low inside. So far I have not had a freezing issue.

First I'll say that each rig is slightly different and the freeze risk points vary depending on size, design, layout and insul. If your rig is sitting unattended in exterior storage, then its obvious you should winterize if below freezing temps are normal.
However some of us use our RV's all winter and they often sit in 20 F temps with no damage, with a few common sense precautions.
I would ask your son to run an extension cord out to the rig and put a 60 watt trouble light bulb inside the water bay, that's going to be the first area to freeze. A small space heater inside the rig set at 40-50 F would be extra insurance.
Unless it gets much colder that would relieve my worries at 27/28. Nothing larger than the smallest lines, hoses will begin to freeze at those temps. Water may begin to get slushy after several hours below 30, but it takes a lot more to freeze solid enough and expand enough to bust a pipe or hose. Some might be surprised that even their RV antifreeze actually freezes partially into a slushy snow cone consistency when exposed to low temps for long durations.
All 3 of my RV's sit un-drained, un-winterized here at 4000 ft with frequent lows in the 20's, using some minimal precautions. Like your area, I'm usually up in the 60's during the afternoon, so it takes most of the night to drop below 30.

My vote: drain it, blow it, add antifreeze. it quick, easy and then you won't worry. Worrying is no fun:)

We are 3,400' north of Tucson and will routinely see lows in the 20's(typically upper 20's). It's usually only gets that cold for a few hours in the late night/early morning. I drain all of the fresh water from my tank, leaving the drain valves open, add a cup of RV anti freeze down the sinks and shower to fill the traps and put about a quart in the black and grey tanks (which each have just a little water in them.

This has worked well over the last 6 years, nothing frozen or damaged.

:C

27 is definitely cold enough to worry about. Winterizing is not that difficult. Do a search here on RV.net. There is lots of info on how to do it.

Lynnmor wrote:
Water freezes at 32 degrees. How do you do with lottery tickets?

Actually, Water will freeze at 32 degree Fahrenheit,if surrounding temp. is lower than 32 degree Fahrenheit

Ice melts at 32 degree Fahrenheit,if surrounding temp. is higher than 32 degree Fahrenheit.

I like the Lottery ticket concept. :h

If I were you I would be very concerned. I froze mine years ago at the same temps.
A heater inside won't keep exterior low point drains, showers or black and grey tank drains form freezing.

I vote for the heater in the cabin, and open all doors that lead to the water system.

A small heater and opening cabinet doors is the easiest. If not possible, and if you don't use it every couple of weeks, I'd spend the $10 or so and winterize. Your peace of mind is worth that + about an hour's work. You likely wouldn't have a problem, but the small cost outweighs kicking yourself later.

I've gotten down that low on several trips but don't have any outside hose connections and usually have a heater going inside. Here in Northern Neck Virginia is much the same cold weather wise. ALways warms up the next day.

If you are connected to a house 120VAC 15AMP setup should be ok for the short duration... I would run an electric heater hooked up to one of the THERMO CUBES that activates at 35 degrees and kicks off at 45 degrees (AMAZON). Running the furnace will eat up all your propane and run your batteries down in just a day.


This thermo cube is great for plugging in a drop cord with a 100WATT incandescent bulb in it for heating up the storage area.

I am also setup in my OFF-ROAD POPUP with all my cabinets are connected in my wrap around seating and cabinets on both sides of the trailer. I have installed the small 2-inch round vents (LOWES) between all of the cabinets and have a 6-inch DC axial fan on the shore power cable catch compartment side that pulls air thru the cabinets out the shore power cable hole.. This fan has a thermostat controlled switch which I like to set around 80 degrees for summer months and alot lower for winter months. This works out pretty good for me moving air inside all of the connected cabinets where water lines are located etc...

We use the BLOW OUT method using my 12VDC tankless air compressor connected to the city water port using an adapter when camping in the cold months. Can drain the fresh water and blow out the lines pretty quick when needed. Then just add some pink stuff to the P-traps. When it warms up the next day we just add fresh water and continue on...

Everyone has different approaches but this works pretty good for me for my smaller POPUP footprint.

Roy Ken