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Getting Ready for Cold Weather


ANG0225

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Soos is right, it does matter what sort of weather and for how long? With the "underbelly" it just depends upon how it is built. If you have a solid material under everything to enclose the waste tanks and any water lines under the floor, then it can be done, probably without too much difficulty but if yours is one that has a fabric to cover everything you will need to install some sort of insulated skirting around the RV and then heat that up to keep things from freezing. Windows also are not all made the same. They range from well designed, dual pane windows to well made single pane and on down to some cheap aluminum frame windows. If the windows are drafty on a windy day, they will need some of the plastic storm window coverings that are available from Home Depot or Lowe's just to stop the wind and you may want some of the bubble wrap type of insulating materials over that for insulation.

 

Until you give us more information this is about the best that I can do. If you plan to be where it only freezes at night, then you have a good shot at this but if you expect to be where temperatures can remain below freezing for many days without break, then you have a major challenge. I was unable to locate any information about the RV you have so share with us who made the RV or some specs on it as the level of insulation and type construction also are part of the issue.

 

EDIT I just looked at your profile and it states that your RV is a Bounder?

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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Depending on your temperatures. The first choice is keep the gas furnace running to keep your tanks and pipe from freezing, Use your fresh tank for your water supply, That way you don't worry about your water hose freezing plus you can get Hot Water to thaw your hose bib if needed.

I made an assumption that you were not in a extreme temperature ( it gets above freezing in the day time) as the with extreme temperatures the water may be turned off to most if not all camp sites.

Clay

Clay & Marcie Too old to play in the snow

Diesel pusher and previously 2 FW and small Class C

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As others have said, temperature is key. I find the key turning point to be if Temps will rise above freezing during the day. If they do, then you generally don't have to worry about heating the tanks to keep from freezing. If Temps stay below freezing for an extended time, it is a whOle new ballgame....

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Right now we are in Reno. Thus far it is only getting to freezing at night. I am sure that colder weather is coming. We have a 2012 Coachmen Chaparral. Still learning about our unit, we just bought it in June. Thinking about doing the heated water hose for starters.

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We were just in Virginia City with our rig this past weekend for Halloween. So much fun. I noticed the temps were going to drop this week, was glad we had balmy (albeit windy) weather while we were there.

 

I've wintered in Reno and Tahoe before, and here is what I did. I'm going to assume you have a sealed underbelly, hopefully with some piped hot air from the furnace. If you don't and water lines are exposed, you'll have to cover/heat tape all those, or go without water. First, make sure your water main pipe from the park has heat tape, or plan to use your water tanks. Get some heat tape from Home Depot and tape it to your water hose, and then throw some pipe insulation on top of that. Try to fashion some sytofoam as insulation over any of the junctions (city water inlet, etc), since ice can form at those exposed weakpoints. Don't worry too much about your dump tanks, just keep them closed and filled and throw some rv antifreeze down the drains if things get really cold. Dump during the day when temps are above freezing if you do need to dump. Get some vent insulators from Walmart for your vents, and the shrink wrap for windows in the hardware dept. It will do wonders for keeping drafts down. Make sure to run your rv furnace, and open all cupboards where there may be water lines (under the sink, etc), to help keep them from freezing.

 

Good luck! It'll be a learning experience, like it was for us. What I outlined worked for us as low as 20 degrees at night, with above freezing temps during the day. Below that (as low as 0), we had to get more aggressive by shutting off water and using electric heaters as supplemental heat. If you have forced air into any of your bays, you need to keep the furnace going, so we couldn't use electric heat solely.

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When it's going below freezing I also disconnect and put my water hose inside. Also shut off and drain the sewar hose. Having one of these is handy to get the campsite hose bib thawed out.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-watt-dual-temperature-heat-gun-572-1112-96289.html

John & Karen

Wallace Lake Alaska

Thor Challenger 36FD

Fiat 500 TOAD

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