|
For quite a few years we've left the Kansas City area in either January or December when it's well below freezing. Once it was 12 F. We just drain the hoses and put them away, set the furnace on 45, and go. Never had a problem.
As for your overnight stays, running the furnace enough to keep the pipes warm in the basement is enough. The furnace does not have to run a lot. We run two electric heaters in the living room with fans on low and thermostats pretty high. We run another electric heater in the bedroom. Furnace is set at 60 at night. And we have no freezing problems.
On the older rigs with low point drain valves hanging below the belly, those will freeze in the exposed area above the valves. If cold enough (say low 20's and lower) those can freeze enough for ice to climb up into the belly and block the tee joint where the low point drains tee into their respective water lines. A hairdryer will thaw them out. On our 2003 Montana I wrapped a small heat tape around them and then wrapped insulation around that and duct taped to hold everything in place. We left it that way year round for 3 years and never had any more problem and never lost the heat tape. Just remember to plug in the heat tape in cold weather! We found just insulating without the heat tape only gained us a few degrees.
Dave and Ivy, we also have a heated mattress pad. Same brand as yours, I think. I love it. If I were doing it again, though, I'd spend a few more bucks for the model that heats the lower(feet) section more than the upper section.
|