Cold weather camping

[JABURKHOLDER]

Looking for tips for cold weather camping. For the first time in 13 years I'll be camping where there is potential for freezing temperatures. Southwest Missouri late November. I know I need a heated water hose but what do I do about my in line water filters ? Also, do I keep all my tanks closed, turn on the tank heaters and dump when needed ? Should I leave cold water trickling at all faucets ? What about cold water to the toilet ? Do I only do these things as needed depending on the daily forecast ? I know there are things I can't think of right now so ANY advice would be helpful. Nothing that requires me to make permanent modifications to the RV please. This is probably a one time trip.
Thanks in advance.

[Eagleback]

When we were in Memphis for a job, i used a standard water hose then bought heat tape and wrapped the heat tape around the hose and then put foam pipe insulation over the hose and heat tape then i wrapped what was left of the tape over the inline filter and used the silver bubble wrap around that, wrapped it up with gorilla tape and the whole thing stayed frost free.

[bigskyjimmy]

After 6 years of fulltiming i do exactly what Eagleback does and also when it gets Really cold i put a small space heater with the tip over protection feature in the basement storage and set the furnace to about 60 degrees at night and you are good to Go

quote:Originally posted by Eagleback

When we were in Memphis for a job, i used a standard water hose then bought heat tape and wrapped the heat tape around the hose and then put foam pipe insulation over the hose and heat tape then i wrapped what was left of the tape over the inline filter and used the silver bubble wrap around that, wrapped it up with gorilla tape and the whole thing stayed frost free.

[jameswbarton]

I have been in the cold many times but not in my Montana. In winter use your fresh water tank and fill it during the day from a Pirit heated water hose. Sewer pipes generally do not freeae but dump it during the day. I needed a 600 watt heater to keep the basement from freezing and also had a 150 watt lightbulb in the convenience center. Maling your own heated hose sucks and they usually fall apart and in the long run it is cheaper to spend about $125 for the heated water hose. Power failures are common so you want to be able to go self contained. You should have spare propane as you will go through a lot if it is in the tens and lower 20's.

[JandC]

Our first couple of years of full timing we would end up in central Illinois until around the first week of December before heading south for the winter. It took me two winters but this is what I learned the hard way.

If temps are going down under 30 degrees and staying there I put the heated water hose on. Both gray tanks stay open. During the night I leave my galley faucet on a fast drip, to a tiny stream (hot side). I put a ceramic heater in the basement, which keeps my convenience center warm plus my bathroom floor. Keep RV pink antifreeze in the bathroom and use when flushing toilet. When my black tank is full I like having about 1 or 2 gallons of RV pink mixed in. I found when I didn't keep RV pink in my black tank and the temps dipped down into the low 20's my gate valve would freeze shut.

Also, we used a second ceramic heater in the living room to keep the furnace from running so much. If you are running two ceramic heaters you will have to be careful on where you plug them in. Try to keep these on different breakers.

[MARK A]

Do the tank Heaters not work well enough? And would they lend enough heat to keep the important bits from freezing?

Mark

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by MARK A

Do the tank Heaters not work well enough? And would they lend enough heat to keep the important bits from freezing?

Mark

Tank heaters may work well enough to keep a gate valve from freezing. I can't say for certain if my 2014 3725RL had them, but I don't think it did.

[Rondo]

I don't have the tank heaters but they are for the tanks and not for the water lines themselves. When we are out and cold weather is coming in, we put a ceramic heater in the basement to keep both the convenient center warmer and the pipes running from it also. We run another small heater in the kitchen area which is next to the steps going up to the bedroom. We leave the vents on the steps open and warm air goes into both the basement from there and into the area where the galley water pipes run. I do have a heat tape and pipe wrap available incase it is going to be a long run of cold temps. I normally unhook the city water IF the temps are going to be below freezing all night but fill the fresh water tank with enough water to get us by for the night if need be. Have never needed the heat tape or pipe wrap so far(knock on wood) but I do have it just in case!

[mjammersc]

Just as some background info, at least for those who have heated underbellies, last year when we were camping in some freezing weather (our first time in that cold), I took my outside thermometer sensor and put it in the storage area by the convenience center/water pump to see how cold it got and it was about 15-20 degrees lower than my internal camper heat setting. We usually keep the trailer in the low 60s at night so the storage area was in the low to mid 40s. We did have our heat pads on all the tanks (except that trip I figured out the black tank pad was bad as it didn't cause any increase in DC or AC current when I turned it on - since replaced on warranty) and had a decent load of water in the fresh tank (no hose hooked up as it was an electric only site). We got down to ~24-25 outside and it was nice and cozy inside with no water line issues. One think to always remember is to let the furnace run on occasion to keep the underbelly warmer vs just relying on space heaters unless you also put some underneath.