At What Temp Should We Winterize?

[Dane]

My wife and I plan to camp over the Thanksgiving weekend and possibly during the month of December. We would rather not winterize until that is over. Can any of you advise us as to an outside temperature cutoff when winterizing becomes necessary? Temperatures will dip down to 32 degrees within the next few days, but we assume that we shouldn’t have freezing problems in our Montana with the Artic insulation package. At what temperature do you draw the line and take winterizing precautions? Are there other precautions we should be taking in the meantime? We live in north Georgia, an area typified by a fairly mild climate until late December/January. Any advice will be appreciated.

[foggyb]

Hi We will be in Dacula in late Dec. and don't expect to have to be winterized. We are now but that is because of where we live. When we leave we will dewinterize on the second day on the road south. Dan

[Montana_621]

You don't say where you live but if I were you and I lived in a place where the temp dipped below freezing for more than 2 nights I would be thinking very hard about winterizing. It's not a hard thing to do, it only costs a little time and a couple gallons of anti-freeze just for the piece of mind.

If you decide not to winterize then you should keep your furnace on and check to make sure you have enough propane to keep the basement warm enough not to freeze the pipes and leave the doors to the faucet cabinets open so it stays warm in there too. Running water thru the pipes every day wouldn't hurt either.

We have already winterized but it's been quite cold here in MN at night and we didn't want to take any chances. It all depends on what you are comfortable with.

quote:Originally posted by Dane

My wife and I plan to camp over the Thanksgiving weekend and possibly during the month of December. We would rather not winterize until that is over. Can any of you advise us as to an outside temperature cutoff when winterizing becomes necessary? Temperatures will dip down to 32 degrees within the next few days, but we assume that we shouldn’t have freezing problems in our Montana with the Artic insulation package. At what temperature do you draw the line and take winterizing precautions? Are there other precautions we should be taking in the meantime? We live in north Georgia, an area typified by a fairly mild climate until late December/January. Any advice will be appreciated.

[NJ Hillbilly]

Would invest ($2) in a nipple to blow out the lines. It only takes a few minutes with a small compressor and it will get out most of the water from the lines. First drain and bypass the HW heater, drain fresh water tank then blow everything out. I'd dump a little antifreeze into each sink trap and the tub trap and You will be set.

Then just add water, turn bypass on hw heater and You are ready to camp again.

John

[faeb and genb]

Dane I live in Western Ky. & I don't plan on winterizing. We will leave here Dec. 13 th. for Fl.
Gene

[sreigle]

I used to winterize when the forecast was for a hard freeze. A couple hours below freezing to, say, 28 degrees, won't likely freeze anything enough to be a problem. But it always made me nervous so I winterized anyhow. Then if I wanted to use the rig I just flushed out the antifreeze and winterized again when done. It doesn't take long to do and 2 or 3 gallons of rv antifreeze is not all that expensive.

Another option is to blow out the lines like John suggested. I've done that, too. For the long winter I added antifreeze.

Last option is to turn the furnace on 45, the lowest setting, and let it keep the tanks from freezing. Open cabinet doors so they get heat, also, if you leave it at 45 in subfreezing weather for an extended period. Be sure you have plenty of propane and check it every few days. You wouldn't want to rely on the furnace and then run out of propane. Be sure it's plugged in to shore power. The battery probably won't hang in there more than a couple of days otherwise.

[Chester]

A few degrees below freezing should not be an issue. Glenda and I camp early in the year and it often goes 2-3 degrees below. As long as you have heat in the trailer you will be ok. Only thing I do is detach the city water connection from the trailer so the water in it doesn't freeze at the entrance to the trailer.

[Northstar]

Thanks for the great post. Nice info to have. Happyrving....