Leaving RV alone in cold weather

[nickandmarilyn]

We are planning to leave the new 3400 at a CG in NJ for the month of March and just visit it on weekends.(we live in NYC). I was planning to leave the furnace on and set to 55 so that if the temperature dropped to below freezing, the unit would be safe. Any thoughts about this idea are greatly appreciated. Thanks as always, Nick and Marilyn.

[bncinwv]

If the temperature gets excessively cold, I don't know if the propane would last 5 days or not. It will definitely be close, we went through two bottles of propane in 3 days at 20-30 degree temperatures with the thermostat set at about 72. Food for thought, you may have to do a mid-week spot check on the propane.
Bingo

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Agree with Bingo, Unless you have 100 pound exterior propane tank attached, you may run out, and if you have water in lines, that could be a bad thing.

Even if I had propane, I would seriously consider draining the water lines every time. Al and I are just tooooooooooo lazy, and don't want to have to address frozen lines.

Suggest more readin here on the forum (don't forget the archives) on cold weather camping, and how some of our members have approached the situation.

After all that said,

HAVE A GREAT TIME!!!

[DarMar]

One could back up or supplement the propane with a couple of electric heaters set on a low setting. We have two oil filled radiator type upright heaters that are very safe to use and leave unattended. We move our trailer to our seasonal lot up here in May and it can still freeze overnite while we are not there during the week. We leave the propane off and just set the heaters on low.

[stiles watson]

Some have reported frozen pipes when heater is set at 55. Perhaps a few degrees higher will dump enough heat into the belly to keep the water lines from freezing, maybe 60 degrees.

[H. John Kohl]

I live near Gettysburg PA and temporarily winterized our unit by blowing out "ALL" the water lines and the black tank flush lines and then poured RV anti freeze in the three traps/holding tanks. Harbor Freight has a good 12 VDC 120 psi compressor that worked great for this job as well as an emergency air supply to blow up tires.
If you need more information just ask here there are many experienced people on the forum.
I think you will find that as the cheapest way to be safe. Remember to want the canned good you leave in the RV if they have liquid in them and freeze it will be messy and an invite for ants and varmints.

Good luck.
Cheers,

[Icehouse]

John's advice is super. If you do decide to leave your water lines full, set your heat a little higher than 55. (Wayne and Carolyn can tell you all about freezing lines when the heat is set to 55)! We live in Alaska and set our heat to 64 at night. We live in our rig full time. When the temps have gotten below zero, we have had our kitchen lines frozen for 2 weeks. (Yep, all this since the black tank fiasco and no internet). Either blow out your lines or set your heat at 60 with a couple of small heaters set at each end of the rig. (We still set our heat at 64 at night but have a heater running in the rear to keep the kitchen lines warm.) Leave your kitchen sink and bath cabinet open to allow heat to get to the pipes.
Good luck! Tammy

[HughM]

I had the same problem years ago when I would leave my camper at the lake in the winter. I always dumpped the waste tanks and then turned the water off, drained the fresh water tank and then low drains on the camper. I then blew out all the water in the lines while leaving the grey water valve open. No water in the camper means it can't freeze.
All of this took maybe 30 minutes and I didn't have to worry about propane running out or ceramic heaters and power outages.
It's simple and very effective.

[kdeiss]

quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl

I live near Gettysburg PA and temporarily winterized our unit by blowing out "ALL" the water lines and the black tank flush lines and then poured RV anti freeze in the three traps/holding tanks. Harbor Freight has a good 12 VDC 120 psi compressor that worked great for this job as well as an emergency air supply to blow up tires.
If you need more information just ask here there are many experienced people on the forum.
I think you will find that as the cheapest way to be safe. Remember to want the canned good you leave in the RV if they have liquid in them and freeze it will be messy and an invite for ants and varmints.

Good luck.
Cheers,

I agree with John this is the way to go

[JimF]

Yep, agree with Ken, we lived in North Dakota and used our unit every weekend, even at -35. We just blew the system down with air, nothing there to freeze so never had a problem. Got where we could do it in about 20 minutes.

Enjoy..

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by HughM

I had the same problem years ago when I would leave my camper at the lake in the winter. I always dumpped the waste tanks and then turned the water off, drained the fresh water tank and then low drains on the camper. I then blew out all the water in the lines while leaving the grey water valve open. No water in the camper means it can't freeze.
All of this took maybe 30 minutes and I didn't have to worry about propane running out or ceramic heaters and power outages.
It's simple and very effective.

You probably drained the water heater, also?

[HughM]

Steve, thanks for catching that!!! Yes I drained the water heater as soon as I cut the water off. While that was draining I was draining the fresh water tank and the low point drains on the camper.
I'm thankful that you caught that and someone didn't read it and do what I had suggested and they had problems later.
Hugh