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Old 12-05-2006, 04:01 PM   #1
jaybird
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Winter Heating

I'm a new-B with my 2955RL and here's my winter question. I'm in Seattle so not allot of freezing nights and I have her in covered storage but no room to put push-outs out. I feel I should have heat going on the colder nights but leary to keep portable heater on 24/7 and feel if I keep thermostat on, I'll burn through propane to quick. Why do I feel those two 7 gallon tanks will empty within a week???? Should I feel comfortable keeping a portable heater on? The three times we've gone this winter, that little heater has been a champ!!! I just fear a fire situation.

Any Thoughts????
 
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Old 12-05-2006, 04:20 PM   #2
ragdoll
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jaybird, you didn't say whether you winterized or not. We empty all lines, water heater, etc and don't have heat on in the winter. You would empty the propane tanks out very quickly running them all winter. Others will be along to offer opinions.

Safe travels.
Lorraine
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Old 12-05-2006, 04:22 PM   #3
Dennis Korchak
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Jay,
We live in Silverdale, Wa across to water from you. During the last cold spell (16 degrees) we had no problems. I drained the low point drains, hooked up and blew out all the water lines, removed the anode and drained the hot water tank This puts heat in the under body to protect the tanks and piping from freezing.In a week, I used only about 1/4 tank of propane.and set the thermostat to about 42. I also put the pink antifreeze in all the drains. Everything turned out OK....
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Old 12-05-2006, 04:29 PM   #4
jaybird
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Thanks Dennis-
If I'm using her at least once a month in the winter am I being nieve to think I don't need to winterize. Probably because I don't know how??? I drained all the water in the tanks but I'm sure that not enough. Are you saying you left your thermostat on at 42 degress and your propane didn't drain away???
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Old 12-05-2006, 04:32 PM   #5
jaybird
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I should be a bit more clear. I didn't force out any water. I just opened the drains, so net, net, I certainly didn;t winterize.
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Old 12-05-2006, 06:52 PM   #6
JH Sechelt
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Hi Jaybird,

I put RV antifreeze in all our water lines at this time of year. We live on the coast just north of Vancouver, B.C. It takes about 2 1/2 gallons of the pink stuff. We use our unit three or four times in the winter so I might have to do it that many times. The first month we had the unit (last Dec) we were camping in the Vancouver area and it got down to about 15 F. I ended up with the water line inside the trailer (the one that goes from the back to the front to hook up the city water) cracked and leaking. I was never sure if it froze or was cracked when they put the trailer together. (you would think they would have pressure tested it). Anyways I changed the line myself but probably would have been pretty expensive if I had to pay someone else to do it. My point is the antifreeze is pretty cheap insurance.

~edit~ Oh yeh, I also run a 500w heater on low just to keep any mildew & mold away inside the unit. I put the heater on the counter so it not near anything.

J&D
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Old 12-05-2006, 11:25 PM   #7
H. John Kohl
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Jaybird,
When I winterized for the year I blew out the lines with a compressor. That is a step farther than just opening up the low points. If you get all the water out then your lines will not freeze. Since I was doing it only once I then added the pink stuff as J&D stated about 2 1/2 gallons for the lines and then I put another half down each trap into the three holding tanks.
If you are comfortable getting all the water out by blowing out the lines and you have a compressor that is the cheapest way.
I have one concern running the electric heater. My concern is the warm air is not getting down into the sub-floor where the water pipes are located if it gets below 32 there then you have the problem. I have not seen the design but guess the water pipes now run parallel with the heating duct so it helps to keep them warm.
Thanks for reading and I hope I have helped.
Cheers,
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Old 12-06-2006, 02:22 AM   #8
Wrenchtraveller
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I live on Vancouver Island with pretty much the same climate as John above. I winterize my Montana with the pink stuff and I have a 110watt Air Dryer unit that is basically a tin box with an electric element that moves the air by convection and keeps the humidity down. I also have two baskets of the Dry/air crystals that are sold at all RV places.
Our climate is very high humidity in the winter and right now it is 100% humidity here and my Montana is only 74% inside so I have reduced the humidity by 26% and it is only maybe 2 degees warmer in the unit, around 42F, than outside. I have used this method for almost 30 years with various RVs and they all stayed in excellent condition so I must be doing something right.
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Old 12-06-2006, 06:33 AM   #9
The Oldguard
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Jaybird,
We live in the lake Tapp’s area and only run the small space heater on the kitchen counter top, and run the ceiling fan 24/7 for the five years with no problems.
The inside temp stays around 60 degrees all winter.
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Old 12-07-2006, 03:55 AM   #10
sreigle
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A couple of things to keep in mind.

First is that if your goal is to avoid freezing the water lines then electric heaters inside the rig are not going to do the trick. The furnace has to run to pump warm air into the belly where the tanks and lines are. This is less critical on the new 2007 models whose lines are far better insulated. But still it is a concern.

Second is that if you will not have a hard freeze then you probably won't have a problem. A hard freeze, as I saw it defined, requires 27 F or less for four hours or more. You could just drain the low point drains and tanks, then put a "blow out plug" on the city water connection, open all faucets and connect an air compressor to the blow out plug to blow water out of the lines. If you don't get serious hard freezes then that **might** be enough, without antifreeze. I'd be a bit nervous about an unusually cold spell hitting, though.

Third is that if the enclosed space your Montana is in is pretty small, a couple of electric heaters running outside the Montana to keep it above hard freeze territory might be enough. This depends on having enough heaters for the space, though. And that an ice storm doesn't cut the electric power.

Living in our Montana full time, when lows are in the twenties with highs in the upper thirties, one propane bottle will last us a week or a bit more. When temperatures are in teens and single digits all day and night, one bottle lasts us about three days.
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