Cold overnights in our Adventurer motorhome

[creativepart]

I know each year we get a lot of messages from folks that are relatively new to RVing or their new RV and they are worried about freezing overnight temps. They worry that a cold snap will freeze their pipes overnight and want to know about winterizing for the temporary cold event.

I just wanted to post about our recent trip west during last week’s winter blast that dipped all the way South for much of the country.

We traveled from the San Antonio area to southern Arizona and experienced lows in the teens, as low as 12 degrees, overnight for three nights in a row. Daytime temps were 30-40 degrees. Nothing froze on this trip. Even driving first thing in the morning with 15 degree outdoor temps did not affect any of our water systems. I mention this because many have expressed a fear that driving in cold temps was a real concern of theirs. Of course, we didn’t not hook up a water hose at any stop along the way, relying on fresh water in our tank.

We did go through a lot of propane and had to refill after three days.

Every RV is different and all I know is that winterizing in my Adventurer for very cold overnight temps has never been needed. Your mileage, as they say, may be different.

[Eagle5]

Hi creativepart,
This is a good data point to have, as I suspect most motorhomes would also endure similar overnight low temperatures. Your propane furnace must have been running constantly during those cold nights.
Thanks, Eagle5

[Scotty B]

Hi Paul. Did you guys run your furnace while you were driving? Have regularly run the AC, but not needed anything to warm up the coach yet...kind of hoping we can keep that streak going!

[creativepart]

Hey Scott, we didn’t run the furnace but we did run the Coach Heater. I don’t know if you have one of those or not. It uses radiator water from the engine to heat while you drive.

[Jim_HiTek]

One thing that people aren't aware of is that driving a Class A has no effect on plumbing compared to being parked because inanimate objects aren't subject to Wind Chill. Just warm blooded creatures.

Another thing overlooked is that most Class A's have a passive heating system for the wet bay (or even heat blankets for the tanks). Heat from the house, drops into the wet bay, usually via a floor or low vent. The insulated basement doors do the rest. I often plug any holes like the water and power holes in the wet bay so not too much of that heat escapes or get sucked out.

But driving in the cold isn't a worry because it's the same as being parked.

[dougb]

We have a new Winnebago 27N and love to go camping before the nights are warm. So what do you use to heat the cabin at night besides the propane heater? Is there a portable option that works well and could run all night. We are talking below freezing temps at night.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by dougb

Is there a portable option that works well and could run all night. We are talking below freezing temps at night.

We just use the propane furnace on the RV. We set nighttime temp for 63 degrees and daytime temp for 68 degrees. We have plenty of warm covers and sleep better when the bedroom is cold overnight.

When temps are in the teens the furnace runs pretty much all night long at that 63 degree setting.

[Scotty B]

Good info. Don't have a coach heater or any heat to the wet bays. Must have been some cost savings cuts to my model year. We do have a small ceramic heater we put in the rear bath that we turn on in the morning. Not much heat gets back there from the furnace...we keep our coach a bit cooler than Paul's overnight, but have only had a few nights in the teens or low 20's. On one of those, our rear wet bay froze. It wasn't supposed to get that cold that night!
How are the improvements to Lazy Days? Think I remember them having some major work scheduled.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by Scotty B

How are the improvements to Lazy Days? Think I remember them having some major work scheduled.

Not much has changed. They developed those spots over by the work sheds. They used to be storage slots with power and they added a small dog park over there. But other than that nothing significant has changed.

[Jim_HiTek]

I carry and use several small floor heaters, but the best way I've found to stay warm at night in cold weather is an electric blanket. Warm and toasty all night and it just sips power. Also open the cabinet doors under the sinks, and have a tiny 'personal' electric heater in the wet bay. This all assumes I'm plugging into power.

[Morich]

One thing missing in this seems to be the great deal of difference in different models/floorplans in the Winnebago lineup. The larger and more feature packed RV are often far less prone to freeze damage than the smaller/ lower end models.

Creative in the Adventurer line will have a distinct advantage over those in the Brave lineup and I suspect many of the smaller RV.
I would assume one of the things which effect the breakpoint on features is what portion of user is expected to go full time in the larger/ more feature packed coach.
Class A is certainly more winter proof than class C!
One way to try to judge what you have is looking at the ductwork on your specific
RV. If lucky enough to have a post 2010 model, the interactive parts catalog is one easy place to look for those hidden ducts that you are likely never going to find by crawling around in the RV.
Using this site, you can look at the ducts to spot those which drop through the floor.
https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm
We have owned/used/borrowed many different RV over the years and none had enough heat and insulation to make me say I could go out in 20 degrees without taking extra steps to avoid freeze.
Small electric heater/ light bulbs, etc have always been needed when treking out in the winter.

[Jim_HiTek]

Originally Posted by dougb

We have a new Winnebago 27N and love to go camping before the nights are warm. So what do you use to heat the cabin at night besides the propane heater? Is there a portable option that works well and could run all night. We are talking below freezing temps at night.

You don't say if you're boondocking at night...if you stay in RV parks, then electric heat is the best way. Small two temp forced air heaters, 750W & 1200W is typical, then always keep them on 750W so as to not blow any circuit breakers late at night. Especially if you plug one in on a slide outlet as I don't exactly trust the wiring that's moved over and over over many years of camping. I only put one on the slide side, one in the toilet, one in the bathroom. All on low heat. And a tower type (running on LO) in the LR when it gets really cold. I also keep a personal heater in the wet bay.

If you're thinking of a small propane heater like a Mr. Buddy, note that although they are safe for indoors, that's ONLY if you have a fresh air source. I carefully calculated what I needed for my no slides 36' class A and it required a 3' tall LR window to be open 3/4" all night. But it got so hot in the RV (there isn't a thermostat to speak of, just Lo & Hi), I'd also leave the kitchen ceiling vent open a crack. Still got too hot, hard to sleep at night. And it was too cold in the LR near that window open...strong cold breeze. Eventually gave it away as it wasn't workable inside the RV even in 20℉ temps. Had to fuss with it too much to maintain a comfortable temp inside. Switched to floor heaters and an electric blanket.

[powercat_ras]

Some things that can cut down on the propane consumption, and also make the inside feel warmer at a given thermostat setting. These things also make the RV easier to keep cool in hot weather, too:

- Reflectix insulation (available at Lowes or Home Depot, etc.) over all the single pane glass in front ( Winshield, side windows next to driver and passenger seat.

- Insulators in the ceiling vent openings

- The step well is a metal box opening in the insulated floor and its metal walls are not insulated. You can put reflectix around it too.

- A piece of reflectix in the door single pane window.

- Only the floor wall of the basement compartments is insulated and that only with a thin pieces of foam under the carpet. I lined the vertical walls of the basement compartments with reflectix. The basement is part of the interior air space of the RV as there are several huge holes cut thru the floor connecting with the basement for the furnace return air and for plumbing and electrical cables to rise thru the floor in several places.

- If your model has the power box under the bed with a plywood box protecting the back of it under the bed: There is a hole cut in the floor within that plywood box area to the basement and/or water/electric basement compartment and that box gets VERY cold. I lined that box area with reflectix. It made the mattress of the bed warmer.

- When it is REALLY cold I also put reflectix over the double pane windows at night. It's too claustrophobic for me to have everything completely covered during daylight and get no natural light or view out any windows.

[ACB]

Originally Posted by dougb

We have a new Winnebago 27N and love to go camping before the nights are warm. So what do you use to heat the cabin at night besides the propane heater? Is there a portable option that works well and could run all night. We are talking below freezing temps at night.

We have a 2022 Vista 29V. We’ve camped in temps as low as 12 degrees. 5 days was the longest stretch at that temp.

We also camped in our previous motorhome at below freezing temps.


If in a campground, We disconnect the water lines, don’t open holding tanks, use the propane heater as needed but we also have TWO portable electric heaters to supplement. The heaters have thermal overload and turn off if knocked over.
We like the whole coach heater vents in the floor. I think it helps warm more evenly.

P.S.- the fresh water tank in our model is under our bed so as long as you have any heat in the coach, I don’t see that tank and lines ever freezing. Waste tanks are just below the floor, so they do get some warmth from the basic action of heating. At least that is my experience.

Hope my opinion helps. .

[Fanrgs]

We were in AZ-NM during that same cold spell and had a low of 17 at Kartchner Caverns SP. When we had electric hookups, we used an electric ceramic tower heater during the night and had the tank heaters on. When dry camping, we set the furnace at 59 and ran the tank heaters all night. But we also have reflectix Velcro'd on all the windows and insulated vent covers. That's on one of the smallest Class C's Winnebago makes, a 25' View/Navion and nothing froze!

PS--In freezing weather at FHU or W/E sites, we never connect the water hose to city water or the sewer hose to the dump. We fill the heated fresh water tank when we arrive and connect the sewer hose only when dumping at departure. When we stayed at an RV park more then 4 nights, we had to refill the fresh tank, but we never had a frozen hose (been there, done that many years ago on our first RV). We also have a remote temperature sensor in the open propane tank bay. So we always know the outside temp without leaving the warmth of the MH.

[Mongobird]

Originally Posted by Jim_HiTek

One thing that people aren't aware of is that driving a Class A has no effect on plumbing compared to being parked because inanimate objects aren't subject to Wind Chill. Just warm blooded creatures.

Another thing overlooked is that most Class A's have a passive heating system for the wet bay (or even heat blankets for the tanks). Heat from the house, drops into the wet bay, usually via a floor or low vent. The insulated basement doors do the rest. I often plug any holes like the water and power holes in the wet bay so not too much of that heat escapes or get sucked out.

But driving in the cold isn't a worry because it's the same as being parked.

I disagree with your analysis of the cooling effects of driving in cold weather. While wind chill metrics are created to quantify the impact on people, being in a 55 MPH blizzard, at say 15F does have a cooling effect on the vehicle and its systems. For starters, any area subject to even a reduced breeze, does not maintain the same thermal boundary layers expected in zero wind conditions. This means that something like a water line or a valve may actually freeze much sooner than if it were in a truly windless environment.


The skeptical owner would be well served by having thermal sensors in his wet bay, with displays inside the camper. Any lines outside an enclosed area may freeze much sooner. Features like black tanks may also freeze, and subsequently be difficult to flush out. Your mileage may vary.

[Noah4448]

If you go to the thread "Any Vista 29VE Owners" middle of page 2 you will find my post on a test I did with my Vista. Outside temps got to 8 degrees lowest inside temp was in the WET compartment of 38 degrees.

[creativepart]

I posted my results with MY RV because many people stress out about a single overnight drop in temps. Obviously, this is totally different than extended below freezing temps over multiple days.

As I stated not every RV is the same as mine. But, I’ve been RVing for 20-yrs with 16’ 22’ and 25’ travel trailers and a 31’ Class C and in every one of them I’ve never had any water line freeze for a very cold OVERNIGHT hard freeze.

So, based on this experience I consistently suggest that using your RV with above freezing daytime temperatures and cold, even very cold, overnight temps should not require winterizing your RV.

We have seen others here that fear one 28 degree or colder overnight means they must winterize for that event. And it’s my opinion, and experience, that this is not necessary at all.

Obviously, you should decide for yourself. I’m no expert just an old guy on the internet.

[Scotty B]

Well, maybe...but an old guy with a kick ass rig, boat loads of experience, and a helping spirit!