Cold weather

[Jrodri1981]

We have a nation 24J and traveling from GA to CA will encounter some nights with 26 F temperature. During the day will go up to 40s to 50s.
Should we need to do something about the pipes?
Thank you
JR

[Winterbagoal]

Nope, you'll be fine, as long as there's a thaw during the day. Takes longer exposure to sub freezing temps, than just a few hours overnight. Still, it depends on your comfort level with not taking winterization precautions. It's hard to predict the weather.

[Jrodri1981]

Thank you very much

[akeagle]

Originally Posted by Jrodri1981

Thank you very much

For what my opinion is worth, I also believe you should have no problem with freezing plumbing as long as you stay on the southern interstates/highways.

[rprochnow]

On our most recent trip, we hit 25 overnight in our 24VD.

The gray/black tanks have heaters - so they were OK.

The fresh water tank is inside the coach - so that's also OK.

Our only concern was the water compartment, where the outside shower and the tank controls are located.

For that, we ran an extension cord and left a 60W bulb on in that compartment overnight to keep it warm.

There is an LED light at the top of that compartment - since LEDs don't use much power, it didn't generate any noticable heat - so I used an incandescent bulb instead.

It's possible 25 overnight may not have been enough to cause the water compartment lines to freeze - but used the bulb for heating, just in case...

[creativepart]

Your RV is a rather large dense thermal load. It's going to take days of way below freezing to chill the whole thing down below 32 degrees.

Take a bucket of water and put it out doors in 25 degree nights and 37 degree days. It will never freeze. Oh, there could be a thin skin of ice on the top early in the morning but it will be gone before mid-day. Probably not even that thin skin of ice.

No heating or bulbs or anything is needed in these circumstances. And, if you're using the coach with running water and a heater running you're good for even colder temps.

[rprochnow]

When we picked up our 21VD, we were warned that the outside water compartment was at the greatest risk of freezing (with the outside shower). Everything else is either inside the heated area or has a heating pad.

Which is why we'll bring with us a small bulb to heat that compartment, if necessary - though 25 degrees for a few hours overnight probably wasn't enough to pose a problem. Rather than risking a freeze in that compartment, we took the extra two minutes to run an extension cord and hang the light.

At worst case, this was a dry run for what we may have to do if we do encounter lower temperatures or sub-freezing for longer periods, we'll be ready...

One item we encountered during this test run is that we don't have a good place to store an incandescent bulb - the bulb we initially brought had a damaged filament - so we'll need to have a better way to store the bulb - for when it is needed.

[macnut]

That sounds like the cold days in Northern CA. They come for brief spells then it warms up again. Because o& that, I’ve never “winterized” my motorhome. If I see the temperatures dropping below freezing, I will take the covers off the compartment lights and leave them on overnight. They are not LED, so they produce some heat. If really close, I have a small 200w heater I put in the basement. So far, that’s worked well for me in this temperature range.

[Coffie Drink]

I was 4nights in Grand Junction at the end of Oct. record temps of 10 at night 23 day. I fill my water tank before the cold hit. My black and grey tanks have heaters and they were on.
When I left my black waste valve was stuck. My grey pump hose was frozen.
I was able to dump the next day in warmer SLC.
No frozen pipes inside. I have a metal trouble light that I use in the wet bay with a 60 watt bulb to keep that warm,

[DrMack]

We just spent three nights in single digits in our View 24J. We put a 75W incandescent drop light in the utility bay and did not hookup water or dump hose. If you use a space heater, make sure its thermostat is set such that the propane furnace does most of the heating as the furnace ducts run along the spaces where the plumbing lives and prevents freezing.

[DRV]

Pick up some tank safe antifreeze and dump 1/2 gallon in toilet/flush, and 1/2 gallon down the sink/rinse. If your concerned.

[rprochnow]

This week, we spent one night in our 21VD with temperatures below freezing around our View for about 24 hours, with the overnight temps dropping to 19.

We kept the tank heaters on and the hot water heater set to eco while the outside temps were 35 degrees or below (both while driving and parked).

When parked, we placed a work light with a 40W bulb into the outside water compartment, which kept the compartment warm enough to prevent freezing.

The (cheap) work light was purchased from Home Depot - it has a plastic cage protecting the bulb, and also avoiding having any metal surfaces around the light heating up while the light is inside the compartment. We keep the fresh water hose in there - and didn't have any issues with the hose and the work light.

We also carry a couple of spare bulbs, just in case...

This was our first time to drive the View into a winter storm (driving along I10 into the winter ice/snow storm - stopped in traffic in freezing snow/ice for several hours) - and were concerned about getting freeze damage.

And everything worked OK...

Except now our View is very dirty - and we won't be back home for another week when we'll give it a thorough cleaning...

Our Lithionics batteries showed temp was around 40 degrees - but they warmed up once we parked and connected to shore power.

After this trip, we're more confident of driving in cold temps - hopefully our trip home will be less eventful...