Below Freezing Temperatures

[Peggy M]

I have a 2004 Winnebago Itasca sun cruiser.

We're gonna get Below freezing temperatures for a few nights over Christmas.

I'm located in the panhandle of Florida and leaving for a couple days for the holidays. Should I completely drain the water out Of the RV And turn off the water or leave one of the sinks dripping.

No time to Winterize cause it's only for a couple of days

It would be preferable just to drain the water out turn the water off as what I normally do when I depart.

Your help is greatly appreciated

[tim myers]

How far below freezing do you expect it to be?

[wyocamper]

Looks like enough below to matter. This is for Marianna, FL where a nephew lives. If you have enough propane you could do your normal drain and then just leave the furnace on and set to around 55-60º.

[Peggy M]

10 to 19 degrees

[Peggy M]

Originally Posted by wyocamper

Looks like enough below to matter. This is for Marianna, FL where a nephew lives. If you have enough propane you could do your normal drain and then just leave the furnace on and set to around 55-60º.

Thank you so much. I don't have enough propane and don't use the furnace

[Peggy M]

Originally Posted by tim myers

How far below freezing do you expect it to be?

10 to 19 degrees

[be happy]

If you do the least amount you may be lucky, I would not be comfortable.
Disconnect the water hose from both park and MH
Open your low point drains
Open all faucets do not forget the outside shower
Drain fresh water tank and water heater
Put some type of electric heater in your coach to keep it warm
Hope that this is enough
I am sorry to say but you really should make the time to winterize either by blowing out the lines or adding the pink rv antifreeze. I you don't you may come back to more trouble than you want.

Good Luck

[tim myers]

26F to 28F is my threshold for winterizing my coach. This also has a lot to do with heat. My propane furnace puts heat into the storage bays where the water connections are, plus the heat from the inside of the RV helps add heat to those areas as well. Just draining doesn't take care if it, there are lots of small pockets of water that will freeze especially at the temps you have listed. You said no time to winterize, but do you have time to replace broken pipes? Why don't you use your furnace?

[Morich]

Sounds like a bad situation. There is mention of not enough propane??
But at this point the deal is set and it may not be good.

[CharlesMoore]

yes, the nationwide cold snap resulted in 3 days below 15°F and one night was 11.5°F. Our propane heater was inop and would not light even though you could smell the gas and hear the spark.

I blew the lines and never looked back. I was afraid that the power grid would fail but it never did. We had two 1250W plus 3 650W. The coldest night the interior temperature was 63°F with both slides pulled in. The wind outside was 20kt with greater gusts.

This is the worst weather we have had in 10 years of our RV/boating life in the TX, LA, FL areas.

[AFChap]

I put incandescent light fixtures in the basement water & water pump\heater bays, and leave the furnace set at 40. If it will be in the teens, I may also empty the low point drain(s).

[Four Seasons]

I guess your trip might be over by now, but fwiw my rule of thumb is subtract the night temperature from the day temperature, and if the difference is above the freezing point, you should be okay. For example, if it's 40F in the day and 25F at night, then (+8) minus (-7) is (+1) or 1 degree above freezing. It's a bit easier in Celsius... you just subtract night from day, and if the difference is more than zero you're probably okay.

[Shedboy]

This is probably too late and esoteric but may be useful for future cold weather precautions. My RV spends most of its life between 8,000 and 14,000 foot elevations, right now there is about 4 inches of snow on the ground and the night temperatures have been substantially below freezing for a week, reaching a low of -10 with a wind chill factor of -40. I am not familiar with the Florida atmospheric/weather patterns. My experience has been that substantial damage occurs (cracked toilet valves, leaking hot water heater, fractured water pump housing, burst shower hose, frozen dump valves) after two days of unprotected below freezing night temperatures.


FOR THE FUTURE:

1. In general, propane (LPG) is a better value and efficiency (BTU's per $) and is a better choice from a macro-environmental perspective. It is a by-product of petrochemical refining, doesn't requires nuclear reactors, hydro-electric dams, distribution wires, windmills, rare earth element refining or batteries.
2. Look into connecting an external LPG bottle to your RV, check-out "Extend A Stay", "Sturgi-Stay" and similar products. A added benefit to this solution is that an outdoor LPG grill (with regulator) can be connected.
3. Regarding making the decision of "Should I leave without freeze protecting my RV?"- Referencing Morich's post, there is a mathematical heuristic (best guess estimate) to answer that inquiry called EXPECTED VALUE. The method compares the probability of an event (freeze) occurring with out-of-pocket cost (RV Repair). It is a useful method to identify/brainstorm possible things that could happen as a consequence of a freeze.

See:

https://calculator-online.net/expect...ue-calculator/