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Old 11-15-2008, 12:10 PM   #1
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Just curious, I have a 2006 Vectra and was reading a discussion about a person living in his motorhome hooked up to shore power and temps get below freezing. He wondered if he had to put a heater in his plumbing bay or how he could keep his tanks from freezing

Are the tanks and compartments in my coach heated? I've never camped in freezing weather for longer than a day or two and when I did I didn't use the water.
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Old 11-15-2008, 12:10 PM   #2
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Just curious, I have a 2006 Vectra and was reading a discussion about a person living in his motorhome hooked up to shore power and temps get below freezing. He wondered if he had to put a heater in his plumbing bay or how he could keep his tanks from freezing

Are the tanks and compartments in my coach heated? I've never camped in freezing weather for longer than a day or two and when I did I didn't use the water.
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Old 11-15-2008, 04:14 PM   #3
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With propane (furnace) heat, the basements are supplied with some heat. The plumbing bay (ironically) isn't insulated (at least in my coach) and is where you need to focus caution if camping in freezing weather.

My rule-of-thumb for supplemental plumbing bay heat is if the forecast temperatures are for a hard freeze (mid-20s), then I'll use a 100 watt drop light plus fiberglass batts on the bay floor. Disconnect the water hookup and the sewer hookup.
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Old 11-15-2008, 04:25 PM   #4
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Like John we use the 100 watt bulb in the sewer bay. We also use the same in the bay housing our water pump. Using the LP furnace set at 65 at bed time we have been in the lower teens with no problem. Enjoy the winter..
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Old 11-15-2008, 05:52 PM   #5
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We used our 2004 Meridian in 5 degree weather (while heading south) by running the propane heat and placing a trouble light in both the utility compartment and the water tank area. I placed wireless thermometer sending units in each compartment so I could monitor the temps. Worked great.

I found I also had to run the trouble lights while driving (off the inverter) to keep the temperature up when the outside temp was below 10 degrees. Now I stay south when it is cold!
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Old 11-16-2008, 10:56 AM   #6
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Thanks for the info....We travel to Florida in January and the first couple of days are sketchy.....I usually don't even use water till we hit Nashville and by then it's usually warm enough.

Is there an outlet in the plumbing bay...the coach is in an off site pole barn so I can't run to it and look. I don't recall seeing on
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Old 11-16-2008, 12:31 PM   #7
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jtharley:
...
Is there an outlet in the plumbing bay...the coach is in an off site pole barn so I can't run to it and look. I don't recall seeing on </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No outlet on my 2005.
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Old 11-16-2008, 05:01 PM   #8
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I eventually found an outlet in our 2004 Meridian in the utility compartment where the engine preheater was plugged in. Before I found that, however, I ran an extension cord from the from compartment over to the plumbing area. I also suspended the trouble light from the top of the compartment so it would not bounce around. Pretty low tech, but worked great.
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Old 11-16-2008, 06:30 PM   #9
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I've spent a few winters in the MH where temps got as low as 5 degrees. Like those mentioned above used a 60 watt bulb in the water compartment and also put one 5000 watt heater in the basement (On low) and another inside the MH. I know the basement was getting heat when the propane heater ran but the extra electic heat also helped warm the MH and keep the tile floor from getting so cold. I also had a 30 gallon external propane tank hooked up that I could take in and refill. In the coldest part of winter it would last about 3 weeks, probably only two without the help of the two electric heaters.
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Old 11-17-2008, 06:26 AM   #10
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I added a GFI outlet in my service bay - outdoor type with hinged covers. I connected the wires from it inside the existing junction box.

I have a small 1500 watt Westinghouse electric heater with a feature called FrostGuard that activates it at 40 degrees and then attempts to maintain that temperature. The service bay is open to the underfloor compartment that all of the tanks are in so warm air can circulate to the tanks to some degree.

With the furnace set to 55 degrees I have overnighted at temps down to 9 degrees with no problem.
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