HELP! How to use/store/use Winne Paseo in winter weather

[Rgossen]

Help me please, my Winnebago colleagues. I've bought a '17 Winne Paseo and brought it back to my home in St. Louis. My intention in the winter was to use it several times monthly and store it indoors between trips. Most RV folks here either store for the winter or migrate to warmer climates.
Here's the issue and the BIG questions: Winter weather here can get into the teens, sometimes subfreezing for a week. There are virtually no climate controlled RV storage options here, but I found one, actually a trucking warehouse. But, they're only open M-F. I live in a condo, so don't have a place to drain water for winterizing (that's a pain, anyway, winterize, dewinterize, winterize, etc.), but I do have on-street parking.
So I take it out and return home on Saturday or Sunday and, say, it's 20 degrees. Remember, I can't store it inside till Monday. SO I'M PANICED, I don't want burst pipes.
My ONLY thought for a solution (remember, I can't winterize it) is to keep the low-drain 12V tank heaters on, or, better, the heaters on AND the 12V/Propane Truma cabin heater on (say 60 degrees) overnight(s). That would be the same as if I'm boondocking in cold weather, so why not? Engine is off and I'm not worried about the cabin batteries dying as I've got solar and returning it to storage on Monday would result in the recharging the batteries.
Please help. This is driving me crazy!
Thanks, Ron

[theSane]

Originally Posted by Rgossen

Help me please, my Winnebago colleagues. I've bought a '17 Winne Paseo and brought it back to my home in St. Louis. My intention in the winter was to use it several times monthly and store it indoors between trips. Most RV folks here either store for the winter or migrate to warmer climates.
Here's the issue and the BIG questions: Winter weather here can get into the teens, sometimes subfreezing for a week. There are virtually no climate controlled RV storage options here, but I found one, actually a trucking warehouse. But, they're only open M-F. I live in a condo, so don't have a place to drain water for winterizing (that's a pain, anyway, winterize, dewinterize, winterize, etc.), but I do have on-street parking.
So I take it out and return home on Saturday or Sunday and, say, it's 20 degrees. Remember, I can't store it inside till Monday. SO I'M PANICED, I don't want burst pipes.
My ONLY thought for a solution (remember, I can't winterize it) is to keep the low-drain 12V tank heaters on, or, better, the heaters on AND the 12V/Propane Truma cabin heater on (say 60 degrees) overnight(s). That would be the same as if I'm boondocking in cold weather, so why not? Engine is off and I'm not worried about the cabin batteries dying as I've got solar and returning it to storage on Monday would result in the recharging the batteries.
Please help. This is driving me crazy!
Thanks, Ron

Take it to a Loves/Flying-J/Pilot, pay the $10 to use the dump station, and winterize it.

[Morich]

When we were in that area, we opted to sell rather than deal with the trauma.

But that was back in the day when gas was getting too high to travel when it hit 1.54 a gallon!

My fallback would be to dump the holding tanks before running home, then find some way to use air to blow out the lines and add antifreeze to the traps and black/grey holding tanks. I would not risk the major, major damage involved in something going wrong with the heat and lots of pipes freezing. Just to much strain on my mind to constantly wonder if I needed to go lookin the middle of the night!

[Rgossen]

Richard, thanks for the advice. As I am really new to RVing, I am worried about where the water goes when I drain my hot water heater tank. I've been thinking it runs out on the ground (can't have that on the street or in the storage warehouse), but it dawned on me that the hot water drain might drain into the grey water tank and that fixes that worry. Do you know which is the case?
If into the grey water, I can deal with the rest of winterizing (I, ugh, bought a compressor to blow the lines).
Thanks so much,
Ron

[wyocamper]

I'm curious what would be the issue with draining the hot and fresh water tanks on the street? It rains there doesn't it? What I do is open the drains while I'm dumping the holding tanks, and by the time I get home they're emptied and ready to blow out. A small amount of water will go into the tanks when you're blowing the lines, just pour some extra pink stuff in the toilet and sink to keep it from freezing.

[Rgossen]

Thanks for the advice and reassurances. I appreciate it.

[Elkman]

RVs have PEX or similar plastic tubing for the plumbing and it can expand when the water inside freezes wiithout harm. Check with a local RV repair shop as to what repairs they have had to make as a result of water freezing in the RV plumbing with ones that were not "winterized". It will provide some perspective.

With a standard hot water tank draining out two-thirds of the water will keep it from getting damaged. With my last RV the only problem was with the water pump and so long as I did not force it but waited until the water had thawed it did not get damaged.

[Rgossen]

I like your pragmatic and professional look at this in terms of risk and concern. Thank you very much for the learned reply I agree with your concepts and I’m looking forward to proving us right. Right!