Community Forums

smlranger · 09-16-2013, 06:38 PM

We usually take a TG trip and another over Christmas. With my previous coach, I did not fully winterize until after the Christmas trip. I would drain the water lines and water heater and use air to blow out the lines. That coach had no Aqua Hot or W/D.

So, with the Allure, can I just leave the electric element for the Aqua Hot on to keep the domestic water in it from freezing and use an electric space heater in the coach to keep things from freezing up inside? I usually place a thermostat-controlled trouble light in the water bay to keep a little heat in there if necessary.

Gocoffeer · 09-17-2013, 06:52 AM

I have a small 150W quartz halogen lamp running in my water bay to keep it above freezing and additionally another in the pump bay...plus a heater in the hallway (bathroom door open) in my rig as I keep it non winterized for sporadic use in the winter months. If it gets really cold....sub zero.... I might add a mini baggage bay heater in the plumbing area or turn on the propane heat that evening (55F setting).

vraines · 09-17-2013, 07:20 AM

Not sure of the temperatures involved in your area, but I would be concerned about the water lines, as the aqua-hot will not help them. I have a Aqua-hot system and park in an RV garage until after Christmas. I installed exhaust plumbing and just turn on the system and set the inside thermo to 55. The basement stays well above freezing. The temperatures here in the mid-west usually do not get below 20 degrees before Christmas, so I feel pretty safe with this setup. It is worth the 15 or twenty gallons of fuel not to have to winterize and de-winterize the system for two months. I assume you are connected to shore power if you are going to leave the electric side of the Aqua-hot system on. If so, just turn on the fuel heat side and set the thermostat if it gets below freezing.

smlranger · 09-17-2013, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vraines

Not sure of the temperatures involved in your area, but I would be concerned about the water lines, as the aqua-hot will not help them. I have a Aqua-hot system and park in an RV garage until after Christmas. I installed exhaust plumbing and just turn on the system and set the inside thermo to 55. The basement stays well above freezing. The temperatures here in the mid-west usually do not get below 20 degrees before Christmas, so I feel pretty safe with this setup. It is worth the 15 or twenty gallons of fuel not to have to winterize and de-winterize the system for two months. I assume you are connected to shore power if you are going to leave the electric side of the Aqua-hot system on. If so, just turn on the fuel heat side and set the thermostat if it gets below freezing.

Yes, I have 50 amp shore power but the coach is outside. We also generally don't get much below mid 20's until January but can't count on the weather these days. I certainly don't have a problem leaving the AH diesel burner turned on and set T stat at 55.

Peralko · 09-17-2013, 06:44 PM

I would run the Aqua-hot on electric and turn on the bedroom heater--it is the one that runs heat to the holding tanks and water pump. We open up the doors underneath the sinks to keep those water lines from freezing. You can also turn on your floor heat to keep the interior well above freezing. We don't have a lot of freeze down here in San Antonio, but when we did, I just ran the rear heater and opened cabinet doors. I haven't ever winterized our coach--even in Utah when we were there for a couple of winters.

smlranger · 09-17-2013, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peralko

I would run the Aqua-hot on electric and turn on the bedroom heater--it is the one that runs heat to the holding tanks and water pump. We open up the doors underneath the sinks to keep those water lines from freezing. You can also turn on your floor heat to keep the interior well above freezing. We don't have a lot of freeze down here in San Antonio, but when we did, I just ran the rear heater and opened cabinet doors. I haven't ever winterized our coach--even in Utah when we were there for a couple of winters.

Tell me more about the floor heat. We haven't used the coach in any cold weather so only turned it on briefly before we bought the coach to make sure it worked. Does the floor heat radiate enough to provide much interior heat or just make the floor warm on bare feet?

We were impressed with the ability of the roof AC heat pumps to provide heat on chilly mornings in April.