To heat or not to heat?

[Eagleman]

I live in southern B.C. where we have very damp weather with temperature changes that result in frost some days and rain the next.I have my 5er stored in my back yard. It is uncovered and unheated. I'm concerned about condensation forming with the temperature changes and have been getting mixed advice as to wether I should be heating the unit or not. I do have three Driz-air dehumidifiers inside and they get about a half inch of water in them every few days. Any advice on what would be the best way to store the unit?

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagleman Any advice on what would be the best way to store the unit?

Absolutely! I expect that the unit is winterized. Aside from dumping the traps on the humidifier, leave it alone until spring time. That's what new RVs do all winter when they are sitting on dealer lots. I used to store my RV all winter on a seasonal campsite and never any problems. You don't want to start heating and sweating up the inside of the rig for no good reason.

[Eagleman]

Many thanks for the advice. Makes me feel more confident about what I'm doing. I've also had it suggested that I open the vents a bit.

[shortlance]

If you heat it you will have more condensation problems then if you just let it be. We do not heat our 5er over the winter season and have not had any problems so far. I always open the roof vents and a window in early spring to get plenty of fresh air going thru it and never had any musty smell or other moisture problems.

[Oregon RVer]

This is our first RV -- a small Cougar 5er with the "Polar" pkg (sealed underbelly).
We purchased a full cover for in anticipation of storing it for a few months. We've drained the h.w. heater and fresh water tank, and put RV anti-freeze in sink, toilet and shower traps, etc. Once the 5er is covered we've been told to leave the roof vents slightly open plus leave a heater running inside. From your posts it sounds like this is not necessary at all...?
Please advise...

[shortlance]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregon RVer This is our first RV -- a small Cougar 5er with the "Polar" pkg (sealed underbelly). We purchased a full cover for in anticipation of storing it for a few months. We've drained the h.w. heater and fresh water tank, and put RV anti-freeze in sink, toilet and shower traps, etc. Once the 5er is covered we've been told to leave the roof vents slightly open plus leave a heater running inside. From your posts it sounds like this is not necessary at all...? Please advise...

I do not have any vents open during the winter but as I said before I open it up in early spring and air it out. We pump antifreeze thru our water system after the lines are blown out just to be safe. No antifreeze in the water heater--just drain the water out of that.

[Westwind]

We live in the northeast US near the ocean. My last RV was always winterized, I use the pink stuff, never had heat on and never had vents open in the winter. I did open one with a vent cover during the summer so the heat wouldn't build up in it. I also never covered the RV. I sold it after owning it for 9 years and it looked really good for a 9 year old travel trailer that we lived in for 2 1/2 months a year.
We now have a new fifthwheel and it's going to be treated the same way since it worked for me.

[Eagleman]

I'm going to go with the no heat advice. I have a niece that works for a rv dealership and she said that they never heat or cover any of their units during the winter. If the units are used, they make sure they are winterized and if they have Max-air covers on the vents they are left open. That was another bit of advice she gave me. Get the Max-airs or some thing similar. They are well worth it.

[Westwind]

I agree with your neice's advice, you can't beat a cover over the vent for both winter and summer, both seasons it allow's air to circulate and that's what you want. The only negative is that if you have any of the dryer's that you put to absorb moisture they will be pulling it in from the outside.
The covers do help during the times you are in the RV and it's raining, your able to use the bathroom vent fan and if your cooking the vent in the main part of the trailer if you have a vent.

[randyranger]

I use a little gadget called a Stor-Dry, it is a little fan unit that has a tiny heater coil in it. It uses the equivalent power of a 10 watt light bulb. I’ve used for 3 years now and it works great at keeping the inside of the 5er nice and dry and no little water pots to empty for the drys air, even living on Vacouver Islands Wet Coast One thing about the drys air is that the water is corrosive, this can stain cause pitting in your stainless steel sink. You can find the Stor-Dry at most RV Dealers.

[Fred1609]

we live on Vancouver Isl as well and use stor-dry in the winter. I do cover over 5er with the breathable aqua shed. It just protects the unit against those black streaks that run down the sides. On the cougar there should be a hot water tank by-pass that allows you to "suck" RV anti freeze thru your hoses and fittings.

[rdlumos]

We live in Oregon so I would think we have similiar weather. We purchased a dehumidifier that plugs in, it was about $50.00 but well worth the money. I agree with the others that cracking a vent or window would help. We use the dehumidifier and sometimes we run a small plug in heater also. We keep this dehumidifier in the trailer and have had to use it while camping too. It was one of the best purchases we have made. If you are interested I could get you the specific name and manufacturer info.

[rdlumos]

I see looking at other posts that someone else has what I believe is the same thing I recommended, the stor-dry. I cannot say enough how well it works. Evidently others feel the same way.

[geobergman]

Rving inwinter time, with afull fresh water holding tank, if temp. drops below freezing, will the holding tank freeze?