Community Forums

mwwade · 09-03-2014, 08:33 AM

We would like to use our RV in the winter time. We live in Oklahoma where the temperature can reach below 10 deg. Would I need to drain my water system every time I take it out? If I use the coaches heating system to keep the interior warm, would this also keep the water from freezing? It looks to me all the water lines are inside the cabin. How about the fresh water tank, and the gray and black, will they ice up? We own a class-c.

skater · 09-03-2014, 08:40 AM

I would post in the owners forums for the brand of your class C. There are so many variables that I would want advice from others with my same model in order to avoid any major issues!

Good Luck!

jeryan59 · 09-03-2014, 09:06 AM

As Skater says, depends on your class C. I use my class A primarily in winter in temperatures routinely below zero. Snow skiing in Breckenridge with air temps below -15F, hunting in SD in temperatures one morning at -23 air.

I built my own heated fresh water supply hose, but I fill my fresh water tank every night with forecasted temperatures below 25 or ice forecasted. I close black/grey valve, disconnect sewer line and DRAIN each evening. As an added precaution with utility compartment I put a small electric heater in the bay with insulation on the floor of the plastic tray for the floor.

In my two class A's I have owned over the past 13 years, only 1 time did I have the grey tank valve freeze and that was before I utilized the small electric heater. It took a couple of hours to thaw just with the basement heat from the furnace to thaw enough to open.

Do some searching on this forum for winter RVing and you will find a wealth of great information.

One of the biggest issues is condensation inside your unit. You may need to leave a window or vent cracked, definitely open the vent while showering or cooking.

You will need to determine if your basement is heated and if your holding tanks and fresh water tank are in a heated bay or exposed to the elements? If you have an propane evaporator rv refrigerator you may need to keep this area from freezing as well?

Good luck, but I really enjoy the tranquility of using my RV year round, but winter is especially fun.

woodworker414 · 09-03-2014, 01:52 PM

Hi mwwade. My C is winter ready. all the water lines are in the cabin, and the bottom of the C is covered, so the tanks are inside also. There are ducts from the furnace to the underbelly areas where the tanks are located. I have used mine down to about 0 degrees when visiting my son and his family who live in N. IL. and can it get cold up there. I did not have any freezing issues. Just check your areas where your tanks are located when the furnace is running to see if you get heat into those areas. We plan to do a lot of winter camping this coming winter. I live 40 miles of STL. It can get darn cold here also.
Hope it works out for you. Winter camping is a lot of fun.

Let us know what you find out.
Safe Travels
Bill

Mr_D · 09-03-2014, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwwade

We would like to use our RV in the winter time. We live in Oklahoma where the temperature can reach below 10 deg. Would I need to drain my water system every time I take it out? If I use the coaches heating system to keep the interior warm, would this also keep the water from freezing? It looks to me all the water lines are inside the cabin. How about the fresh water tank, and the gray and black, will they ice up? We own a class-c.

That's what we do but the temps don't get much below the 20's here and then only for a couple days. Put a 200 watt heater in the wet bay, open doors inside and run two heaters and several fans to distribute heat.

mwwade · 09-03-2014, 02:35 PM

What we own is a Coachman Concord, 31ft. Thanks for all the good advice! Will do more research.

VSPA · 09-03-2014, 06:18 PM

Learned the hard way, ended up with leaks in several 90 degree line connectors and the connector from the water pump after being caught in a lower that forecasted freeze. I now carry two drop cords with 75 w heavy duty grade light bubs to put in the wet bays, 25 to 30 feet of the foam pipe insulators, a faucet insulator and extra insulator for the parks stand pipe that I'm using. If the forecast is sever, I pull and drain the hose, and as mentioned above, I now close off the dump valves and disconnect and store all the hoses at the RV and the dump pipe. Giving thought to the 200w heaters mentioned above, but would need more infor to even start on that method.

mikebreeze · 09-03-2014, 06:30 PM

I usually drain my water lines in October but keep camping at least once a month throughout the winter. I usually take water and place it in a cooler for drinking and cooking. But I don't drain any. And I use the bath house toilet or the woods.

YZF571 · 09-05-2014, 07:05 AM

mnwade, I too live in Ok. (Yukon) I use my class A year round. I do get nervous when the temp gets like 18, or 22 or whatever. I employ a previously mentioned combination of basement heat, heat lamps, and insulation on the floor of my wet bay. I sometimes run the pinkstuff through it and let it sit too. It just depends on what events I have on the schedule and how comfortable I want to be. It's pretty easy to deal with here as it doesn't get that cold, it does get cold enough to do some damage if you don't manage it (the cold) however. I have only had one failure and it was my outside shower head as I forgot to drain it, or purge it with the pink stuff. I have got my complete winterization procedure down to about 30 mins, and 1.5 gallons of the pinkstuff, it's still a PIA but so would frozen/split pipes be......