Community Forums

promine · 02-01-2014, 04:13 PM

We are traveling back to the Mid West from FL next week and I have concern about driving and staying overnight in below freezing temps for a couple of days. We have an Aqua Hot and it works great. Also we have the electric space heater in the water bay,but the Monaco book says not to run in those temps. I talked to one very experianced motorhomer and he said it shouldn't be a problem.
What is the experiance from folks here?
Thanks
PR

al2ride · 02-01-2014, 04:29 PM

I'm not sure what all the AquaHot system protects. Just make sure that anything water related is either heated or winterized. Hopefully you won't hit any bad weather. Good luck and drive safe.

promine · 02-01-2014, 05:14 PM

The Aqua Hot does pump warm air in the basement. It is not winterized cause we are staying in the coach for two nights on the road while making the trip.
I know floks take their coaches on snowmobile trips...so not sure about that. Hate to burst a pipe.
PR

CHCam42 · 02-01-2014, 05:20 PM

Promine the Aquahot will keep you warm and also the wet bay. The engine heat, as you drive, will keep everything warm. Just remember as soon as you land at home to winter rise. We use our in the cold and never an issue. Safe travels

promine · 02-01-2014, 05:25 PM

Thanks for that.
I have a nice warm building the coach lives in when we get home
PR

al2ride · 02-01-2014, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHCam42

Promine the Aquahot will keep you warm and also the wet bay. The engine heat, as you drive, will keep everything warm. Just remember as soon as you land at home to winter rise. We use our in the cold and never an issue. Safe travels

+1 on the winter rinse when you arrive. Not sure about the engine keeping things warm as you drive though. You have to get to know your coach. If you have a water hose exposed or in an area that gets too cold, you will crack it if the temps get too cold. Also, if you don't have heaters on your gray and black tanks you will end up with poopcycles. Each coach is different so don't assume. Do your research since it's less of a headache than a repair.

CHCam42 · 02-01-2014, 05:29 PM

Ours is in the warm building now. Never winterized..

promine · 02-01-2014, 05:32 PM

I agree. That's why I am doing my research here. We could get into outside temps down to 10 degrees. My concern is when we stop for the night. I will leave the Auqua Hot engine heat on and furnace and let it run all night.
PR

CHCam42 · 02-01-2014, 05:37 PM

Good thought, and if you will be home tomorrow dump all your tanks and open fresh water low drain valve along with all the faucets. That will protect the tanks.

palehorse89 · 02-01-2014, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by promine

I agree. That's why I am doing my research here. We could get into outside temps down to 10 degrees. My concern is when we stop for the night. I will leave the Auqua Hot engine heat on and furnace and let it run all night.
PR

Keep your heat on and keep everything running and warm and you and your water supply will be OK.

tricotec · 02-05-2014, 02:44 PM

Here is something I found out that surprised me.

Behind my Norcold refrigerator, just behind the vent on the outside of the coach is the water valve for the icemaker. Norcold placed the valve where it will directly feel the effects of cold from the outside, and did little to insulate or protect it. They did loop a couple of turns of heat wire around the valve in a couple of places, but put a big red tag on the valve that states that you should turn off the water and drain the line and the valve below zero. They did NOTHING to insulate the valve, or the water lines to and from the stupid thing. Norcold is a terrible company.

Just a heads up to all that have icemakers and a NOCOLD refer.

tricotec · 02-05-2014, 02:49 PM

Just a couple of notes about Aqua hot.

Understand that your Aqua-hot will heat your basement. Mine makes the floors toasty warm enough to worry me sometimes. However, several factors can affect this....

If you run low on diesel or a fault occurs the aqua-hot can shut down.
You can, and I have on several occasions bumped the switch that shuts down the aqua-hot inadvertently.

If I had electric heat down there, I'd turn it on. It may never run, but you might be damn glad you did if your aqua-hot shuts down when it's cold and you're away from your coach.

My basement heat is from the aqua-hot so I worry about leaving the coach for any length of time in the winter. I came back from a cruise in December and my coach had run low on diesel. The aqua-hot was only running on electric and the fans were running steady inside. The temps were in the low 40s in the coach and basement, but at least it didn't freeze. It was a wakeup call.