Winterizing or not

[russue125]

I live in middle TN and plan to do some weekends with my class A in November and then plan to go south after the holidays. Winterize or not? If I do then I will need to de-w each time so what to do??? Help

[Br0wnBear]

I live in Virginia so have a somewhat similar climate. I just this weekend drained my water heater and blew all my water lines out with my air compressor. We’re camping for Thanksgiving so I didn’t want to put antifreeze in when it may or may not drop below freezing before then. It’s going to be 34 tonight so getting close enough that I didn’t want to leave it with water in the lines. Being systematic with the air and opening each faucet, toilet, sprayer, and low point drains multiple times gets the lines almost entirely clear.

I’ll winterize with antifreeze after our next trip before it sits for the whole winter.

[Barlow46]

How close is the coach to an electrical outlet? I have used automotive trouble lights (old cage style) and hung them in critical compartments when temps dropped into mid to high 20's. A 60W bulb usually will put out enough heat to keep the water from freezing.

If no electricity, and you have a generator, you can run it overnight when the temps drop. You may have the option of having it come on when inside temp drops below 35 or so and set the heater thermostat at 45.

You probably have pex piping which is very forgiving in freezing temp but other things like your water pump, ice maker, washing machine, etc. need protection if a freeze last a while. Otherwise, just bit the bullet and winterize and de-winterize. It really doesn't take that long.

Good luck, I winterized my unit a couple of days ago and temps here in the mountains of NC dropped to a 25 degree wake up this morning. Gonna warm up to 28 tonight. Glad I decided to. Not sure 8 hrs of below freezing would have caused a problem but it took me 30 minutes and 1 1/2 jugs of the pink stuff to do the job.

[jsmmonaco]

for what it is worth, if you want to continue to use your rv in colder weather, make sure you drain the water between each use.........make sure all low point drains are opened, drain the hot water tank, etc., and use air to clear the lines.............we have an 07 monaco..........you would be surprised how much water is still in the system, even with low point drains opened............i use my larger tank style air compressor (one with larger tank as you want volume more than just pressure)................hook into fresh water inlet, open drains, faucets, etc, and crank the air up to no more than 40 - 45 psi................and don't forget black tank sprayer and outside shower/faucet..............this way, you get MOST, if not all, the water out, without wasting massive amounts of rv antifreeze.................

[ThePowells]

Here is my post from a thread on the Class A forum with the exact same question,


Last winter we had 140+ straight hours below freezing with lows at or just below zero for three days. I did not blow out or clear our lines. The only antifreeze was in the tanks just as insurance for the gate valves.

All that was done....
Pulled in slide,
opened cabinet door near water heater,
1500 watt oil filled heater at hall opening set at 60 (lowest setting),
set coach furnace to lowest setting,
removed drawer under fridge to allow air circulation for lines under drawer including low point drains,
opened bathroom door and cabinet door under sink,
removed drawer closest to outside shower valves and removed that hose,
filled up water tank,
placed very heavy blanket over pass thru from cab to coach.

I used an infra red thermometer to check temps. Last morning (0630) of the really cold ones the spare tire wheel was -11, skin at door 5 above, wall inside (same place) 32, end of kitchen countertop 43, water lines under fridge about 40 as was lines under bathroom sink, and the connections to the outside shower were 32, but were above freezing the evening before. I bought a thermo-cube and light for the wet bay but their was not enough space to use it.


One thing I forgot from the above week, the fresh water tank under the bed stayed above 50.


Also in January of this year, we went to Indiana in the last week of January / first week of February with no problems. All of your plumbing with the exception of the black tanks and valves are inside of the insulated part of floor.


If you will scroll down through the different forums, their are multiple threads with the same question that you have and you may pick up something a little different from a few of those.

[SuperGewl]

As others have stated: Blow the lines, start with the furthest away from the city water connection and work your way toward it. Make sure you get them all. You know the ones we all forget about, water heater, dish washer, washing machine, Ice maker, water in the fridge door, outside shower, drivers seat butt wash. Just checking to see if you are paying attention.
Remove all of the water filters also. Finish with the low point drains. Don't forget to leave ALL of the faucets open when complete, you may want to even leave the drain out of the water heater.
Now take the MH and drain all of the tanks, when done pour a little RV anti-freeze in each drain and some in the toilet bowl. Then open the bowl valve and let it get into the tank. I usually do this one last. At this point you should be ready for even the coldest of weather.
Come March run out to your local store and stock up on RV Anti-Freeze for next year.

[gvette85]

I have the same dilemma,living in central Ms.,actually a little south of central.This is the time of year we use our MH a lot on weekends.After surviving a hot humid summer, weather down here is great right now.We usually only have weather in the mid to low teens each year in Jan and Feb.so I always put off winterizing as long as possible.

[Ray,IN]

Here in central Indiana I do not winterize or drain water when daytime highs reach 50 and nighttime lows do not drop below 28 (RV outside, unheated). What are the historical and average highs/lows for your city? That helps make a decision.