How to RV in Changing Winter Weather

The weather report changes and you fall into a panic — It’s only going to be below freezing for a few hours every night. So, you ask yourself, “will my RV be okay?” Read on for 3 strategies to keep your RV pipes from freezing in Winter.

Like many of you, I’m headed to the Southwest for the rest of the winter, but had to drive through some cold climates to get there; and not just a little bit cold — freeze-your-skin-cold. Sometimes temps were well-above freezing during the day, but below freezing for several hours every night. Then, suddenly, the temperatures plummeted for days at a time. I didn’t want to fully winterize, then de-winterize, then re-winterize. So what did I do? I figured out 3 different ways to Winter-RV in changing winter weather. Some strategies worked, and some didn’t. Keep reading to learn more.

Winter RV Strategy #1: “Half-Winterize” for One Night at a Time

When the temperature falls for a few hours every night, you should probably still be concerned about your RV pipes. It only takes a few minutes on-line to read horror stories about broken pipes and resulting water damage. The fact is, when water freezes, it expands; and that expansion can burst your pipes. But, for me, I wanted a strategy that would be simple and fast and allow me to get to a warmer client without a lot of hassle.

Before I tell you what worked for me, I encourage you to get to know your RV’s plumbing. Every rig is different. Find out if your water lines and tanks are above the floor of your unit (where they will get more ambient-heat) or below. In my case, all my lines are below-floor and would more easily freeze. The upside of this, however, is that any damage would probably be contained to the outside of my RV, so I felt-okay trying out these strategies on myself (like a mad-scientist!).

For this first strategy, I was in moderate weather, where temps were above freezing during the day, but totally freezing at night.

1. I ran all the water out of my taps until they sputtered and stopped
2. I emptied my fresh water and black and grey tanks completely
3. I released the pressure on my hot water heater, letting every drop of water escape
4. I opened all my interior cabinets and kept the inside of my rig toasty, so the warm air could get to those pipes
5. I saved a couple of gallons of water to do dishes, which I did in a tub and threw out the door instead of letting the water go into my grey tank
6. And…wait for it. I made myself a litter box. Okay, I know this might sound crazy, but the weather changed so quickly I didn’t

   

   have RV antifreeze. I remembered that van-lifers sometimes use a bucket with a luggable-loo, where they just line the bucket with a bag and then throw out the bag. I went a step further.  I lined my actual toilet with a bag and filled it with kitty-litter. It worked like a charm!  No smell, no problem, no water, no fuss. In fact, it worked so well, that I kept my rig set up like this for four days.

7. I Didn’t open my low point drain or blow out the pipes and had no problem, as long as the temps were only freezing part of the day. Do what you think is right for you, your plumbing and your climate.

Winter RV Strategy #2: Make an Easy Self-Heated Skirt

For this strategy, temps were supposed to fall to 18 degrees Fahrenheit every-night for a week. I thought Strategy #1 might not be enough, plus, it was Christmas. I had a hook-up. There were two of us and we wanted to shower. I searched my on-line communities for an easy fix, but either they didn’t apply to my rig, or I couldn’t find the materials. My solution? Reflectix and

space heater! All the pics in this post are from my actual trip where I used these strategies, including this gem: the temperature outside was below 10 degrees, but my pipes were in the 40s and higher. Here’s how I did it, fast, easy and cheap (see pics below):

1. I kept my water tank full (but disconnected the hose)
2. I kept my hot water heater on and circulating water through the pipes
3. I put a space-heater underneath the RV, plugged into my site’s power-tower
4. I got a small, remote temperature gauge to check the temps near my pipes, which I could monitor from inside.
5. I created a skirted “box” around the bottom of my RV to keep the heat in. I call this a box, because I did not skirt the entire RV. Instead, I created a box only around the tanks and pipes, NOT around the front end. To do this, I slid two Walmart large moving boxes behind my front wheels (this was key), and surrounded the rest of my unit with…
6. Reflectix.  Now, Reflectix is not insulation. It has little value in keeping heat in like some more expensive materials. It does, however, reflect heat like a champ. While noodling out a solutions, I wondered if Reflectix would knock-back the heat from a small space heater towards the pipes — and it does! There are some tricks to success, though:

   

   

My Tips to Success with Reflectix:

• Tuck the Reflectix into the doors of your storage area (if your RV is configured this way). It holds the material tight and is easy to put up and take down (See the pic to the left? I dropped the Reflectix to the ground to keep cold air out, then tucked the rest into my storage bin doors
• Duct-tape the reflectix up any place you don’t have a storage door to keep it in place
• Close any air-holes with other materials (I used a tarp and cardboard)
• If it’s windy (which it was for me) put materials on the ground against the Reflectix to hold it in place

We were at the base of Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado when I used this strategy, an area notorious for high-winds. Sure enough, one particularly windy night, we looked at our gauge and the temperature under our unit had dropped from the 50s to the 30s in a matter of moments. We bundled up and ran outside with flashlights to find one area of our Reflectix had blow open! We shored-up the hole with binder-clips and duct tape and ran back inside, to watch the temperature gauge sore!

Winter RV Strategy #2: Make Half-a-Skirt

Knowing your RV is key for this to work.  After I survived half-winterizing, one night at a time on one part of my trip, and creating a skirt for another, I headed towards Arizona, only to spend a final week in spot that again froze for several hours every night. By this point, I felt confident in my RV-Winterizing skills, so did this:

1. I drained my fresh water tank (I had a hook-up and filled it again each day when the sun was high)
2. I took two tarps and one roll of Reflectix, and a small space heater and
3. I made half a skirt, this time only enclosing my black and grey tanks and service bay. I didn’t even use any duct tape!  Easy.

A Final Note: What Didn’t Work

On Christmas morning, I reached into my freezer to grab something and found a puddle of water and a bunch of ruined food. I read the manual, and discovered that my Dometic will not work in sustained temperatures below 50 degrees. Oops! Luckily, we left the next day and within hours the fridge and freezer were working again. At this point, we had spent almost 5 weeks in cold weather. I wouldn’t do that again without finding a solution to keep the fridge humming.

Winter RVing is fun, but does take some extra chores to keep your plumbing safe. Get to know your plumbing, keep an eye on the weather and travel-on! These strategies absolutely worked for me, and I hope they work for you.

I’m now on my way to Quartzsite for CheapRVLivings RTR! Are you going?

And, COMING SOON: Parts 5 & 6 of the Series, “Cheap and Free RV Camping You Will Love!”

Thank you for reading! And, let’s help other people discover everything the RV life offers by Sharing, Liking and Subscribing.

Be Happy. Create More. Set Yourself Free .

Robin

CreativityRV

Creativity RV is on YouTube! Click here to visit the channel. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!

Check out my must-have RV gear recommendations here!