Cold Weather

I hadn't planned on winterizing my trailer, it very rarely gets down to 30 degrees at night around here. This week they are forecasting for lows in the mid to high 20's, warming up to the upper 40's during the day. The Bighorn is stored at my house and I am wondering if I should turn the furnace on low at night? Will these temps. do any harm since they are for a limited amount of time.

Hi flyerone,

Mid 20s can certainly cause damage. If you have an icemaker in the frig and it's in a slideout, you'll probably have a damaged water line. You could also have damage to the pump, toilet valve, possibly to faucets, and if there's water in the tanks, you could damage the tanks.

Running the furnace will probably protect everything in temps only get to the mid 20s. But if there's an unexpected malfunction, you could have damage.

Let me point you to two owner-written user guides that may help you. Here's a link to our Winterizing Guide and to the Water Systems Winter Usage Guide.

If you are not going to completely winterize then I would suggest you be sure ALL the tanks are drained and the city water disconnected. Then what I do is insulate the drain under the rv and make sure the furnace is on set at least at 50 degrees F. Remember it is not the below freezing temperature but how long it stays below freezing. If it is only an hour or two then above freezing it will probably be alright. The key is to be sure the furnace if on to help keep the basement and underbelly warm. Good luck.

I turned the furnace to 50 degrees, looks like it should only last for 2 nights. Can I run the fireplace 24 hours a day, or is that asking too much? I never winterized my other trailer while living here and never had a problem, just setting records cold this week.

Don't run the fireplace at all. You need to run the furnace to pump heat into the underbelly and keep the plumbing lines and tanks warm. If the fireplace is on, the furnace will run less or not at all.