Cold weather storage.....

bobsue2

Active Member
WE keep our rig on some property in north Fl....we're supposed to be getting cold weather Tuesday with the temp dropping to the mid 20's then warming back up.....the trailer stays plugged in but I'm thinking about disconnecting the city water and leaving a few valves open or is there enough insulation to guard against freezing.....thoughts??? Thanks

Sould've mentioned we're leaving today won't be back for a couple weeks.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi bobsue2,

If the furnace is not ON, and temps drop to the mid 20s overnight, the temps inside the coach and in the underbelly could get below freezing and you stand a chance of getting some freeze damage. Even if you leave the furnace ON, if you run out of propane or have a malfunction, it'd be like leaving the furnace OFF.

Faucets, toilet valve, shower, water pump are all areas of concern.

If your refrigerator has an icemaker and/or water dispenser, the water feed line and solenoid are a point of concern. If the frig is in a slideout, the water feed line is exposed to outside air and will be damaged for sure. The solenoid may be heated, but since it's exposed to outside air, it's also a possible point of failure.

The pex water lines will probably survive a dip below freezing, but a hard freeze might cause fittings to expand, leaving you with drips and leaks.

I'd guess you'd have to be below freezing for more than a few hours for the contents of your holding tanks to freeze. But if you're away for a few weeks, who knows.

I'd suggest winterizing.

You might want to review our user guides on Winterizing and Water Systems Winter Usage.
 

DonnyB007

Well-known member
I would just go with winterizing the trailer. I had my trailer out at the lake and closed for the winter late and opened up early. But up here in Thunder Bay, I went with winterizing on September 15th and summerizing on May 17th. In between time, the camp owner let me use his outdoor water tap to access water and we had the hydro on whenever we wanted to. They had a port-a-potti close by our trailer, so we used that for the dirty business. Had a 5 gallon water dispenser on our counter. Many times, broke the ice in the morning in our water jug and got the heat flowing. I installed a heat strip in our air conditioner and used that a lot. Plus, we used the furnace on and off in the cold weather. But it sure was great to get out on our deck in the winter time over looking the lake.

If you risk not winterizing, even with PEX tubing, you may get yourself in for a lot of expense. Doing what I did above is not all that bad. We paid once for burst water pipes and a tank and that was the end of that business!
 

bobsue2

Active Member
Update: Thanks for the reply's...the only added measures we took was to leave a ceramic heater by the door...asked the grounds keeper to turn on if the temps started falling and to turn off in the morning.....went back up this past Saturday...everything is fine.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Something else to consider for winter storage is to remove any items in bottles that can freeze.
 
Top