Cold Weather Camping

[rahewett]

I'm looking for some suggestions. We are going to be camping in Pigeon Forge in December over Christmas this year. I would like to hear what others do about water hookup during cold weather. I have been looking at the heated water hoses available and haven't seen many good reviews. Just wondering how you guy's and gals feel about them from experience using them or would it be better to just fill the fresh water tank and go that route. Just feel like I could use a little bit of advice.

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[danemayer]

Hi rahewett,

Depending on how cold it gets, any approach you take can run into problems. We've done quite a bit of camping in extreme cold, using heated water hoses. We've had several Pirit hoses but I can't recommend them. After a few failures, I took a good water hose, and a roll of heat tape and made my own heated hose. I used electrical tape every few inches to hold the heat tape to the hose. 6' lengths of pipe insulation completed the project. Make sure the heat tape's thermostat is in the open air, not covered, and not inside the UDC.

Filling the fresh tank will work as long as 1) you prevent a freeze up of the fresh tank drain and 2) you have tank heating pads. If you're in sub-freezing temps for an extended period, using the fresh tank can get tiresome.

Our owner-written Water Systems Winter Usage Guide covers the topic in more detail.

 

[TravelTiger]

We had a Pirit hose that lasted two winters fulltiming. Then we bought a Camco heated hose, that has lasted two winters, so far. We are full timers in west central Texas, and have had lowest temps in the 20s. We use a 100 watt bulb behind the basement wall to heat the water lines back behind the UDC. We tuck our fresh water drain up inside the underbelly for winter. Our supply hose bib is sheltered from weather and wrapped in insulation.

We had some water freeze ups when in Angel Fire, NM for vacation, when temps were in the teens and single digits, running off fresh tank only.


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[GK2018]

We use a camco heated water hose and so far have been using the same one for 3 winters, I prefer it over the Pirit because it's easier to roll up when the hose is cold. The hose hasn't failed us yet but I have had the spigot and water inlet on the camper freeze even after insulating both of them, they usually thaw back out pretty quick using a heat gun or blow dryer and neither has busted on me. I have tried using heat tape on a regular water hose and for whatever reason it always wound up freezing so we gave up on that route.

As far as the fresh water tank goes (or even black water tank) without a heated underbelly or tank heating pads if the temps get too low then that thing can turn into a solid chunk of ice and an absolute nightmare to unthaw I know from a not very fun experience haha. If you use heated tank pads or use your propane furnace as your primary heating source with a heated underbelly you should be fine. Filling the fresh water tank when it's cold isnt much fun and I'd recommend the heated water hose, I swear by ours and as long as we're somewhere cold we'll definitely have one.

Depending on how involved you want to get there are companies that make water recirculators that also help prevent water from freezing in the winter time.

 

[travelin2]

I'm looking for some suggestions. We are going to be camping in Pigeon Forge in December over Christmas this year. I would like to hear what others do about water hookup during cold weather. I have been looking at the heated water hoses available and haven't seen many good reviews. Just wondering how you guy's and gals feel about them from experience using them or would it be better to just fill the fresh water tank and go that route. Just feel like I could use a little bit of advice.

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We fill the FW tank and put the water hose away
We hold our waste water, dump when necessary. Hose is stored when not in use
Is the TT underbelly enclosed? I doubt there’s any heat there unlike our bighorn. Any way you can direct a heat lamp toward the FW line in the belly? Any heat in there would be helpful



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[rahewett]

The under belly is enclosed and heated with a furnace duct. I do have a heat gun that will be going with us. So far thanks to everyone for the responses. I'm starting to formulate a plan as to what I want to do. I want to cover all the bases just in case.

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[david-steph2018]

Been to Pigeon Forge several times. But the latest in the year is Thanksgiving time. 2018 we spent Thanksgiving there, the weather wasn't too bad and we did not worry about freezing up while there. But before we left Ohio, different story, filled our fresh tank and used it the night before at the campground. The heated underbelly kept from freezing, while there. But on the road we froze up and when we pulled in a truck stop in Tenn. I noticed water dripping out. So I checked really fast and seen it was just moisture from the frozen lines thawing.

But the other 5 times at Thanksgiving, 4 were great, just like last year. One year there we went to bed, woke up and had 6 inches of snow on the ground. Cold in the camper, out of propane, in 1 tank, and I-75 was shutdown for the heavy snowfall that fell. We had to delay leaving for 2 days because of the snow.