This is my first winter living fulltime in my Heartland Wilderness travel trailer and I'm in CO. Because I'm staying in one place, I underpinned with foam insulation board and I put a heat lamp under the kitchen area and another under the bathroom area. I leave the bathroom cabinet and door open at night and the door under my kitchen sink where the hot water is and I drip the hot water. I have heated water hoses and the spigot coming out of the ground is also heat taped. I don't use my propane heat because I can't afford to fill propane bottles every few days which is why I am using heat lamps under the trailer. I have an infrared electric heater that keeps it quite warm inside. With all that being said, my water still froze last night when it got down to 17. I'm wondering if the outside part of the hot water heater that has the overflow valve could be the weak point? How would one insulate that, if it's the culprit? Thanks for any insight that you can give.
Winter and fulltime living
- Thread starter MsMeli58
- Start date
danemayer
Well-known member
I used to take extended ski trips in Breckenridge and had mixed experience with expensive heated water hoses. My most reliable hose was the one where I spiral wrapped heat tape around a water hose and added insulation.
I also skirted with foamboard, but I put a smart ceramic disc heater on a piece of wood inside the skirted area. That kept the underbelly at around 70 (F) and nothing froze even in temps way below zero.
I also skirted with foamboard, but I put a smart ceramic disc heater on a piece of wood inside the skirted area. That kept the underbelly at around 70 (F) and nothing froze even in temps way below zero.
I'm going to go to Ace and get a heat tape tomorrow. My son has a regular drinking water hose that came with his RV that I can use so I'm going to replace the $80 one with that. I sent an email to Amazon warranties to see if I have any recourse since I haven't even had it for a year. I bought it in Feb 2021 before I moved to CO.
wdk450
Well-known member
Do you have a slide in the kitchen with the stove and refrigerator on it? On my rig the outside slide seals on this slide are inadequate to keep out heat/cold, and rot out quickly. I made a foam rubber stuffing sealer out of 2 inch square window air conditioner insulation cut to the slide footing dimensions, and glued together with contact adhesive. I get down on the floor and stuff this under the slide footing lip surfaces when setting up at a new RV site, and remove the sealer when closing down to move to another place.
Yes, I haven't had any issues with the valves.
I'm hoping the heat lamps keep all that from freezing but good to know about that trick.
2019_V22
Well-known member
Add some cheap ArmaFlex avail at Lowe's, or Home Depot. to the finished hose setup for added insurance. Pool Noodles may work too.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Aero-Flex-...ation-for-AC-Closed-Cell-Sold-Each/1000773642
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Aero-Flex-...ation-for-AC-Closed-Cell-Sold-Each/1000773642
thanks for the tip and the link.
Trevthomas
Member
My problem with my 360RD is that the furnace heats only half of the underbelly. It’s been getting down to 8° and the only water line that appears frozen, is the one in the kitchen. It would be nice if there were less walls in the underbelly and more of an exoskeleton type system to disperse the heat evenly. I’m going to try the foam board and heat lamp today. I’ve been meaning to do it, we were just never supposed to get anywhere near these temps.
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