winter camping

[Firemaker]

I am going to take several trips this winter and do not really want to go through the winterizing and dewinterizing of my RV. If I leave it hooked to shore power and keep the water heater on along with the heater at say 50 degrees will I be safe? I have a 2014 35ds Georgetown which also has a Artic pack.

[youroo]

It depends where you Go and what the Temp is! Winter can mean a LOT of different things! If it is Below Freezing for a period of time during your Trip the answer is Winterize! Youroo!!

[mjones12]

As I understand it, this is what you would do between winter trips to avoid repeated winterizing and de-winterizing. I don't see where you'd have a problem at all. Fifty degrees inside the camper is still 50 degrees no matter where you live. That should be plenty to keep your water lines from freezing, just as it would if you were actually camping in the unit, though you'd no doubt run the heat around 20 degrees higher.

Depending on where you live, it may require more propane to maintain the indoor temperature. But since you'll probably also be around home between trips, you could easily keep track of that, as well as being aware of any power outages that might interrupt your furnace usage.

I have friends who leave their camper year-round in a campground in the mountains of NC and use it on weekends. They set their thermostat for 40 degrees during the week and forget it until they get back. Never a problem over many winters, even though temps occasionally drop to the teens up there in winter.

Under the plan you propose, I don't see much potential for disaster, especially if you're going to be around and can monitor things.

[rlchall]

Following. ...Let's say tht it gets to freezing temps in Georgia for 5 hours. Would pipes freeze during that time?

[DXSMac]

My experience is that a short period of time (like, 30 at night, 40 in daytime) does not hurt. But a HARD freeze, even for short time, will cause a problem. One time I was in a state park on the coast in Washington State and it was a balmy 50 degrees and then it went to 30 all of a sudden, not predicted. Problems. but a gradual lowering for a brief time won't cause severe problems.

On the other hand, not a good idea to leave a space heater on for a long period of time (like, overnight) although I have done this..... WOuldn't do it for a week, though. Best to use furnace to keep heat but you will burn your propane quickly.

[BendOrLarry]

We have been winter camping for years. We snowmobile and have other snowmobile friends with rv's so we often camp as a group. Some of our friends don't camp wet, and use outside vault toilets in snow parks. We have always camped wet just like in the summer. We have had trips as cold as 12 below zero F. Last New Years eve and new Years day it was 10 below and never got above 20 during the day. In the beginning years ago we froze up a time or 2 until we figured out how to keep the RV warm enough so things didn't freeze. We now use a Champion 3100 invertor generator and have it run all night so the furnace can run continuously. I also put a heat lamp in the water pump area with a remote thermometer so if things start to get too cold I turn on the heat lamp for a while. No more freezing up. I always winterize after each trip. I have done it so many times, it has just become part of our unpacking and cleaning up routine.

[mjones12]

Originally Posted by rlchall

Following. ...Let's say tht it gets to freezing temps in Georgia for 5 hours. Would pipes freeze during that time?

If the freezing temps are in the 29-32 range, I'd say probably not, but with five hours of duration, I'd winterize....or leave the heat on....just to be safe. I'm sure there's a complex equation to tell us how long it would take for the temp of the water in the interior lines to be brought down to 32, but even so, you can never count on the weather predictions to be exactly right.