Draining Hot water heater

[blake2727]

It is just starting to get cold here in Mississippi and I was wondering if I need to drain the hot water heater if I have low point drains and I have already opened and drained them. I don't know if the low point drains drain the water heater or not and this is my first winter with my rv. Also do you guys store it for the winter with the slide outs in or out?

[cfsoistman]

Relieve the Water Heater pressure by opening the PRV near the top of the tank and then remove the anode rod or plug if there's any pressure left after you drained the lines. As for storing, we keep the slide-outs closed. There's less chances of any damage due to snow, or ice or any debris blowing around.

[blake2727]

Thanks for the response. I will open the prv when I get home today and then pull the anode rod. So far I have kept my slides closed and was leaning toward this for the winter but wanted some reasurance so thanks. Do I need to put anti freeze in the lines if they have been drained? It normally only gets below freezing down here sometimes at night and then warms back up above freezing during the day.

[kbrown1075]

I live NW of Baton Rouge and will be using the TT through the winter so I won't do anything like "winterizing". What I do do is I have a medium room size ceramic heater in the middle of the TT and set it for about 60 degrees. I then turn the furnace to the lowest setting on the thermostat (55 degrees). I placed a wireless outdoor thermometer on top of the water heater to monitor the temp in the storage compartment where the hot water heater, plumbing, and water filter is. Over the two last "hard freezes" we have had in the past couple weeks I have not seen the temp in that compartment go below 42 degrees. The tanks are all empty but that is it. I also open the cabinets under the vanity and kitchen sink. The hot water heater and storage compartment are up front under the bed so I lifted the bed so the warm air will have access to the divider wall. All seems good. If you are in north MS you may need to do more, but with the daytime temps getting above 50, I don't think there will be much of a problem.