Cold Weather Camping

[tburt]

We are awaiting the arrival of our Rockwood 2901SS in the next couple of weeks. This is our first TT, we rented one last summer and loved it. We (especially our two kids) are anxious to take it out for the first time and plan on going to Ruidoso NM over spring break (mid March)..... but the weather is still pretty cold. Low of 10 to 20 at night and about 40 during the day is what we expect during the trip.

I wanted to get some opinoins on what the cold weather limits are in using the TT and if there are any "extra" steps I should take to protect to the water supply lines from freezing (or any other items). Our TT does have an enclosed underbelly with heated tanks. It also has storm windows.

Thanks.

[LadyWindrider]

Hello and welcome. While I don't do much cold weather camping, sounds like you have a model set up for it. The main thing for me, if connected to city water supply, would be to disconnect the outside water line at night, and drain it. May want to have a few gallons in the fresh water tank and the pump on so you can flush the toilet, brush your teeth, and even get through breakfast dishes the next morning, until the temps rise and you can reconnect the city water. Take a small ceramic heater or two, to help reduce furnace load. Make sure you have plenty of propane if you are going to run the furnace. Know how the automatic switching regulator works, and remember to check and see if you have an empty propane bottle. Take plenty of clothes and food, and have fun. With heat in the trailer and heated tanks, I wouldn't worry about anything freezing, especially if temp got above freezing during the day. If you'll be out for 3 or more days, I hope you have electricity as your battery won't last that long. Others please chime in as I know I left some things out. Happy camping and remember the most important part, having good family fun together.

[NWJeeper]

All good advice Windrider.

I hope you will have hookups for electricity Tburt. If temps are to the extremes (hot or cold) we really prefer hookups so we can keep heat or cooling going. In your case if you have 50 amp service then a couple of 1500w electric space heaters will keep your rig warm without using a bunch of your propane. If you only have 30 amps then you might still run two heaters but don't try and microwave anything or you will blow the breakers. If I am paying for electricity I'm gonna use it whenever I can. Our rig has a built in electric fireplace with a 1500w heater in it and I put a small space heater in the back bedroom area and we don't use the furnaces at all. beyond that unhooking your hose at night is going to be mandatory.

I would also suggest lots of blankets, preferably down for the warmth.

Congrats on the new rig and have fun,

Oh yeah, welcome to the forums too.

[tburt]

Thanks for the suggestions. Great idea to bring a couple of space heaters also! We are definitely staying at a site with electricity. But we have not picked one yet. We'll try to find one with 50 amps.

[tburt]

I also read that it is good idea to pour some antifreeze into the holding tanks to keep the drain valves from freezing. Has anyone else used this method or had an issue with the drain valves freezing?

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by tburt

I also read that it is good idea to pour some antifreeze into the holding tanks to keep the drain valves from freezing. Has anyone else used this method or had an issue with the drain valves freezing?

Do you know yet if you will have tank heaters on that rig? Ours has heaters on the tanks and the waste elbows just above the slice valves. Antifreeze should work but as the tanks fill the dilution will only increase so I don't know for how long it will work. If you do have hookups and can get at the elbows and piping just before your slice valves, consider wraping them with heat tape or a stringer of rope lights and plug them in to keep heat in that area.

[tburt]

Our TT does have heated holding tanks. That makes sense about the dilution.