Snow coming!

[Steven Spears]

Got a strange question. We live in our 5th wheel full time. Next week we will be leaving it for a few days to house and dog sit for our daughter. We are expecting possibly 7 to 10 inches of snow. Is it OK to put our slides in and still leave the furnace on. Don't want the snow piling up on the slide toppers. We will only be 4 miles down the road and can check on it often. We have a heated water hose so I'm not to worried about that freezing. Temps are forecasted to be lows in the teens or 20's with highs only in the 30's for 4 or 5 days?

[AudiDudi]

Do the slides cover furnace vents when in?

I don't see any reason to leave the water connected. With the slides in, you will be heating less space and using less propane, although if power was available. I'd likely use electric space heaters. I would also make sure the propane tanks are full.

[kenandterry]

I agree.

Slides in to protect toppers and heat less square footage.

Electric heaters instead of propane.....you don’t need the same interior temperature as if you were staying.

Leave the hose connected if you want, but absolutely turn off the water tap. If a pipe were to burst.....water would flow until the tap gets turned off.

[Reverse_snowbird]

I'd worry about temps going down to the teens at night. You're not going to be there to run the water as usual so the pipes have a greater chance of freezing. I'd turn off the water, disconnect the hose and blow out the lines with compressed air. It's the pipes in the wall that you have to worry about. Put rv antifreeze in the plumbing traps, grey and black water tanks.

If the temperature is going above freezing during the day, the snow should melt off your roof.

[mac1_131]

My slides cover up the floor ducts so this would not be an option for me...

[TitanMike]

I can only speak for my slide topper but if it gets snow on it it just sags until it hits the slide roof. If I have to retract the snow is carried over the roller just as if it was a 12' wide conveyor belt.

If mine is in it covers the furnace T-Stat so I just leave it out. Might consider bringing it in a couple times as snow started to accumulate just to lessen the total buildup.

[brusso]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I can only speak for my slide topper but if it gets snow on it it just sags until it hits the slide roof. If I have to retract the snow is carried over the roller just as if it was a 12' wide conveyor belt.

If mine is in it covers the furnace T-Stat so I just leave it out. Might consider bringing it in a couple times as snow started to accumulate just to lessen the total buildup.

Had my toppers out and got a very heavy rain the night before we where leaving. It was weighed down on the top of slide. It ended up bending the mounting brackets and the edge of slide out. We live full time in our champagne, the first 3 winters I used the pink foam board insulation and 2 x4 s to support the toppers in the winter. Now I am under roof. I would not turn off the furnace, that is how the under belly is heated, just set tstat lower.