Temproary Freeze Protection

[TX_Arvee]

In Houston we rarely have to deal with freeze protection. But the recent weather is going to dip us below freezing for a couple of days. Is draining the water from the RV adequate to protect from freeze for a couple of days? My RV is in covered storage nestled between a bunch of large coaches.

[RVhiker]

I'm in east Texas, about 150 miles north of Houston, and right now at 7:00 Am it is 14 degrees at my house; the forecast for Houston for tonight (Monday) is 23 degrees and that it will stay below freezing until about 10 AM Tuesday. So I agree that you need to do something. At a minimum, I believe you should dump your waste tanks, drain the fresh tank, drain the water heater and drain your water supply lines. At that point, some blow out the water supply lines and some fill the supply lines with RV antifreeze. I prefer to use RV antifreeze.

[msturtz]

Originally Posted by TX_Arvee

In Houston we rarely have to deal with freeze protection. But the recent weather is going to dip us below freezing for a couple of days. Is draining the water from the RV adequate to protect from freeze for a couple of days? My RV is in covered storage nestled between a bunch of large coaches.

Short answer is: no. Longer answer is you need to either blow out the lines with compressed air or fill them with antifreeze. Oddly enough having full tanks will delay freezing because of the heat sink effect. However when it is that cold it will freeze up. If you can get to it and it isn't frozen up you should put antifreeze in it or blow out the lines ASAP. Depending on the coach you may be able to run the heater to unthaw everything to ensure you don't already have a problem.
Good luck!

[OnTheGo]

After you drain your fresh water tank, run the pump for 15 - 20 seconds to empty it as well (not necessary if using antifreeze).