redhawk cold weather help

[mids911]

Hi all hope everyone is doing well. I live in Ct and will be sleeping in my rv in the drivway for the next month or so as kids and grandkids move back home. How safe is it for me to fill the freshwater holding tank for bathroom and sink use. Will have a few space heaters in unit and the tank heaters will be on? Is this safe if temps drop down to mid 20s overnight? Any advice would be great , thanks and happy trails.

[CAG]

You might be ok into the mid 20s but without underbelly and heating going into the underbelly you have exposed water lines, not to mention the pump if it is at all exposed that will freeze.


Many times the freezing issues starts at low point drains that are exposed and as the water in them freezes it freezes back up the line to the first T point and freezes the line. Water stops at that point, the pump detects a pressure difference and comes on but is not moving water so continues to run. Guess how I know? Insulating anything hanging down will help.



If you can enclose the underside of the rig with ply or something along that line around the exterior of the rig you may avoid a problem. If you do that, a space heater underneath, or even a few lights to help raise the temp a few degrees will help.



Generally, when elk hunting at 8000 feet in December if the days warmed into the 40-50s we were ok even if the nights went to 10F. If it stays below freezing a day or two you are going to have an issue with frozen lines.

[Jagiven]

What temps are you foreseeing the daytime highs to be?

I see you have a Redhawk MH. The FW tank has a lot of thermal mass, and as long as your daytime highs are reaching close to 40 or better. The tank will not have an issue.

My understanding the majority of the FW piping is exposed under your MH. That is not good! The piping does not have much thermal mass, and will freeze fairly quickly, as the temperatures drop. At minimum you will want to apply foam pipe insulation. That may not be enough when down to 20 or so degrees, and lower daytime high. At that point you really need another step. Could be run (fast drip) the water from your various faucets when it is below freezing. Another option could be add heat tape to the pipes, then insulate them. Just note, you do not want to just run the heat tape to be in contact with the plastic pipes and insulated over, or you might over heat them and melt the pex pipes. You can add a cheap cycle timer to turn on the heat tape for 10 or so minutes and off for 50 or so minutes (not sure what the magic number combination is).

I know a number of people who run incandescent lights under their rigs for the radiant heat, to keep things thawed.

It is a lot of work for a month, but it maybe worth it.

A buddy of mine when winter traveling in his MH uses his toilet, but flushes with RV antifreeze or windshield wiper fluid (no freeze).

[mids911]

gonna play it safe and get a skirt and keep a heater underneath .