Anyone added heaters to exposed tanks?

[LittleBill]

I have a 2006 Jayco 26BHS that I boondock with the week before and sometimes the week after Thanksgiving in southern Illinois. Basically I have used it without water in the fresh water tank since I have used it during this time of year, except for this year when I filled the fresh water tank and used the bathroom as intended as it was above freezing the week before.

Got me to thinking , has anyone tried to add heaters (or other) to their exposed tanks or maybe enclosed them so when the temps start to hover around freezing, I could still take fresh water with me. It has not been a big pain not to have it, but it was sure nice to use the onboard bathroom this year .

Any ideas appreciated. Thanks and stay safe.

[CAG]

There are some threads here about adding "underbelly" for those units that do not come with them. Keeping it warm there is more than that though. In addition you can add tank heaters if you do not have them but your tanks are the least of your worries if it goes below freezing. Exposed lines, or even lines covered will freeze as will your water pump. You need heat going to the underbelly and even at that I used heating units in the basement areas of the toy hauler when we elk hunted in temps to 10F.



Try the "search" in the gold bar at the top of the page and use variations of cold weather camping etc. You will find suggestions.

[sbarlag]

I'm guessing this will NOT be permanently parked? You'll be moving it? Skirting the unit will be of tremendous help,,,block that wind from blowing under the unit.

[Jagiven]

Most people think they are useless. If you have an exposed underbelly, they are easy to add. Most common are 12V DC, I have seen 120 V AC, and a hybrid AC/DC version.

Falling off is a common issue with OEM pads, so make sure they are secure. Glue is an insulator, which prevents heat transfer. But you have to have good pad contact with the tank to work well. So consider how to make sure they stay attached, and get good heat transfer.

The 12 V DC pads can drain a battery really quickly. If I was going to add them, I would go with the 120 V AC pads. Then you can just plug them into the 20 amp outlet at the shore power post.

Recommend doing a search on Amazon or google. I did quick search on amazon and found lots 12 V options.

Million dollar question. How cold do you expect it to get? We camp with the over night lows in low 20's, with day time highs usually better than 40 degrees. We have not had any issues. We have an open underbelly, no heat pads, no issues.