Using a coach in cold weather

[Rick FLA]

Got a question for you experanced types ?
Thinking about taking a trip in my Coach from FLA to Texas for the Holidays
(Houston TX) and I wounder if I am in the coach using heater system if I need to be concerned about fresh water and holding tanks freezing if it drops below 32.
I will be traveling in a 2013 Winnebago 36M which has 2 on board propane heaters and 2 roof heat pumps. I don't think it will be too cold but if I get out there and a front comes through would I need to winterize the system.
Any one have experance in this area? BTW I do not thank my coach has any special heating systems for the Bays.

Rick From FLA

[Sky_Boss]

A few thoughts.

1. Unless you have heat strips...your heat pumps will work well down to about 40*. After that they aren't as effective but can work down to as low as 32* depending on your system. Some systems will automatically turn the pumps off and furnace on once the heat pumps detect ambient temps below freezing or so.

2. The floor furnace will provide heat to the basement and water bay. Unless temps get well below freezing, say 28* or less, that should provide enough heat to keep plumbing in the water bay from freezing. Additionally, If your MH has some kind of additional heat air flow into the water bay you are good to go down to temps you should NEVER see in Houston. My coach has a fan that forces portions of my furnace output directly into the water bay. During a recent night time when temps got down to 9* my remote temp sensor in the water bay never got below 40*. That was with my coach thermostat set at 60*. Alternatively, a 60W light bulb in the water bay should so just fine.

3. You big storage tanks will not freeze easily. It takes a lot of time and very low temps to cause that and residual heat from your coach will make that nearly impossible to happen except under extreme conditions. If you have heat pads for your tank...no problem at all.

4. If it does get below freezing for a long time or well below freezing for few hours consider either closing your dump valves or make sure you don't have any dips in your sewer hose that would collect water then freeze. Also, disconnect water hoses and drain.

I know it can get cold in Houston but it shouldn't be a sustained cold. A couple hours of near freezing temps will not be a problem. Have fun!

[bruceh]

Most modern coaches have some way to heat the tanks. Mine has a grill that allows heat from the inside to reach the bays.

[poppopc]

AC's with heat pumps will not work well below somewhere around
40*. Gas furnaces take a lot of LP. But this is all part of it.
Good luck.

[rsflight]

To confirm you're above freezing by monitor the temps, obtain a wireless thermometer with the option for several remote sensors and place them in the critical areas. Walmart is one source for the thermometers. The extra remote sensors will be an option to order directly from the manufacturer.

That kind of monitoring has worked well for us over the years.

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by rsflight

To confirm you're above freezing by monitor the temps, obtain a wireless thermometer with the option for several remote sensors and place them in the critical areas. Walmart is one source for the thermometers. The extra remote sensors will be an option to order directly from the manufacturer.

That kind of monitoring has worked well for us over the years.

We use La Crosse Alerts by La Crosse Technology which lets us monitor from any internet connection and web browser and also send alerts to my phone and Ipad.

Not only do we have this to monitor freezing temps but also in the summer if it get too hot. We have 2 GSDs that may be in our home and if the AC quits in the summer it could be a tragedy.

[87Rockwood]

We use the RV antifreeze in our tanks-not full strength but like a gallon a day into the gray water and every time we flush we use the antifreeze in the black water tank. Our tanks are not protected from weather here in New Hampshire.

[rream]

I have the same model MH but a 2012, I have spent 2 winters in cold temps and have never had a problem with the tanks, as you know the electric heat will not work past the mid 30's but then the propane cuts on automatically if it drops 5 degrees lower then the set electric temp.

I have never had anything freeze up other then the hose outside

[Ray,IN]

Traveling from FL to TX, freezing should never be an issue. My personal rule-of-thumb is, if highs reach the 50's and lows stay above 27 enough residual daytime heat will prevent anything from freezing in the RV; that is for an unheated, stored RV.

[TXiceman]

Florida to Houston for the Christmas holidays should not present any issues with freezing. There maybe a slight freeze after the first week in December. But many times we would wind up running the A/C unit at Christmas.

Ken

[GG1]

Just keep your gas furnace running temps in the 20's should be no problem. The coach is designed to heat the basement with the lp. If temps go below freezing at night disconnect the water line and sewer hose make sure the hose outlets are sealed use your on board water system.

[DancinCampers]

Your water bay should be heated from the vent under your shower. The water water compartment should be heated from a hole cut in the lp furnace duct, and the fresh water tank has a small hose from the lp furnace duct which feeds down to near the bottom of the tank.

The lp furnace duct runs thru the big bay and provides heat there.

If you are expecting temps to drop below 40, and high humidity, I recommend going to gas heat before you turn in for the night. If the heat pumps stop due to the cold and switch to gas heat, the roof unit fan will continue to run. So you end up heating with the lp furnace and cooling with the roof units at the same time.

[vtwinwilly]

Florida to Houston...

You should have no problem.

I live just north of Dallas and I never do anything special as long as my travels don't take me any farther north.

The really cold weather (for Houston) typically doesn't hit until January. As others have said, some days you may have to run the AC.

Even if it does get below freezing it won't stay there long. Just run your furnace to where you're comfortable and your coach will be fine.

[Mike Thomas]

I am not sure how my coach would compare to yours, but it should be similar. The best test I had, was one winter day we took our coach north of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Parked in a church parking lot, no electricity, just the batteries and propane in the coach. Both furnaces working, but not running constantly, just intermittently as you would expect. Parked the rig at a Walmart Parking lot about 6:00pm and woke up the next morning about 7:00 am. It was minus 15 degrees. Generator started right up. Coach was nice and toasty warm. No water lines frozen. The chassis engine, (Cummins) fired right off. I've never worried about taking that thing out in cold weather after that.....

[NeilV]

If you are living in it and do not leave the sewer bay door open then that shjould be no problem. I have been to the White Mountains and Southern Maine when the temps up in the mountains ran in the single digits at night with bone chilling winds and never had a problem in my 35Us basement with the propane heat running.

[AFChap]

No worries ...enjoy the trip. We are in E TX a couple hundred miles N of Houston. Our first "over the holidays" trip with our Winnebago included a week in NM at apx 10k feet ...temp never got warmer than 5 below zero all week!! We burned a lot of LP, and froze bare feet on tile floors, but had no problems with the coach. We did use remote thermometer sensors in the basement water bay and water pump compartments just to keep an eye on things.

[Lincolnboy2]

Originally Posted by rsflight

To confirm you're above freezing by monitor the temps, obtain a wireless thermometer with the option for several remote sensors and place them in the critical areas. Walmart is one source for the thermometers. The extra remote sensors will be an option to order directly from the manufacturer.

That kind of monitoring has worked well for us over the years.

x2

This is what I ordered....

Amazon.com - Ambient Weather WS-08-X3 Wireless Indoor/Outdoor 8-Channel Thermo-Hygrometer with Daily Min/Max Display with Three Remote Sensors

I like this particular unit because it scrolls over the three sensors every 5 seconds....

[Rick FLA]

Thanks to all who responded . I put in a call to the Winnebago folks and was told that 3 heat ducts run along the floor of my model coach and if I was running the propane heat I would have no Problem with the tanks and internal water lines.

Rick From FLA

[jerichorick]

We are east of Dallas at the moment. The new type refrigerant in our heat pumps works just fine down to about 35 degs or lower. At the time of this writing it is 36 degs by my digital remote thermometer. The heat pump is still keeping us warm.

A suggestion was made on this forum to leave the basement lights on in freezing weather. We run the LP furnaces if it gets to freezing or below. They are equipped with vents going to the areas that might freeze.

Don't be concerned about freeze ups inside the coach if you are living in it and using the heaters correctly. Your water hose is your only concern. We let one of the cold water faucets drip through the night and day if need be. The small amount of water flow is enough to keep the hose from freezing. If the temps drop really low we are in the wrong part of the country!

Happy travels to Houston.
Rick

[bachler]

We have an Ultimate. Used it for snowmobiling. The coldest weather we were ever in was 37 below Zero. We never had any problem. Our buddy had a holliday rambler He was allways freezing up. Come to find out The Cheepskate Would set his thermastat down or off through the night. We all ways kept ours at 68 Degrees. No freezing problems.. You will have no problems. If you think you might. Put a heatcube that turns on a 60 watt light bulb. They are set for 32 Degrees. Then you can run your genset when you are not pluged.. I have seen 14 year old coaches with less then 100 hours on the gen.. They need to sell it for scrap. and not carry that extra 1500/2000 lbs around .. Life is good.