Frost Tonight

[Vtec]

We were scheduled for a stay tonight and the weather report at the location has a frost warning. From 3AM-8AM the temperature will be below freezing with a low temp projected of about 28 degrees F. Will running the heat give us enough to keep our water lines from freezing our water lines and tanks? My hunch is we will be OK. What are opinions on this? Anyone else caught out in the cold?

[Randy P.]

You'll be fine.

Open the door to the bathroom to allow some warm air to circulate and if you have an outside shower you may want to disconnect the hose.

[Jon in AZ]

I would disconnect the fresh water hose from the campground supply overnight, too.

To be abundantly cautious, open cabinet doors where there's plumbing inside, such as under the galley sink.

[ZachO]

I don't tend to have problems until it gets into the teens.

I have a half-full water bottle sitting in the back of my truck, and it's gotten down to 19 the last two nights. It didn't freeze.

Being cautious is good and in the end I guess it's better to be over-cautious than to have frozen lines, but I think people worry too much about it. I've even had frozen spots before, where I couldn't get water out of the faucet in the morning. When the day warmed up, everything was fine. As long as the entire system doesn't freeze solid, things are fine. Just needs some room to expand.

But...yeah better to be safe than have to replace water lines.

[Terry G]

Once in cold weather (about 20F), the water pump in my Casita froze. It was unharmed and worked fine afterward. If your Casita is like mine, with the pump under a back bench, it might be good to open a hatch back there so that air can circulate. I haven't had any problems since I've been doing that.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Vtec

We were scheduled for a stay tonight and the weather report at the location has a frost warning. From 3AM-8AM the temperature will be below freezing with a low temp projected of about 28 degrees F. Will running the heat give us enough to keep our water lines from freezing our water lines and tanks? My hunch is we will be OK. What are opinions on this? Anyone else caught out in the cold?

I'll ask you a couple questions to help you understand and answer your own question. First Have you ever make Ice cubes in the freezer? If so how long did it take for them to freeze. Typical home freezer is around 0°F.
Is any of your plumbing exposed to the sky? If not they wont get that cold.
How cold does the inside of your trailer get at night? Typically the inside of a tent or trailer will be about 10° warmer than outside without running the furnace.

I've had my Scamp in 5° two days and in the teens for another 2. For a 5 days it never got above freezing. The only problem was I ran out of battery and had to use my extra battery for while.
Now for the short answer. Not to worry.




ADDENDUM... One place I stayed it was quite cold down into the single digits. We had connected a hose to the trailer and that froze. after two days.

[Bruce H]

If 28 degrees is the low for a couple of hours you will have no damage. If 18 degrees is the low you could have some. How accurate is the prediction? Take the precautions that others have suggested. Also for your own information place a water container or two outside and see how much freezing occurs if it gets down to 28 or whatever temp. If it is really going to get cold don't forget about your hot water heater. You might want to leave it on all night.

[Vtec]

Thanks for all the great advice, we had no problem with freezing. Besides that, I was very surprised at how nice and toasty the furnace and AC heat strip kept the Casita. We had electricity site so used the heat strip during the day/evening and gas furnace through the night for a little less noise. Leaving the bathroom door open was a good suggestion too. For two cold and drizzly days our Casita was a great hotel to come back to.