South Texas area and, " winter ".

[JJTX]

I know there are several in here that live in the South Texas area. I'm a new 19 owner and will be using our rig over the winter here in the local state parks between Houston and Lakey TX. I will probably not go north of Bastrop SP.

We don't get very many days below 32f. It might happen several times during DEC JAN FEB but in the overnight hours for a few hours. Rarely 20s or lower. And we dont hit freezing much in general.

My plan was to keep the propane full and of drain the grey/black after use and drain the water tank as well when its parked. I figure the propane was cheap enough for this.

But instead of 'winterizing', My idea is to use the furnace overnight for the 3-4 hours it may be down near 32'f And set the temp to 55-60f inside and let the heater take care of it.

Is anyone else down in this area doing the same thing and if so how it has worked for you.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Key gotcha's:

1) The hose to your water supply. It can freeze pretty fast. The same is true of bits and pieces that hang below the trailer if the wind is blowing in the right direction.

2) Condensation all over the place. The windows and the walls will accumulate water like crazy at near freezing temperatures. Wiping them down daily will be part of your routine.

3) If you are depending on propane, plan on using a lot of it. A tank or more a week is not unusual.

4) If you are trying to run on batteries, they drop capacity a lot at colder temperatures. The charging voltages go up in the cold. Unless you have a very fancy charger ( = one with a temperature probe) they will not charge fully (even to the lower capacity number) when cold.

5) If the weather gets to sub-freezing, parks tend to shut off water and possibly dump facilities. Often this is on a calendar schedule rather than by watching the thermometer. Research is definitely called for ....

Lots of fun !!!

Bob

[JJTX]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Key gotcha's:

1) The hose to your water supply. It can freeze pretty fast. The same is true of bits and pieces that hang below the trailer if the wind is blowing in the right direction.

2) Condensation all over the place. The windows and the walls will accumulate water like crazy at near freezing temperatures. Wiping them down daily will be part of your routine.

3) If you are depending on propane, plan on using a lot of it. A tank or more a week is not unusual.

4) If you are trying to run on batteries, they drop capacity a lot at colder temperatures. The charging voltages go up in the cold. Unless you have a very fancy charger ( = one with a temperature probe) they will not charge fully (even to the lower capacity number) when cold.

5) If the weather gets to sub-freezing, parks tend to shut off water and possibly dump facilities. Often this is on a calendar schedule rather than by watching the thermometer. Research is definitely called for ....

Lots of fun !!!

Bob

The good part down here is we only had two or three days last year when it was cold enough to freeze water in a puddle and I would run the heater maybe overnight here and there.

[InterBlog]

Inland Austin can actually hard-freeze far more enthusiastically than the Texas coast (I lived in Austin for three years). If you use any winterizing Plan B, be careful. A sneak cold front can really mess up your life.

Here in Houston, I've only winterized one time in 4 winters, and it turns out that it wasn't needed. If you store your rig inside a garage facility as we do, it almost eliminates the need. In cold weather, the massive warehouse building in which we rent a unit remains about 10 degrees above ambient just due to its size and thermal inertia. So we can hit 22 degrees here (which we do, but rarely) and we are still safe.

[JCWDCW]

I Ran into 26-28 degree weather in the Florida Panhandle living in the trailer. The Park shut off the water at night. As noted disconnect water hose. I leave doors open on all lower cupboards

I run an electric heater just for the bedroom. But that doesn't heat the underbelly where most of the water sits. Drain and pump till air comes out of the taps if it will be seriously cold for more than a few hours. A bit of water in the pipes is not a problem as long as there is room for it to expand. Air in the system allows for this.



Your best bet for storage might be to just drain all the tanks and blow out the water system with a small air compressor
JCW

[moosetags]

We are in the Florida Panhandle. We usually get about a half dozen nights when the temperature here dips below freezing. We leave our Aistream plugged in and set the heat pump at 60 degrees. This has worked for us for the past 13 years. We have never winterized our Airstream.

Brian

[Howard L.]

Originally Posted by JJTX

I know there are several in here that live in the South Texas area. I'm a new 19 owner and will be using our rig over the winter here in the local state parks between Houston and Lakey TX. I will probably not go north of Bastrop SP.

We don't get very many days below 32f. It might happen several times during DEC JAN FEB but in the overnight hours for a few hours. Rarely 20s or lower. And we dont hit freezing much in general.

My plan was to keep the propane full and of drain the grey/black after use and drain the water tank as well when its parked. I figure the propane was cheap enough for this.

But instead of 'winterizing', My idea is to use the furnace overnight for the 3-4 hours it may be down near 32'f And set the temp to 55-60f inside and let the heater take care of it.

Is anyone else down in this area doing the same thing and if so how it has worked for you.

You are good. I’m in San Antonio and do exactly the same thing. I set the thermostat at 40 though. 40 is plenty good and with our trailers enclosed underneath nothing gets down to freezing. I did this a few years back when we got down to the TEENS at night for a week. All came out well.
Do follow the other advice here, don’t leave water lines hooked up, etc.

[SafariSarah]

When we lived in Arkansas, which definitely got below freezing in the winter part of the time (usually 20s but occasionally 0s), we used your method of "winterizing." We drained the tanks and unhooked from everything but electric, set the thermostat to 45 F, opened the cabinet doors, and kept the propane tanks supplied. Nothing froze, and no more condensation than would occur in an unheated trailer that sits out and warms up in the daytime sun then cools at night (Arkansas is also humid). We did this for several years.

[gypsydad]

I also winter in SW Austin...I drain the water from the tanks; I did not blow out the lines and few years ago, the toilet inlet and shower valve froze, even though I was using an electric heater. I replaced on my 25' AS, but it was a pain....fast forward. I ran my propane last year while plugged into my shed power but left my water/gray water/black water tanks. As you may recall it was pretty cold for spell...I filled my propane tanks a couple of times during the cold weeks driving to Dripping Springs to get propane, but everything worked out. We also camp during winter months, so did not blow out my lines. I keep the thermostat at 40 and on FURN selection, I disconnect my batteries with the disconnect switch, and leave plugged in...my new multi-stage converter works fine for any needs while batteries are disconnected. Some folks will remove the batteries when not in use in cold weather...I may do that this year with my new Torjan 6Vs...not sure yet.

[Tomfeury]

Uncle Bob
First - Thanks for all the wisdom you have imparted to this new 2017 27fb owner. I see you live in Carlisle PA and would like your thoughts on this. I have my rig parked at Penn State for the football season, and was planning on keeping it there until the November 10 Wisconsin game. Now that I read this thread, perhaps I should winterize it out there some time in October? I am plugged in, so can keep the heat on, but am now a bit nervous.

[eggman]

I still live in Arkansas and stay plugged in on the driveway. I do what Sarah safari does and it’s been fine for 13years. But one year something in my kitchen faucet must have frozen up as it developed a leak fro the valve/stem and had to be replaced. I occasionally pour a bottle of cheap vodka in drains and tank( I’m chemically sensitive and won’t use antifreeze) if we have a period of prolonged really cold weather.

[Wanderer2604]

I live near Austin in Hutto. I have not winterized in many years. I do not drain anything. When the forecast is for temps to drop below about 30, I turn on the furnace and set the thermostat at the lowest setting, which is 40 degrees. I also open the cabinets. When the furnace runs, it heats the tanks.



When the temperature drops even as low as 20, the furnace only has to make up the difference up to 40 degrees. The same as keeping the inside a toasty 70 in 50 degree weather. That doesn't burn much propane and we don't have that many freezing nights.


I have never had anything freeze.


This will only work if you have power to keep the batteries charged. I check things every few days in freezing weather to make sure no breakers have blown, etc. I turn off the furnace if the low is only in the 30s.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Tomfeury

Uncle Bob
First - Thanks for all the wisdom you have imparted to this new 2017 27fb owner. I see you live in Carlisle PA and would like your thoughts on this. I have my rig parked at Penn State for the football season, and was planning on keeping it there until the November 10 Wisconsin game. Now that I read this thread, perhaps I should winterize it out there some time in October? I am plugged in, so can keep the heat on, but am now a bit nervous.

Hi

If it is heated it should be ok. Parked outside with no heat ..... maybe ok ...maybe not.

We keep camping in November and store indoors. We do head south rather than north in November. It gets wet in the trailer with two of us and three large dogs. We still like it.

Bob

[3wd67rg]

We are living in our Airstream in Boerne, Texas until Mid January 2019. We’ve never stayed past Mid November before. Should we expect a problem?, I don’t remember temperatures lower than 40, maybe 35. Boerne is approximately 30 miles north northwest of San Antonio.

[suncoasteng]

As long as you have electric, you are good. Buy a oil filled radiator for interior heat and check RV accessory sites for heat tape to wrap the water hose that connects you to the hose bibb, or just disconnect and drain that water hose and live off the internal pump for a few days. Keep the propane heater as backup in the event of ice storm that results in a power outage. LP heaters are real fuel hogs

[PCroppo]

Nobody here from South Padre, Brownsville or Corpus Christi??? We were thinking of some winter time next year in that area.

[pwlldvd]

I’m not from the coast, but I think it would be a very rare cold snap to require winterizing, even in Corpus, much less S Padre.

I live in Austin. Last year we had a long stretch of record cold. I turned the heater on in the Class B van, and had no problems. Anywhere on the coast will be much warmer.

[bhooves]

We winter in Laguna Vista, Texas about 10 miles due east of South Padre Island. We have cold snaps, play golf anyway and most days wear shorts to play golf.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Right on the ocean coast (almost any coast ... errr ... not Antartica or Maine ... ) you will be hard pressed to get multiple days below freezing.

Bob

[Lily&Me]

We have been in the Brownsville area during an ice storm, with lows at night in the teens, so it does happen.

If you are occupying or not, watch the weather and take the usual precautions.

Maggie