first full winter - plan to NOT winterize

[Anders79]

This will be our first full winter with our 2010 25FB. Since winters are typically not bad in the Seattle area, and wanted to keep the AS available for any guests; was planning on not winterizing. Have a small portable electric heater i was going to keep on. Also, the dealer i bought it from said it had the winterize package (I believe just installation on the floor?). Curious if many others also do this (without problems).

[AWCHIEF]

What is the winterized package, never heard that one?

[Soyboy]

I'll just say that there is no mystery to winterizing. If the trailer is set up properly, it only takes a few minutes to do it and a few minutes to undo it. I use antifreeze here in Maryland, where it can get pretty cold (0 degrees on some nights). Sometimes I de-winterize and re-winterize once or twice during the winter. Where you live, if you want to be safe, but not put antifreeze in the lines, you could a least blow them out with an air compressor. That only takes a couple of minutes too. You could then just dump some anitfreeze in the sink/bath etc. traps to protect them (Wally World has stacks of RV antifreeze in stock right now). All of this would likely be less expensive than keeping an electric heater going (which may well work too, but not as well as winterzing in many locations).

[HiJoeSilver]

At least drain and blow out the lines and water heater. Still no guarantee. Make sure you blow the toilet too. Antifreeze in the fresh tank and traps. Empty waste tanks as much as possible. Easy for small amount of watt to crack toilet plumbing.
Wouldn't take much to undo or redo.

I lived 2 1/2 years in Bremerton, it definitely gets cold enough there to freeze and damage the trailer. Small heater won't do it if it gets that cold.

[Airstream12557]

Anders79 -- Be aware that the electric heater will only heat the living area. It will not heat the belly (area under the floor) where some of the water lines are located. Your gas furnace supplies warm air to the belly area where some of the water lines, sewer pipes and waste tanks are located.

[KJRitchie]

If it gets too cold that you need to winterize your quests will not want to use the Airstream. Take care of your Airstream properly. Your guests will not help you out on the repairs if something fails.

Kelvin

[dkottum]

If there is a chance of the temperature ever dropping to the mid-twenties overnight, I would winterize it and put up the guests somewhere else.

[HowieE]

It is not worth the effort. Even if you drain the hot water heater, put anti freeze in the toilet and traps, and blow out the lines your pump and the line leaving it will still have water in it.

If you don't blow out the lines the first thing to freeze will be the city connection and the line leaving it. The city connection and regulator is a metal unit and will not tolerate freezing.

Any guests you will have should give you more than enough time to dewinterize before they arrive. If they are coming while the temperature is below freezing they are not going want to stay in an aluminum freezer. There has never been anything designed with less thermal efficiency than an Airstream. Don't risk it.

[Debbstr]

We purchased our 25 ft International in the Fall of 2013. We used it for 3 trips and then winterized (drained all the water, bypassed the hot water heater and filled with an approved antifreeze). In the Spring de-winterized and sanitized the fresh water tank, it was such a pain that we said forget about winterizing at the end of the year. You want to talk about something being a pain! Trying to keep our Airstream from freezing was nerve-wracking as well as expensive. We left her plugged in, turned the hot water heater on on the really cold nights (we live in NC and had more than a few nights that dropped below freezing) and kept the furnace set on the lowest setting (your pipes and tanks are only protected if the furnace is running). Even though it was on the lowest setting and it was not comfortable to be in the trailer at that temp, we still went through propane like crazy. We plan to camp through Nov (for our area the worst of winter is midway through Jan - Feb) and then we will winterize. I hate to put her up because I dream of taking an impromptu trip if the opportunity arises. I'm am encouraged by the previous post that said that it should only take a few minutes to winterize and de-winterize, maybe we are doing something wrong, it takes us way longer than a few minutes for either task.

[eggman]

Prepare your trailer as many cold climate full-timers have done( heat tapes, foam pipe insulation on hoses, etc.)Make a skirt out of foam insulation, attach with foil tape, and that will hold in the furnace heat to keep tanks from freezing when it's consistently below freezing. I use Cheap vodka in tanks instead of antifreeze. safer( for me, I'm not sure about the trailer&#128521 and easier to sanitize if you need to take off! I keep our 2005 25 ccd on driveway in Arkansas for same reasons you mentioned. Also hubby stays in there when MIL comes! don't have a skirt on at this time but would be nice for jan and feb. worked great when I had one in Wisconsin November. only problems have occurred when I failed to insulate sewer hose, and when I shut her down without winterizing. just be prepared to buy lots of propane and keep her in use like a full-timer would, cause that's essentially what you're doing.

[TomKirk]

Since you live in Seattle, then you'll recall the 12 degree freeze we had several years ago. It lasted a full week.

At the very least, you should let your city water actively trickle during cold weather.

In the Pacific Northwest, it's best not to take chances.

Tom

[Pitou49]

Here in Quebec, I do winterise the AS every weekend, November et December. January to March I use my FW mostly twice a month it take me 5 to 10 minutes to winterise plus an other 10 minutes to empty the hot water tank.

[J. Morgan]

I have past two winters heading to number three, haven't winterized yet, but I park indoors....


Brevi tempore!

[JCWDCW]

I had the waterlines freeze on the way back from Texas one year in a dip to 28 degrees for a matter of two or three hours... Toilet valve froze and fortunately no damage, but insulation only slows down the loss of heat. At some point usually 20 -30 hours in sub-32 degree weather, the lines under the floor will freeze and tear out of the belly pan is an expensive way to have to fix the lines.

As other have said; at least blow the lines out with Air. Simple adapter on the water inlet and 40 -50 psi air pressure. I have actually done this with a portable 12 V tire pump by letting the pressure build then releasing it. Proper air compressor works much faster! Put water tank on bypass and blow with drains open first then taps one at a time then the toilet.
Drain the water tank. A bit left in the bottom is no problem. Then if weather is good you can put the trailer back in service for your guests quickly.
JCW

[Wanderer2604]

The only thing I do to winterize is to turn on the furnace and set the thermostat to the lowest setting (40, if I remember correctly) if the overnight forecast is for a low below 30. We open the doors below the sinks for air circulation and turn on the electric water heater element. Our storage has a power hookup.

We live in the Austin area and only have a dozen nights or so below freezing in a normal winter. Lows below 20 are rare. The furnace runs just enough to keep things from freezing.

The small amount of propane used is cheaper than the antifreeze, not to mention the hassle. I haven't used RV antifreeze or air blowout for many years.

If your climate is very cold, you can't get away with it. You have to winterize.

A better idea is to hook up the Airstream and go south!