Winterizing question - sort of

[motozen]

We should be taking delivery on our new 27FB next week. Nightime temps might be freezing (at, or possibly below). We are planning on spending a few nights fully hooked up at a park near the dealer just to do a shake down cruise in case of problems/leaks etc. After that we are planning on loading up and heading south for the winter.

The problem is that in order to load up we have to park in front of our house in our subdivision. I would prefer not to have to completely drain and winterize the rig for the two days it will take to load up, but if it means avoiding freeze damage, then I will do it.

My question is: is it feasible to run an extension cord from the house and just run the central heat for the few days it will take to load up and get out of town? Or is it more prudent to just run the red stuff through all the lines?

[dznf0g]

Does the 27FB have heated tanks and a "sealed" underbelly?
If so, then just run the heat with an extension. If it's just going to be in the upper 20s at night and above freezing in the day, fill the tanks about half way and run your furnace. The mass of that volume of water will not freeze at those temps overnight. Run the furnace at 45 or 50 degrees and you'll be fine. Dump when you get on the road and south of the freezing temps.

Just to be safe, open up your cabinets to expose the plumbing to heated interior air.

[FreshAir]

For temporary protection I plug in an oil radiator heater. Open the doors to any closets and cabinets that 'hide' the hdden plumbing like under the galley etc.
Neil

[Kosm1o]

You need to run the furnace to keep water under the floor from freezing. Running an electric heater will keep the furnace from coming on.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by FreshAir

For temporary protection I plug in an oil radiator heater. Open the doors to any closets and cabinets that 'hide' the hdden plumbing like under the galley etc.
Neil

That'll work, but it won't protect the tanks and the dump valves. This is a time when I would use a little propane.
That being said I did a mod on mine where I can run the furnace blower at a low speed with the furnace OFF and use electric heat. This allows me to circulate warm electrically generated heat around my tanks and valves without burning propane.

[motozen]

We should be taking delivery on our new 27FB next week. Nightime temps might be freezing (at, or possibly below). We are planning on spending a few nights fully hooked up at a park near the dealer just to do a shake down in case of problems/leaks etc. After that we are planning on loading up and heading south for the winter.

The problem is that in order to load up we have to park on the street in front of our house in our subdivision. I would prefer not to have to completely drain and winterize the rig for the two days it will take to load up, but if it means avoiding freeze damage, then I will do it.

My question is: Is it feasible to run a 50' extension cord from the house to run the central heat for the few days it will take to load up and get out of town? Or is it more prudent to just run the red stuff through all the lines?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by motozen

We should be taking delivery on our new 27FB next week. Nightime temps might be freezing (at, or possibly below). We are planning on spending a few nights fully hooked up at a park near the dealer just to do a shake down in case of problems/leaks etc. After that we are planning on loading up and heading south for the winter.

The problem is that in order to load up we have to park on the street in front of our house in our subdivision. I would prefer not to have to completely drain and winterize the rig for the two days it will take to load up, but if it means avoiding freeze damage, then I will do it.

My question is: Is it feasible to run a 50' extension cord from the house to run the central heat for the few days it will take to load up and get out of town? Or is it more prudent to just run the red stuff through all the lines?

You can use the extension cord, but keep in mind that the long length prohibits a "large" current drain.

But, it's OK to keep the battery up as well as to run some lights and the furnace.

NO AC.

Andy

[dznf0g]

something happened.....we got a double thread going here.

[Edit: the two threads have been merged.]

[deauxrite]

Originally Posted by motozen

We should be taking delivery on our new 27FB next week. Nightime temps might be freezing (at, or possibly below). We are planning on spending a few nights fully hooked up at a park near the dealer just to do a shake down in case of problems/leaks etc. After that we are planning on loading up and heading south for the winter.

The problem is that in order to load up we have to park on the street in front of our house in our subdivision. I would prefer not to have to completely drain and winterize the rig for the two days it will take to load up, but if it means avoiding freeze damage, then I will do it.

My question is: Is it feasible to run a 50' extension cord from the house to run the central heat for the few days it will take to load up and get out of town? Or is it more prudent to just run the red stuff through all the lines?

Run the cord and keep your electrical usage down to the heater blower and a few lights. As long as you do not blow the breaker at the house, all is good. The propane furnace will do a nice job of keeping it all warm down to at least 22 or 23 degrees.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by motozen

My question is: Is it feasible to run a 50' extension cord from the house to run the central heat for the few days it will take to load up and get out of town? Or is it more prudent to just run the red stuff through all the lines?

First off, congratulations on your new trailer, "neighbor"! Maybe our paths will cross...hope so.

You should be fine, it's not a hard freeze here yet. But DO leave either your central heat or a space heater 'on' AND your cabinets with plumbing lines 'open' so the heat can get in there where the plumbing lines are.

The good news is, even though the lows are hovering around freezing at night, it warms up still during the day...you should be fine, unless the pattern changes dramatically in the next couple of days. Looking at Accuweather, looks like no problems except possibly Tuesday/Wednesday (10/25-26) when it looks like we'll have lows of 24* and a 42* high. I would definately keep the heater going during that spell if you're still in town then.

It's not that it 'gets to freezing' at night, as much as staying there for long enough for ice to form and set in for an extended period like in the dead of winter of a severe cold snap where it doesn't get over freezing all day.

Hope your packing goes well...where you headed?

Shari

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by motozen

We should be taking delivery on our new 27FB next week. Nightime temps might be freezing (at, or possibly below). We are planning on spending a few nights fully hooked up at a park near the dealer just to do a shake down cruise in case of problems/leaks etc. After that we are planning on loading up and heading south for the winter.

The problem is that in order to load up we have to park in front of our house in our subdivision. I would prefer not to have to completely drain and winterize the rig for the two days it will take to load up, but if it means avoiding freeze damage, then I will do it.

My question is: is it feasible to run an extension cord from the house and just run the central heat for the few days it will take to load up and get out of town? Or is it more prudent to just run the red stuff through all the lines?

When our trailer is not winterized and freezing weather is predicted. We do exactly that. We run an extension cord to it and run the furnace with the thermostat set to around 55 degrees. There is a branch of the furnace ducts that is routed so that it blows warm air into the below floor compartment where the holding tanks are located.

If you are sure that the tanks are all empty, then a small electric heater might do the job, but personally I wouldn't do it.

Ken

[motozen]

Thanks for all for the answers. Looks like the consensus is that running the propane heater around 50*F will do it. Problem now is that the factory has delayed delivery on all Internationals due to waiting on parts. The repeated delays and waiting is making us nuts.

[motozen]

Originally Posted by InsideOut

First off, congratulations on your new trailer, "neighbor"! Maybe our paths will cross...hope so.

You should be fine, it's not a hard freeze here yet. But DO leave either your central heat or a space heater 'on' AND your cabinets with plumbing lines 'open' so the heat can get in there where the plumbing lines are.

The good news is, even though the lows are hovering around freezing at night, it warms up still during the day...you should be fine, unless the pattern changes dramatically in the next couple of days. Looking at Accuweather, looks like no problems except possibly Tuesday/Wednesday (10/25-26) when it looks like we'll have lows of 24* and a 42* high. I would definately keep the heater going during that spell if you're still in town then.

It's not that it 'gets to freezing' at night, as much as staying there for long enough for ice to form and set in for an extended period like in the dead of winter of a severe cold snap where it doesn't get over freezing all day.

Hope your packing goes well...where you headed?

Shari

Howdy neighbor...where is Edgewater? Yep, next Tue/Wed looks to be our first good cold snap. Maybe it will warm up after that. We are heading southwest for the winter looking for twisty motorcycle roads and no wind. Once we are over Raton Pass it will be smooth sailing...just hoping to get over that before a storm blows in. Looks like the delay in delivery will push us into another week, so who knows what the weather will be like by then.

[Bill M.]

Airstream rule of thumb:

Propane is cheaper than plumbing!

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

Airstream rule of thumb:

Propane is cheaper than plumbing!

Uh....true dat! And a lot less aggravating.

[Silver Goose]

One thing that is not warmed by the furnace is the plumbing to the outside faucet. On my 27FB, the shutoff valve is accessed though the panel in the closet floor. With that closed, you can open the outside faucet to let what little water is in there drain out. Unless you had several hours below 32, this generally isn't a problem but it is good to know this exists, particularly when winterizing the trailer.

[CanoeStream]

It would probably need to get 10 degrees below freezing before overnight cooling could become a threat. Establish your own relative risk when it is 30° or 25° without the furnace running -- put a thermometer on the floor in your Airstream -- check it first thing in the morning. Should be easy to get in there early enough with the @(*&)%($&*@# daylight savings time keeping it dark until 7:00AM. (I thinking of joining the 'OccupyGreenwich' demonstrations until they give us our nights back... Did I say that? Okay, won't go there.)

Originally Posted by Kosm1o

You need to run the furnace to keep water under the floor from freezing. Running an electric heater will keep the furnace from coming on.

Bingo! Furnace is your best choice. The overhead A/C won't get down to the floor & under the cabinets as well. Heat rises, etc. And does your A/C have a heat strip? Or does it have a heat pump? These are different. There would be some concern about a heat pump needing more than the 15 amps that a 3-pronged house outlet could provide. The potential downside is wear and tear on the compressor. A different discussion... But this would be relatively ineffective in any event and you aren't going to be using much propane. Or so what if you use a 30# tank anyway? ($22-24 around here)

Here's what I would do. Your pipes are secure if you run the furnace -- say on about a 50° setting. This won't use much fuel. The only winterizing necessary for the fresh, gray & black tanks is drain them -- they don't get the pink antifreeze treatment anyway. You're set. Enjoy your norteño winter!

[CanoeStream]

The outside shower was brought up. I don't have a cutoff like YankeeDoodle does. I'd probably just raise the hose & nozzle up high while a companion opened the low point drain. With the pump off, open the hot & cold knobs for the outside shower. Does it gurgle? That's a good thing. I'd think that means water is draining back into the other plumbing.

I would isolate (shut off valves to) the water heater so that it wouldn't drain when you open the low point drain. Have the dealer show you how to do that. Alternatively, just before you head south, run water through all your hot faucets until they stop spitting air -- that's when you know your HW heater is full. Only then is it safe to turn on that first evening out on the road.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by motozen

Howdy neighbor...where is Edgewater? Yep, next Tue/Wed looks to be our first good cold snap. Maybe it will warm up after that. We are heading southwest for the winter looking for twisty motorcycle roads and no wind. Once we are over Raton Pass it will be smooth sailing...just hoping to get over that before a storm blows in. Looks like the delay in delivery will push us into another week, so who knows what the weather will be like by then.

Edgewater is on the northwest side of Denver...by Sloan's Lake.

The good news is if your delivery is delayed a week - you won't have to worry about it as it won't have water in it. This storm is looking like a "good one"...first snow of the season. But, we were out riding our HD up in the Evergreen/Conifer foothills this past weekend and it was gorgeous! Hope you get your trailer soon...sounds like a fun road trip!

Shari