I bought our new Rockwood TT last September and will "de-winterize" it next week. In St. Louis we are mostly out of the overnight freezing temps, but we occasionally get an overnight reading below 32°F. What do you do when the forecast is for slightly below freezing temps and your TT is sitting with 350 others at an outdoor storage facility?
I have tank heaters, but will they do a better job than just turning on the propane and turn the heater on with the thermostats low? Or do I just turn on the propane water heater and hope for the best? Or maybe do all three? The undercarriage is enclosed, so there ought to be a way to keep the pipes and such from freezing for one lousy night without winterizing it all over again.
If the temperature is well above freezing during the day, there may be enough residual heat to keep the water systems from freezing. I do "blow the lines" if it is going to be below freezing for the daily high.
Our Keystone Cougar has an enclosed undercarriage WITH furnace ducts that pump warm air into that enclosed area. I just turn the furnace on at 50 degrees if I expect overnight temps to drop slightly below 32. No problems so far.
Water takes time to freeze, if it is only below 32 for 2 or 3 hours, and in the 50's during the day, I would just dump the freshwater, open the low point drains, and run the pump dry. If you are really worried b low out the lines with compressed air. The tanks will take many hours to freeze solid, slush won't hurt anything. You won't get more then a few days on the heater before the batteries are dead.
Thank you all so very much! Based on what you all wrote, I think I'll be fine leaving it alone for the occasional one night dip into the mid to upper '20's overnight as long as it gets at least into the '50's during the day. It seems that if there will be a cold snap lasting several days with lows in the '20's and highs only in the '30's or '40's the safe bet is to turn on the propane-fired heater at around 50°, which in my case has several vents in the floor. If the battery dies I can always take it home and charge it or let my truck and/or the next campsite's electric charge it.
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