Winter Help

[TNTBaker]

Haha AA: But it's already been invented... Our camper (and most "camping" rv's with furnaces/ac) has a setting on the thermostat to just turn the "air circulation" on. It's the same fan that moves the furnace air, but without the heat. THEN your electrically heated interior heat is circulated into the belly area as intended to keep things from freezing down there. We don't even winterize our camper because we use it too much. We turn on an electric heater, and leave the fan running. Never had a problem in 6 years. (We do drain the lines, but don't put antifreeze in them and we open all cupboards, etc.) the only time it's a problem is if there is a power outage. Then we go turn the furnace on about 60 degrees until the cold snap passes.

***I WISH RW HAD THIS SETTING!!*** You cannot circulate the air into the belly without turning on the furnace that I am aware of. If anyone has any other ideas, I would love to hear it. For now, we are going to take down one of the basement walls and put an electric heater down there (with all the safety in place of course) and use the furnace if temps dip too low.

[atom ant]

Naw that doesn't work for me. I tried it, and any air blowing anywhere near my wife that isn't heated to 20 degrees above ambient is called a cold friggen draft!

[lwg]

Keep in mind that the vent that's under the stairs is actually for air circulation in the basement. So there is air circulation down there, however there's still the area where the tanks are located that would need the heater ducts to push heat down there.

[atom ant]

On Edit -

What LWG said is correct. The basement area behind the wall is already part of the return air plenum for the furnace, so it's already drawing air from the coach through the vent under the stairs, (and under pantry, etc). The problem is getting heat down into the belly. All that I have is a 2" flex duct right off the furnace that goes down into the belly.

[TNTBaker]

Yes, I think that little bit of ductwork "MIGHT" be enough, but to be sure, we will use additional heat. PLUS I just think it's a good idea to keep things above 50 degrees down there if possible. Circulating the air is always a good plan. We put a circulating fan (and a couple of dessicant-type bags) in the camper to prevent moisture in the nooks and crannies, a big problem. Still air is never good in the cold.

[JerryL]

I always made my own heated water hoses, but this year I am going to try the Pirit heated hose. It just cost me about 25 bucks more that what I ended up always spending, with hopefully a lot less trouble. I will probably still slide some of the "noodle" insulation over it, but that is mainly for protecting the hose from the elements.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by piper guy

Dave - Aqua Hot has a propane version too. Believe it is an option on upper level DRV. I know the Continental Coaches that Andy and I looked at in Indiana at the Rally had AquaHot systems.

The semi-custom Americana 5th wheels we were looking at for 4 years before we purchased our Redwood offered an on-demand (LP fired) hot water system. They claimed that the system was more efficient and used less LP than a regular tank type water heater. You could take really long showers with that system. I have often wondered why Redwood hasn't offered this system as an option.

[JerryL]

Originally Posted by hoosierguy

The semi-custom Americana 5th wheels we were looking at for 4 years before we purchased our Redwood offered an on-demand (LP fired) hot water system. They claimed that the system was more efficient and used less LP than a regular tank type water heater. You could take really long showers with that system. I have often wondered why Redwood hasn't offered this system as an option.

I have a buddy that has an on demand propane water heater, and the first third of his shower is all that's hot. The rest is a cross between cold and warm. I don't remember the brand of his RV.

[johnboytoo]

It's more the brand of the on demand water heater than the brand of the rv

We had one on the early prototypes on our previous rv and the company vice president ended up coming to Fort Worth to replace the electronics with a new revision... from then on it was great !

The wife could fill up one of the holding tanks in two showers

[atom ant]

One of the units we looked at offered it as an option.....Maybe it was Lifestyle, I don't remember.

[RW Cal]

Dear Bull....
where can I get more info on the Carriage RV Line?

[TexasRver]

For temporary storage in the winter between trips, does anyone blow the water out of the lines with 40psi of compressed air hooked up to the city water inlet. And, I presume that the ice maker water should be turned off and the line drained?

[atom ant]

I blow my lines out first as you describe, mainly to get the HW bypass blown out, but then I have to use antifreeze anyway because of the dishwasher and wash machine.

Once I valve off the wash machine hoses at the source (next year project), I will be able to close valves on the dishwasher, ice maker and wash machine off and periodically dewinterize it for the winter uses and then just blow it out instead of cocktail.

[TexasRver]

Atom Ant...I really enjoy your posts. You are very knowledgable and quick to help others. I appreciate it.

It seems like our dealer tech told me, on our pre-delivery walk around that blowing the lines was not an option, but I may be wrong.


How about the ice maker? Does turning the water off in the island and taking the line off (outside accessible) and draining it winterize it?

[atom ant]

I think what the Dealer means is there is no way to blow out the dishwasher or washer if you have them, otherwise I can't see a problem blowing them out and not antifreeze them. (I may eat my words first time I try it ).

If you do blow out the lines, you still have to antifreeze the p-traps in all the sinks, shower, and wash machine by just pouring some antifreeze down the drains.

On the ice maker (assuming you have a Norcold and not the Dometic or residential) - while the compressor is hooked up to the city inlet, unscrew the supply hose from the blue solenoid valve outside in the lower access panel and blow the whole line out. Then unscrew the outlet from the solenoid that goes up to the ice maker and let it drain. Re-install both lines when done (note the wires wrapped around the solenoid and outlet are heat trace - be sure to put that all back)