Storing With The Electricity And Furnace On

[Per3110]

I will be using our coach multiple times during the winter, going to warm places. We live in Atlanta and currently have a couple of cold days (lowest 20 degrees at night), but normally never get freezing more than a few days or during the night. Is it OK to leave the coach like this with the holding tanks empty and no external water. I have turned the electric water heater and heater in holding tank compartment on.

What temperature would you set the thermostat for? How low can I go?

Do anyone have experience with the consumption of LP Gas at lower temperatures?

[woodlodge]

I live in Ohio and before I winterized my coach this winter I experienced a couple of weeks of mid 20 degree weather overnight and daytime weather in the 40s. I left the water heater on electric (since I was at home I had shore power) and set the furnace at 50 degrees and didn't have any problems.

My holding tanks were drained. Most people I talked to said that if the weather didn't get below mid 20's and stay there for more then a couple of days I would be OK. Since I'm a newbie I can't tell you how long it would take to cause problems in low temps. I can tell you I went through several days of overnight temps of low 20's and day temps in the low 40's and didn't have any problems using the furnace and water heater.

[susan.charles@windstream.net]

I live in middle Georgia[byron]. We had a very harsh winter last year and it is headed that way this year. It has been in the low 20s the last couple nights and is suppose to be 15 Monday night. I like to use our motorhome during the winter also. I drain all the water out of the pipes I can including draining the water heater. I have a small oscillating electric heater I bought at Camping World. I run it and place the furnace on 50. I also open all cabinet doors that have water pipes in them. I also pour in enough antifreeze to fill the traps. I go in it a couple times a day and never find the furnace running. I also put a 100 watt bulb in the compartment where the water hookups are. As you can tell I'd rather be safe than sorry. ccmsm

[kingfr]

I am in Birmingham, Al right now. I suspect that the temps here are about the same as where you are. Low 20s at night, 35 -40 during the day. I am going through 3 - 3 1/2 gallons of LP a day. We do live in the coach so our consumption will be higher than one in storage. Still, I would guess that you would burn 1 - 2 gallons a day in this sort of weather which would deplete a 20 -30 gallon tank fairly quickly.

[tbutler]

I live in middle Georgia[byron]. We had a very harsh winter last year and it is headed that way this year. It has been in the low 20s the last couple nights and is suppose to be 15 Monday night. I like to use our motorhome during the winter also...

These are some great suggestions. Coaches differ so much that you really can't compare one to another, especially in the insulation - though none of them hold heat that well. I would suggest that if you want to know how much your coach will require, do all that ccmsm suggests but set the thermostat at a little more conservative 55 degrees.

Keep a record of the heating degree days (difference between house winter temperature at 68 degrees and the outside temperature through the day) available from the US weather service - weather radio has this info regularly. A heating degree day is figured as the difference between the average temperature for the day subtracted from the recommended 68 degree house temperature. If the average temperature on a day is 42 degrees, the number of heating degree days would be 26. We have weather radio on the CB as well as one we take with us. Adjust the figures by subtracting 13 for the difference between 68 and 55. In the example above, subtract 13 from 26 heating degree days for an adjusted 13 heating degree days. Then monitor the propane and when you need a refill find out how many adjusted degree days there have been. Then you have a definite number to work with. Of course a sunny day will be better than a cloudy day for warming the coach and degree days don't factor that in. Still, you could get a good idea of how your coach performs in cold weather.

[garykd]

Hi Per3110,

Based on the conditions in your OP, consider:

1. Set the t'Stat really low, maybe 40 degrees if it goes that low.

2. Open all the cabinet doors to let the air circulate.

3. Place a saucer of water (just 1/2" or so) near the water lines and in the utility bay in the basement.

Check the saucers when you are uncomfortable with the temp. Water in the saucers should freeze before water in the plastic pipes. If the saucer water is still liquid, just leave everything as it is. This should minimize propane usage and provide reassurance that everything is okay.

One could also purchase a stay and play. Then one could hook up an external propane tank. These are much easier to re fill than the tank in the coach. Go to http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...le-deluxe/30340 and see a sample of this connection.

[Per3110]

Thanks for all your responses. I have kept the thermostat at 65 degrees in the coach for now, the utility compartment have a heater and it is currently on when the temperature dropped to 15 degrees this morning. Even with all the Christmas shopping preparation is it still fun to sit in our new motorhome in the drive way :-).

I bought 2 of these Target Remote thermometer and have one in the utility bay and one inside the coach. the reach is long enough to have one station inside the house at my computer desk and another outside in the coach. I can move the remote units around to test different temperatures. The utility bay is this morning at 66 degrees with the heater engaged.

My measurements so far is that I went through 22 gallons of LP gas in 12 days with thermostat at 68 degrees. With an average outside temperature of around 40 degrees.

My biggest concern is the waterline for the ice maker (outside of the refrigerator, behind the access panel) and the rear of the washer/dryer since the circulation in the enclosed closet is low and could drop the temperature. But I will use my remote thermometer to test these places too. I really like the idea with the small water containers different places it would give an early warning since the hoses are pressurized and freeze at lower temperatures.

I got another small problem with the slide outs. I was trying to pull them in (reduce space to be heated and surface area), but the awning on top is now covered with 1/2 inch of ice. I guess I need to wait for a warm day to melt the ice or knock it off from the roof :-).

The good part about Atlanta is it will be 53 degrees Thursday so everything should be back to normal. Up north this temperature would be expected next time in April.

If you want to can you follow our Driveway here. I'm pretty sure my neighbors really love me for parking the Motorhome (and all the other cars) in front of the house. But it is only temporary when it is this cold.

[Per3110]

Just refilled with LP Gas. 24.5 Gallon in 6 days and 22 hours. It is getting costly not to winterize the coach.

I have dropped the temperature to 50 degrees, the measurements of the temperature different places is giving a max drop of 6 degrees compared to the setting on the thermostat. I should be good to go with a setting of 40-45 degrees too.