Freeze tonight!

[minty]

I plan to leave North Texas soon but it looks like I won't quite be out on time to miss a freeze or two. :P So, I guess I'm going to have come up with a way to keep my skoolie's pipes from freezing before tonight!

The piping I have is mostly in the back, but there is one section that runs from the back to the front for a sink. I'm actually parked in a relative's driveway and staying in the house, and will be leaving in the bus for warmer parts in a week or so. Here are some ideas I'm considering for sort of temporarily winterizing the bus today:

-Pipe Heat Cable ( https://www.lowes.com/pd/EasyHeat-30...-Cable/1065647 )

-Styrofoam panels as makeshift skirting

-Pipe Insulation

Anyone have some better ideas that I haven't thought of? It's going to get down to 26F tonight, so any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Since I'm staying in the house, I thought about trying to drain all the water out of the pipes, but not fully winterizing. Dunno. Also, I guess I need to insulate my gray, black and fresh water tanks so they don't freeze, too! :P

[Tango]

Roger the prep. I'm in Houston and they just issued a "freeze warning" here! Stay warm folks.

[Tootalltechie]

Up here in Canada to "winterize" an RV the water is removed from traps and tanks and replaced with RV antifreeze not the green stuff. But this is a long term storage solution. Good luck
Gordon

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[turf]

drain the pipes and blow em out. if you're going away..... its only getting colder. protect your p traps with rv antifreeze

no water = no problems

[minty]

Originally Posted by turf

drain the pipes and blow em out. if you're going away..... its only getting colder. protect your p traps with rv antifreeze

no water = no problems

I like that idea, thanks. Maybe I'll just get rid of all the water in the pipes/tanks and put RV antifreeze in the drain traps. That would also be cheaper than the ideas in the OP! Maybe this for a plan:

1. Drain the fresh water tank
2. Dump the tanks
3. Blow out the water supply lines
4. Put RV antifreeze in the drain traps

What about the propane hot water heater? Hmm, it's metal, so maybe it's okay.

[2kool4skool]

2 winters back I left some water in the pump and it froze, ruining the pump. Got a new one and with quick connectors it's out of the bus and in my laundry room cupboard in the house.

[Tootalltechie]

Hot water heater should be blown out too.

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[slaughridge85]

Its been freezing here for the last week or so... It's a balmy 21 degrees right now. I went the heated hose route, but I'm living full time in my bus so theres always a fire in the wood stove to keep the interior warmer than freezing...

I took a 10 foot length of hose and wrapped it in aluminum foil, I then wrapped that with a 12 foot length of "Heat Tape". The whole thing is covered in 1" rubber pipe insulation, and duct tape. I've covered both the spigot and my water inlet on the bus with those foam faucet winterization cap thingies.

So far its working great. It was 11 degrees last night and my hose didn't freeze. Supposed to be 4 tonight so we shall see if the heat tape can keep up...

[minty]

Originally Posted by Tootalltechie

Hot water heater should be blown out too.

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I appreciate everyone's replies!

I can't seem to get the hot water heater blown completely out. There seems to be a little left in the bottom of it and there is no drain plug on it. Kind of scared about that.

[Tootalltechie]

Flush the hot water heater with RV antifreeze if you can not get all the water out.

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Remember to flush the hole water system after the thaw / spring. RV antifreeze is biodegradable but may harm you and animals.

[AlleyCat67]

If it's a multi-gallon water heater and there's only a couple of inches of water in the bottom don't even worry about it...... even if it freezes solid it's got the whole rest of the water heater to expand into. Just make sure the inlet and outlet lines are clear.

[KGT4791]

What part of NTX!! My husband and I are working on our conversion... thinking we ran out of time. We got most of the walls up.... thank goodness we hadn't started any piping yet. Good luck! Stay warm!!


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[milkmania]

I'm north of North Texas

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by Tootalltechie

Hot water heater should be blown out too.

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Why would you want to heat hot water?

[dalez]

Got down to 12F up here in Stillwater Okla last night O_O

[Tootalltechie]

Originally Posted by Phatman

Why would you want to heat hot water?

To keep the water hot of course lol

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[TAOLIK]

A few months ago in a "how to water" thread, Ol Trunt made a suggestion about having a solenoid pipe switch which could be used to loop the water back to the water tank - that way if you were running hot water you could flush whatever cold water that was in the pipe back into your water tank.

I feel like this could be a good application for such a water pump to keep things circulating. But I guess it would guzzle electricity.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by milkmania

I'm north of North Texas

Man it was 40 and rainy out this morning. Brutal day for lawn work. Only had about 30 homes to do!

[Tootalltechie]

I wish it was above 32°F. Currently -2°F. Hope we all get warm soon.
Gordon

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[Carytowncat]

Wow nothing returns me to gratitude faster than learning this high 20s weather isn't too shabby compared to others. I spent the past 5 hours next to the wood stove as cozy as a bug in a rug. Could he worse. Also grateful to live in Virginia where i can walk around a few blocks and find enough wood for a full week.



Stay warm friends