Questions about winterizing your motorhome usually come at this time of year when the nights become cool and frosty weather is just around the corner.
Since we are now retired, our first advice is to do as we do - head South!
Winterizing you coach depends on several questions. Will you be using your coach during the winter? Do you store your coach in a protected and heated environment? Do you live in an area where the winter is not severe and you have electricity to the coach.
If you have fairly mild winters and electricity to your coach, you might elect to not winterize it you are close by and can turn on electric heaters on cold nights when the temperature goes below freezing. It would take over 4 hours of under 30 degrees before freezing in the coach would be a concern. We have placed an electric light in the service bay and a night light in the refrigerator outside compartment (after placing cardboard over the vents to keep the wind out) to protect the waterline to the ice maker. You can put your thermostat down to 40 degrees to keep the faucets and toilet safe from freezing. Keep all interior cabinet doors open. Thermometers with remote sensors let you monitor compartment temperatures with opening the doors - great invention!!!
If you have more severe winters and do have electricity, you will can choose to drain all the water from your tanks, (including your hot water tank) and then depending on how cold it gets blow all the water from your water lines using a special blow-out plug that can be purchased from an RV dealer or RV parts store. Again, you will need to monitor the conditions in your coach and use heaters and lights. If the electric power should fail you could be in trouble! Please note this is not as safe as totally winterizing your coach.
To totally winterize your coach you need to first remove and bypass your water filter, drain your water from your tanks (including your hot water tank), empty both your grey and black water tanks, blow out all the water in your lines using a blow-out plug, use a bypass for your drained hot water heater (available from your RV dealer or RV parts store if not installed in your coach), then pump the RV/Marine antifreeze into your water lines so there is no location in the water system not protected (pumps for this purpose so you can pump directly from the bottle and through a faucet can also be purchased). Please note this is a special RV/Marine antifreeze created for water systems. Under no circumstances use automobile antifreeze - this is poison! You then need to pour a cup of antifreeze into each trap under the shower and sinks and then add a small amount of antifreeze to bothe the grey and black holding tanks. If you have an ice maker then you need to take apart the water line going to the ice maker and drain the line. Your RV or motorcoach manual has exact locations and directions on how to do this procedure. You can also pay to have an RV dealer do this for you if you are not handy. It is far better to take the precaution of winterizing than dealing with broken pipes in the wall come Spring!
Don't forget, winter travel with a motorhome can be fun! Just don't leave your water hose outside - work off your tank and remember to add a little heat to the service utility area so your valves don't freeze. Some motorhomes even come equipped with special heaters to keep the tanks from freezing and heated tape for the most vulnerable water lines - or a dealer can install these to your coach.
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