Cold Temperature Question

We are still planning one last trip over Thanksgiving, our unit is in a covered front open storage building. The temperatures here in south central Pa. are forecast to hit lows of around 30F over the next couple of days. I am debating if I should drain the water through the low point drains and water heater to prevent freezing, or will doing this allow the small amount of remaining water to freeze faster? Or since the lows are only just below freezing and may not hit the forecast low should I just let everything as is and hope that the amount of water in the pipes will prevent a complete freeze?

Better safe than sorry. I would go ahead and drain the HWH via the anode rod and blow some air through the lines to push the water in the pipes out.

I think if there is very little water in the pipes, and it does freezes it wont do any damage. When water freezes, it expands, and if there is no place for the expansion to happen, the pipes crack.

oldelmer1 wrote:Better safe than sorry. I would go ahead and drain the HWH via the anode rod and blow some air through the lines to push the water in the pipes out.

I think if there is very little water in the pipes, and it does freezes it wont do any damage. When water freezes, it expands, and if there is no place for the expansion to happen, the pipes crack.

Yeah, be safe, it takes very little effort to blow the water out and drain the water heater. Nothing to do when you get ready to use it (as opposed to flushing out antifreeze). After your last trip you can complete a full blown winterization with antifreeze.

Having said that, I don't worry about it unless there is going to be a hard freeze. We have had several nights down to 30, but not a problem because the cat is enclosed and probably does not get that cold. I have also camped down into the low 20's without a problem. But that is just me; one of these days I'll probably get caught and won't be a happy camper.

I wouldn't worry if the expected temperature is only 30F. Here in Calgary we have had temperatures below freezing in the middle of summer and it has never been a problem. A couple of degrees of frost over night wouldn't do any harm. The ground is not frozen and radiates IR heat. The trailer would not start to freeze. If you are really concerned you could turn on the furnace with the thermostat set at its lowest setting for the night. I have lived in my trailer in the fall with temperatures going as low a 20F at night with no problems. It is a different story if the ground and everything else around is already frozen though.

I'm not sure how much our PEX piping will take, but water can freeze in it without it cracking.

Where we'll have the most trouble with freezing will be in the hard plastic items like the faucets and the toilet valve. They will crack very easily. I know this from sad experience with a toilet valve that I didn't get all the water out of when using the air pressure technique. That was on the old TrailHarbor 28RKLS

I now push anti-freeze through every thing.

Thanks for the quick replies. I drained the water and water heater and blew out the lines with about 20 psi of air (same pressure our dealer uses to winterize) Took about 20 minutes. I am glad we did drain everything, found the anode rod is shot after one season. Going tomorrow for another.