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Winter use of Country Coach

Yahoo Message Number: 112985
Hello ... I am wondering if I keep my Lexa plugged in to power this winter, temp set at 55, and parked outside my house, if the water system will not freeze. Thoughts

Re: Winter use of Country Coach

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112986
I have done that with my Intrigue. Lowest temp in the teens with an average lows in the upper 20's. I kept the coach plugged in and the Hydro-Hot on. Both heat zones were set at the lowest setting,(I think 45). My coach also has a thermostat in the plumbing bay. It cost me about 40 gallons of fuel for the whole winter.

Britt
2004 Intrigue 11836

Re: Winter use of Country Coach

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112987
I did that twice for a few weeks between trips with my Airstream travel trailer a number of times with my Allure and later on with my Intrigue very successfully. I will say the ambient temp never got below 20 degrees F. Just make sure you have plenty of fuel on board. TWI 2004 Intrigue 11731.

Re: Winter use of Country Coach

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112991
Had a conversation with an owner of SOB a few months ago. He said he did the same thing as far as keeping the coach plugged in, and setting his AquaHot fed zones to a thermostat setting. He augments this with a thermostatically controlled portable heater, set on high, that he placed on the tile floor of the kitchen just about in the middle of the coach.

He said the combo of the heater and electric heating element (He had a dual element, vs I know my coach and others, has a single element. And he has 50A service where he parks it next to his barn.) covered the bulk of the coaches heating needs. He did make a point to keep snow from stacking up on the roof (no cover), and always kept the area by his AquaHot clear of snow too.

This combo of electric heat sources, resulted in his coach needing 8 gallons of diesel to top off the tank, at the end of the winter. And he felt the bulk of that fuel usage, came from one power outage of about 1/2 a day.

So adding a portable heater (And if not plugged into and outlet with the heaters cord, be sure to use a heavy duty 12GA + extension cord.), in a safe location - really seemed to make a difference for him.

Best to all,
Smitty
04 Allure 31017
04 Allure Sold to a nice new owner! Now enjoying a 07 Magna Rembrandt 45' ISX600 #6775
"We're ONDROAD for THEJRNY!" (Toad and Coach license plates, say Hi if you see us!)

Re: Winter use of Country Coach

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 112999
If you have an automatic ice maker you need to also protect the water supply line in the fridge vent area. I use a 60W light bulb and cover the vent opening with aluminized bubble wrap.

Myron
2004 Allure 31040
 

Re: Winter use of Country Coach

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 113005
I don't know exactly what setup you have with your AquaHots in your later coaches. I have a Hurricane but this essentially makes no difference. The issue is whether your coaches use passive in line radiators on the coolant lines that run through the water bays as mine does or whether you have something else to heat those bays. If you're getting down perhaps to the teens at night and not above freezing during the day, this might be sufficient to stop things from freezing in the water system. Below that you're going to need some form of supplementary heat down there since the passive radiators are not that efficient. If you have drain and winterized the water system this is not an issue.

Rich 2002 Magna