Winterizing

Originally posted by furpod And my apologies to any WC fans out there who might be offended.. but everyone KNOWS Kristal's are better.. and COZY INN is the very best.. look it up. (I'll help.. www.cozyburger.com )

I agree about thermal mass.. but if you are somewhere a "hard freeze" can/is expected.. that is a whole other ball game.. And I have to admit, considering what it takes to get one of them tanks full.. it isn't like you are going to watch the weather report and say.. "gee gonna be a cold one tomorrow.. better run to White Castle and get some gut bombs and build up some thermal mass..."

OK, actually I mountain bike with some guys who would say/do that.. but most folks wouldn't...

And my apologies to any WC fans out there who might be offended.. but everyone KNOWS Kristal's are better.. and COZY INN is the very best.. look it up. (I'll help.. www.cozyburger.com )

Actually, I hate to say it (after hearing some recent objections to math...) but physics will tell you that in near and near-subfreezing temperatures at night, your best bet is to have nearly full tanks under your 'pod. The mass of liquid will take much lower temps to solidify than having just a thin layer in the tanks. Considering that the pipes for water are all internal, the warmth generated by your bodies, the heater and that glorious winter sun (the reason you are there!) and a little ceramic heater (see other threads for that discussion) will keep your water flowing. If one is worried, some "space blankets" on the ground, or even held up against the tanks, will radiate the extant heat back into the tanks.
Enjoy your winter in the south!   

Isn't Mobile in "N.W. Florida"..?

I *suspect* that in those areas, you *probably* won't see a hard freeze, so I would think you would be OK.. If you are going to over winter in the FLA.. ask some of the snow birds how they handle it, what they have seen for lows, etc. We are going to LBL just after T-Day for a few nights, the average lows there for that time of year are right at 32.. Will leave with empty tanks/WH.. try to keep them that way if it looks like a below average run of temperatures..

1 note though.. on a Pod your holding tanks are completely exposed to the weather/temps.. I am sure if you keep it warm inside the trailer your plumbing will be fine. If I was worried about the tanks themselves, I might add a layer of that shiny bubble wrap insulation to the under belly, kind of enclosing the tanks, so some of the heat from above would keep them above freezing.. I have not looked to see the feasibility of this.. it's just a thought..

If I lived in Mobile, and didn't intend to be north of there, no way would I even use the word winter.. let alone make plans for it..lol.

Winterization is mostly just preparing your water and sewer systems for FREEZING weather.. if you are not going to be where there is such a thing.. no reason to do it.

We winterize here, but we have extended periods below freezing, and in fact occasionally extended periods of single digit temps.. So we would definitely have frozen pipes if they had water in them.