Winterizing my Laredo

[Tennessee Toad]

I have a 2006 Laredo. I will be living in it until next summer. I am 30 miles north of Memphis Tennessee. What am I going to need to do to keep things from freezing up during the winter. I am new to the trailer life so I have no idea what is involved.
Thanks
TT

[ken56]

A few gallons of antifreeze and a means to pump it through the water lines. Do you know if your water pump has a winterizing hose on it? Look on youtube for videos on how to winterize. There are many and they are very helpful. Do you have a neighbor who has a trailer who might be able to show you how? It is not hard to do you just need a little information. Don't forget to do the outdoor shower and the toilet valve.

[sourdough]

If you are living in it you won't want to pump antifreeze into the system.

As far a "weathering" it through the winter....be prepared. Your trailer is not like a regular house and is not nearly as well insulated. Your water lines are on the underside so they can freeze. I don't know if you have an enclosed, heated underbelly but that can really help.

My first full size trailer (25') was in 1984. I bought it to sight see and work out of. I used it through some really harsh winters (for us; 0 to - 5 or -10) and didn't have too many problems. Water hose froze; solved with a heat tape (now a heated hose); LP tanks froze; solved by wrapping the tank with heater tape. I had no frozen or broken water lines. I did leave the heater on primarily to keep the water lines unfrozen (no sealed or heated underbelly). Plan on using a LOT of propane so have a dealer lined up. Keep extra blankets, coats etc. Depending on your situation I would definitely recommend carrying an electric heater or two to supplement the furnace. Some folks like electric blankets, I don't but they are something to consider if it is really cold.

[JRTJH]

You should be OK around the Memphis area with a heat tape on the water hose (or you can use your fresh water tank and disconnect the park water during the nights when it will be below about 30F). As for the trailer, you're going to accumulate a lot of moisture from cooking/bathing/breathing, so you'll need to keep a window on one end of the trailer cracked slightly and remember to always use the bathroom vent fan when showering and the range hood fan (if it vents outside) when cooking/washing dishes. Plan to use about 30 pounds of propane every 3 or 4 days, so you may find that buying a 100 pound tank will be convenient. You might contact a local propane supplier and see if they have a 50 gallon tank that they will provide to sit beside your trailer and fill it on a regular basis for you. It may not be cheaper, but it will surely be more convenient.

As for your sewer hose, just use your onboard tanks and "dry camp" during the evenings, open the tanks to drain during the warm parts of the day. During extended cold snaps which might occur a couple times during the winter, you'll probably wind up with some frozen water pipes. Remember to keep the cupboard doors open so heat can get into those areas, otherwise you'll have frozen canned goods as well as frozen drain pipes.

It's "do-able" and you might consider buying some 1/2" rigid foam to place around the trailer to help insulate the underside and prevent cold air from blowing under the trailer. The "shrink-wrap window film" on all windows that you won't be opening will help retain the heat in your single pane windows, which is probably the greatest heat loss area of your trailer, although you can also expect that the R-9 walls won't be really efficient either....

We're leaving Millington in the morning, headed back to Michigan, it's been awesome weather this week, so winter is still a ways ahead for this area. You've got time to prepare before the "really cold nights" start happening on a regular basis.