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Old 04-14-2021, 06:04 AM   #1
Brando
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Use in Cold Weather

Hello. New TT owner here, so pretty new to it all. I own an 2021 Outback 330RL and we're taking it on our maiden voyage this weekend. I found out the weather is going to be around 50 as a high and 29 as a low.

I've been told this TT is equipped to handle the cold, but I'm wondering if anyone has actually used their TT in cold weather? In particular...
How well does the insulation hold up?
How much propane did your heater use on average?
Were you able to use water inside your TT without the lines freezing? -- via Hose or internal Water Tank?

It's only going to be a 2-night weekend stay, so my wife and I are concerned about our comfort and TT-condition overnight without needing to "winterize" the TT before the freezing temps set in.
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Old 04-14-2021, 06:43 AM   #2
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You shouldn't need to winterize it, but I'd recommend adding a bit of water to the fresh water tank to use at night & disconnect/drain the water hose, during the day you should be good using the hose.
You'll need to run the furnace to keep the internal water lines warmed & it does use plenty of propane, so be sure the tanks are at or near full, with a couple 20# (10 gallons) bottles you should be good for a couple days.
As for your rv being equipped for cold weather, 29 degrees is about the max low it would be "equipped" to handle without doing more winterizing practices. There's only so much insulation you can put into a 2" thick wall or 4-6" attic space. Most all of the "4 season equipped" names they may give RVs are mostly just sales gimmicks.
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Old 04-14-2021, 06:51 AM   #3
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There's only so much insulation you can put into a 2" thick wall or 4-6" attic space. Most all of the "4 season equipped" names they may give RVs are mostly just sales gimmicks.
Thanks for the response! Yeah, I was afraid of that. We plan on bringing a lot of extra blankets and a space heater with us for the bedroom. Perhaps keeping the furnace set to 50 will keep the internal water lines good during the night without having to eat up all the propane.
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Old 04-14-2021, 07:31 AM   #4
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Thanks for the response! Yeah, I was afraid of that. We plan on bringing a lot of extra blankets and a space heater with us for the bedroom. Perhaps keeping the furnace set to 50 will keep the internal water lines good during the night without having to eat up all the propane.
Definitely use the furnace at night when the temps are the lowest. There's possibly a furnace duct blowing into the underbelly to warm the water lines that the space heaters can't get to. Using the space heaters during the day if needed should be fine.
After this trip you'll have some idea of the propane use & will be more confident on the next cold weather outing.
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Old 04-14-2021, 07:38 AM   #5
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Brando the 330RL is supposed to come with 2 30lb. LP tanks. 50 as a high and 29 as a low isn't bad. Your trailer should do just fine. We do it all the time. Some things to think about;

We carry a heated hose and put it on for the winter. Prior to that we used a regular fresh water hose and kept some water in the fresh tank in the event it was going to be cold enough to freeze the water in the hose - I did/do not worry about a low of 29. If you look at weather.com at the hourly forecast for your destination just look at the number of hours it will be below freezing. With a low of only 29 I doubt it will be anywhere long enough to freeze up your water line. If you are concerned just disconnect it and use the water in the fresh water tank.

As far as LP for a 2 day stay you have zero worries with 2 30lb. LP tanks; just make sure they are full before you leave. We run through a 30lb. tank in about 3 days when the temps stay below freezing day in and day out. With 29 low and 50 high I would run the furnace like I always do. We set ours at about 68 at night. That will keep the belly, and you, warm enough to be comfortable. You won't run out of LP over a weekend and highly doubtful you empty one tank unless you use the cooktop constantly.

Maiden voyage should be fun and I don't see anything in that weather that will deter you, unless.....your black tank flush valve is defective and you try to run it and it gives you a shower instead.....at 30 degrees as my last one did. Make sure you have checked it prior to departure so you don't encounter the same fate as their failure rate is pretty high. Good luck and have fun.
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Old 04-14-2021, 08:25 AM   #6
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Brando the 330RL is supposed to come with 2 30lb. LP tanks. 50 as a high and 29 as a low isn't bad. Your trailer should do just fine. We do it all the time.
Awesome! That's very reassuring! Thanks for the insight and the tips. Yes, it does come with two 30 lb tanks... that I hope to fill Friday afternoon before we depart. I was wanting to use the shower and toilet, while testing the sewer hookup. Don't want the black water shower kind though! But keeping water in the freshwater tank seems like a good idea, vice keeping a hose attached during the evening hours.

I'm also watching the weather, and the temps are lowering. Oh joy! High of 49 and low of 26 now. Should be interesting! ...but good call to find out how long that below freezing temp will really stay.
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Old 04-14-2021, 08:41 AM   #7
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Awesome! That's very reassuring! Thanks for the insight and the tips. Yes, it does come with two 30 lb tanks... that I hope to fill Friday afternoon before we depart. I was wanting to use the shower and toilet, while testing the sewer hookup. Don't want the black water shower kind though! But keeping water in the freshwater tank seems like a good idea, vice keeping a hose attached during the evening hours.

I'm also watching the weather, and the temps are lowering. Oh joy! High of 49 and low of 26 now. Should be interesting! ...but good call to find out how long that below freezing temp will really stay.
We camp year around and often in temps several degrees below what you're expecting. I carry a heated hose but if you don't have one then filling the freshwater tank is the way to go.. Just keep the furnace on with the temp set at a comfortable temp. We've camped over Christmas many time in temps that never saw more than 30` daytime and often in the teens for a short time around daybreak..

We've never had an issue..
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Old 04-14-2021, 09:08 AM   #8
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Just keep the furnace on with the temp set at a comfortable temp. We've camped over Christmas many time in temps that never saw more than 30` daytime and often in the teens for a short time around daybreak..

We've never had an issue..
Great to hear! Thanks for the input! I'm starting to look forward to this cooler weekend than I originally had thought.

Some might be thinking, "Why not wait?" ...in truth, life circumstances is kind of forcing this maiden voyage to happen now rather than waiting until warmer spring weather.

So I'm glad to hear that cold weather hasn't negatively affected anyone's TT experiences!
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Old 04-14-2021, 01:35 PM   #9
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The weather you are talking about isn't extreme by any means so don't worry about it and have fun. If it looks like those below freezing temps will last quite a few hours just have water in the water tank, disconnect the water hose for the night, turn on the pump and take those showers and cook like at home. Make sure the water heater if full before turning it on and the trailer is not in bypass mode.
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Old 04-15-2021, 10:56 AM   #10
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The weather you are talking about isn't extreme by any means so don't worry about it and have fun. If it looks like those below freezing temps will last quite a few hours just have water in the water tank, disconnect the water hose for the night, turn on the pump and take those showers and cook like at home. Make sure the water heater if full before turning it on and the trailer is not in bypass mode.
Will do! Looking forward to it now. Thanks!
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Old 04-19-2021, 09:12 AM   #11
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Just wanted to give thanks to everyone that provided their insight into my concerns of this past weekend. The maiden voyage went well. And I think I saved myself problems by playing it smart from the getgo...

First, on the chance that something happened, I brought my space heater with us for the weekend. And it was used... actually all night because it turns out the propane system on the TT made a loud whistling noise that you could hear inside the TT. As well, the furnace and stove was hit or miss on firing up. Took multiple tries to get them lit. It wasn't until Sunday morning when I found the hose connecting the system to the TT was so loose from travel. Thus, air in the line or too much gas leaking out!

So I tightened the hose connection and the furnace kicked off without a hitch and heated the camper quite quickly thereafter. Plus the whistling noise was gone!

Second, temps fluctuate so rapidly here in MN, that the weather prediction changes quickly. So to prevent any freeze issues, I decided not to use water in the lines inside the TT. I have enough buckets and water jugs that we were able to clean, cook, toilet, and wash using the water jugs. Drained the TT tanks into the sewer before we left yesterday afternoon.

Again, thanks to everyone for your help and advice! We're looking forward to our next adventure this weekend! Perhaps it'll be warmer.
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Old 04-23-2021, 10:11 AM   #12
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So you didn't use the water plumbing in the trailer - did you completely evacuate it (clear all the lines/faucets/spigots/valves) of any water? If not, then they could still have frozen. In fact - using them would have kept the water moving and made them less likely to freeze up.

With regard to the use of the space heater - remember there is a duct providing furnace air into the underbelly to keep things from freezing. This only works if the furnace is running. If you use a space heater in the cabin (where the thermostat is located) then the furnace will not have to run as much - which can allow really cold temps in the underbelly.

I would use the space heater during the day if needed, but not at night. Let the furnace heat the cabin (and underbelly) at night.
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Old 04-29-2021, 05:08 PM   #13
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My wife and I have been living in our Outback 340BH waiting for our house to be built. We went thru the cold blast that hit the midwest this winter. 3 days of negative temps, one night of -17 below. We did unhook the master bedroom vent and dumped it into the belly of the camper so the belly was heated from both ends. The heater ran about 50% of the day, 30 lbs of propane lasted about 30 hours. A small electric heater in the bed room kept it warm. I dont thing the temp inside of the camper went below 60. The water storage and sewers never froze, and we were able to dump the tanks when full (the sewer hose was under the snow keeping it insulated).
I was a train wreck the entire time waiting to freeze up, astonished everything worked.
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