Need advice - winterize now or wait?

[Brian H.]

Hello all,

I need some advice. I live in Virginia and have a 2025 legacy elite 2 with the platinum lithium battery package Hull # 1633. I store the camper in an asphalt storage lot 1 mile from my house. I have a camping trip planned for the week of Thanksgiving. I plan on winterizing after the trip, but the week leading up to the trip the daytime highs are forecast to be 50-60 F with nighttime lows dipping to 30-32 F. Which of the following would be my best choice.

1.)   Do nothing. With the daytime temps in the mid 50’s to 60’s and only dipping to freezing at night. Is there much chance of any damage happening.

2.)   Turn on the inverter and run a small space heater on low over night in the camper.

3.)   Run the propane furnace set to 50 degrees at night. (seem scary to run the propane furnace when I am not there).

4.)   Winterize the camper for one week, dewinterize for the trip and winterize again after the trip. (seems like a lot of work).

 

Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

 

Brian

[Todd B]

I have done 3. Figure it runs over night when I basically I am not there (since I am sound asleep). I have also left it running when I am camping but away for the day and it is going to get chilly before I get back. 

Not saying my actions are right or wrong. Your mileage may vary. 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, Brian H. said:

1.)   Do nothing. With the daytime temps in the mid 50’s to 60’s and only dipping to freezing at night. Is there much chance of any damage happening.
2.)   Turn on the inverter and run a small space heater on low over night in the camper.
3.)   Run the propane furnace set to 50 degrees at night. (seem scary to run the propane furnace when I am not there).
4.)   Winterize the camper for one week, dewinterize for the trip and winterize again after the trip. (seems like a lot of work).

My vote is #1 and if it gets colder then I agree with Todd on #3. #2 is unsafe and ineffective, and yes #4 is too much work. "Lows (only) dipping to 30-32 F" then your option #1 will be all you need.

I've left ours alone, plumbing full of water for several nights with lows into the high 20s, given it warms up during the daytimes. When I see consecutive overnight forecasted lows in the low 20s or teens, then I'll run the furnace (#3) or if we're staying home for much longer, then I'd "winterize."

But for us, winterize means to blow the water lines out with compressed air. Though not recommended by OTT, I have a thread on this procedure. We don't use the pink stuff. I learned this from a Bigfoot owner who lives in the real COLD of Calgary AB. It works well.

Your Thanksgiving situation is like ours all winter long. We're home this week, then camping next week. Then home 'til Christmas and we'll leave again, repeat pattern until the spring. We have a moderate climate. It can be middle of winter and truly cold, but more often lows are 28F with highs at 55F and no true need to winterize. If we did the standard antifreeze process, I'd have to do it 3-4 times a winter and I'm not doing that, since as you wrote, "seems like a lot of work."

I believe #2 a portable space heater is your worst option. Many Oliver Owners run these heaters but besides the safety concerns (most winter fires in city apartments are caused by space heaters) they just don't work unless you place them in the rear basement where the main water lines lay. A space heater in the cabin will heat the upper shell, not the lower, so water can still freeze in the basement. There are threads here where water lines have frozen while using space heaters above! Use the furnace as it's designed to keep the basement above freezing!

The only downside of option #3 is if it gets real COLD the LP does not last too long, but your need is short term. Have a great Thanksgiving trip! JD

Edited yesterday at 06:37 PM by jd1923

[FloraFauna]

My advice would be 3.  Keep in mind, forecasts are often wrong and it could go colder than expected.  And I agree with @jd1923 that 2 is the worst option for several reasons, the main one being nonuniform heating where a cold spot could cause a plumbing freeze.

Edited yesterday at 08:21 PM by FloraFauna
Clarification

[Steph and Dud B]

I would choose #3 as long as there's nothing right up against the furnace exhaust. No guarantee the forecast is right. Miscalculated once with a different trailer and ended up replacing a split fitting on my water heater.

[John Dorrer]

I have foam insulation around the outside shower knobs. I have Reflectix that fits outside the outside shower and covering the the floor and entrance to the basement. Two layers on the basement floor at the entrance.

 

Pipe insulation caps for the 4 exterior connections. Soft foam in the ends and  tape. 3/4" pipe insulation, cut and a piece added to allow a snug fit on the connector.

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

No guarantee the forecast is right.

BTW, with option #3 make sure the LP tank valve is open and get the furnace to fire up, test it while you're there. Then turn the thermostat down. You'll have option #1 to start, then #3 when it gets cold enough.

I also have several Ruuvi sensors, so we know cabin temp, fridge, freezer, etc. I have one in the rear basement underneath the water lines which is often the coldest area. This helps since during the winter I can check actual temps from the comfort of our living room.

I've found if we set the cabin thermostat to 52F the lower rear basement will stay above 34F (until it gets very cold out, then more heat may be necessary).

Edited 23 hours ago by jd1923

[Rolind]

 We have done #3 when in the same situation.  It’s good for a week or so but longer than that I would winterize the trailer.  We also don’t have power at our covered storage, so rely on one 100w portable solar panel to keep up the SOC.

[Geronimo John]

All above are valid.

I'm thinking:

Is your Thankgiving campsite going to be much colder than your home site?  If much colder Winterize. 

If not, then considering you are just a mile from your treasure.  I recommend Option #1.  But bring camping the items you need to winterize if things get real cold.

In the meantime, if weather goes to crud in a hurry, then fire off the furnace and relook at the question then.

GJ

 

[routlaw]

I would go with # 1 as well. We live in Montana and have left our Oliver outside in the cold at those temps and below with no problems at all many times. Given that yours is stored inside I highly doubt you would have an issue.

[tallmandan]

As a resident of Colorado, I tend to agree with @routlaw  and others on option #1.  Mine has been fine in a couple of similar situations. 

One thing to throw out there is that I think the greatest "risk" in terms of potential costly damage would be freezing of my Truma AquaGo water heater.  It's really quick and easy to pull the yellow drain lever and let the water drain out before you leave it in possible freezing temps.  I've acutally gotten in the habit of doing this anytime I leave the trailer in storage for a period of time just to keep "stale" water from sitting in the tank and possibly contributing to bacteria growth.  Curious if anybody else does this...?

[Dean and Mary]

On 11/12/2026 at 8:56 AM, Brian H. said:

1.)   Do nothing. With the daytime temps in the mid 50’s to 60’s and only dipping to freezing at night. Is there much chance of any damage happening.

2.)   Turn on the inverter and run a small space heater on low over night in the camper.

3.)   Run the propane furnace set to 50 degrees at night. (seem scary to run the propane furnace when I am not there).

4.)   Winterize the camper for one week, dewinterize for the trip and winterize again after the trip. (seems like a lot of work).

Option one has worked for me and I would choose this option especially if you install @John Dorrer added insulation. 

 

21 hours ago, John Dorrer said:

I have foam insulation around the outside shower knobs. I have Reflectix that fits outside the outside shower and covering the the floor and entrance to the basement. Two layers on the basement floor at the entrance.

. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Dean and Mary
Clarification

[Dean and Mary]

On 11/12/2026 at 11:29 AM, jd1923 said:

But for us, winterize means to blow the water lines out with compressed air. Though not recommended by OTT, I have a thread on this procedure. We don't use the pink stuff. I learned this from a Bigfoot owner who lives in the real COLD of Calgary AB. It works well.

Some service centers recommend blowing out the water lines with compressed air and then following up with RV antifreeze for long-term winter storage. Using compressed air can be effective, but it can also create problems if the pressure is set too high. For a quick winterization, I set my regulator to 20 PSI, which has worked well for me while minimizing the risk of damaging plumbing components.

Here in the mountains, we occasionally get Arctic outbreaks that can drop temperatures near -20°F and keep temperatures below freezing for a week. Because of those extreme conditions, I don't rely solely on just a quick blowout. After blowing out the lines, I also pump the pink RV antifreeze through the plumbing system for added protection and peace of mind.

[Ollie-Haus]

Since you have the Truma Aquago water heater, I assume you have the anti-freeze plug that goes along with it. If you do, I would just go with #1 and install the anti-freeze plug and activate it. On your Oliver the Truma water heater is the one system that is most at risk, and with the anti-freeze plug turned on the water heater is perfectly safe in this scenario. You don't need to turn on the inverter in this situation because the anti-freeze plug runs directly off the 12v dc system. If you feel like the rest of the water system is at risk and you do decide to turn on the propane furnace, #3, the same thing applies regarding the inverter. With fully charged lithium batteries you would have battery capacity to support the relatively low demand for several nights. NOTE: make sure the water heater is refilled with water before activating the anti-freeze plug.

Long story short, with an operational furnace and the anti-freeze plug turned on, your camper is safe even in sustained temps in the 20's. 

Lastly, if you don't have the anti-freeze plug, or don't want to use it, the winterizing process for the Truma water heater is a five minute job of turning the unit off, closing the bypass valve, and removing the filter drain plug. The water heater is safe in sub-freezing temps just by doing this. And it only takes five minutes in the reverse order to put the water heater back into service.