Do We Still Need To Winterize Our RV If It Is Plugged Into A 50 Amp Electrical Service?

by Anonymous

We are storing our motorhome under roof and plugged in to 50 amp service. Will it be safe to leave motorhome plugged in with heat on during TN winters like this without winterizing?

The motorhome is not in a garage but just under a large carport.

ANSWER: Greetings thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

Well I hate to give you a wishy washy answer but I am going to. The answer to your question can be yes or no. Here are the factors that are going to make it yes or no:

1. It depends on which part of Tennessee you live in. The average low temperatures in Tennessee from November through March fluctuate between the low 20s to the mid 30s. If you live in one of the areas that it hardly ever gets below freezing you might be able to get away without winterizing.

I would still recommend at a minimum that you completely empty all of your RV's holding tanks and drain your water heater. But remember it only takes one big freeze to burst pipes and holding tanks in RVs.

2. Being plugged into electric could help somewhat. You say that you are going to run the heat in the RV. I am not sure if you are talking about electric space heaters or the propane RV furnaces. If you are planning to use electric space heaters remember that will keep the inside of the RV warm enough but it will not warm up your RV's holding tanks, water heater or any pipes located outside the RV.

If you are talking about using the RV propane heaters; that might work better if your RV has heat vents that go into the areas where the holding tanks are located. Not all RVs have this ducting setup. That being said, you are going to have to keep a close eye on the propane levels as you will be going through a lot of propane even if you use the lowest heating setting possible. No propane no heat and you will end up with Popsicle water pipes frozen tanks, etc.

3. Because you are keeping the RV under a roof; it may not get as much sunshine that helps heat the interior of the RV.

In my opinion you are going to be rolling the dice on whether your RV gets damaged or not unless you do some winterization.

If you want more information on Winterizing you might want to read the Winterizing Your Motorhome article that’s part of our RV Lifestyle and Camping Articles Section.

Hope this information helps.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

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