How I'm Surviving Winter: Stationary RV Living Below Freezing & Staying Warm

How I’m Surviving Winter: Stationary RV Living Below Freezing & Staying Warm

Here’s behind the scenes of what another day in my stationary RV life is like. The experiences of stationary RV living in winter during below freezing temperatures at the RV Park! How I’m Surviving Freezing Temperatures in a Stationary RV (my Puma Palomino Travel Trailer) While Living in an RV Park. Plus, My Winter RV Tips To Stay Warm In Your RV along with some of the Challenges I’ve faced! From battling frozen pipes and sewer lines to dealing with condensation and heating struggles. These are all my essential RV winter prep strategies, including the importance of leaving cabinets open, using propane and space heaters, and running water to keep pipes from freezing, etc… I also share my best RV winter living tips and RV winter hacks to stay warm in an RV and comfortable while winter RV camping. Whether you’re new to full-time RV living winter in RV or have been living the RV life for a while, don’t miss these RV tips for stationary RV living in winter conditions so you can learn how I make winter RV living manageable—even in extreme cold.

So if you’ve been wondering: What do you do in the winter to heat your camper or how to RV below freezing? This is the ultimate guide for winter RV camping: how to RV in winter especially while stationary RV Living Below Freezing (the simple way to stay warm in an RV). But even if you are not FULL TIME RV Winter Living or RV Living Stationary permanently (like in an RV Park) then you can still use and apply these Winter RV Camping Tips to your RV Lifestyle too!

WATCH My RV Winter Tips and what Stationary RV Living Winter is like!

ICYMI… All the things I mention in this video I shared in detail in a prior blog post – my BEST Winter RV Living Tips & RV Essential Supplies To Stay Warm in Below Freezing Temps!

Stationary RV Living in The Winter [VLOG]

Here’s is the transcript from the video:

Winter Struggles in My Stationary RV Life

[00:00:00] Okay, today is another day in my stationary RV life. I have been so sick this week. So much has gone on. I just feel like I need to tell you because it’s freezing outside. It’s wintertime. I don’t really share a lot about my freezing stationary RV life or what goes down but I figured I would share with you some of the stuff that’s going on because I’m dealing with a lot but my pipe froze up outside.

Frozen Pipes and the Struggle to Stay Warm

[00:00:29] We have a heated water hose but it’s not on and I actually think that NVington took it back to Atlanta with him. We took it out of storage and it’s not here. We have a zero degrees hose outside but we’re leaving the water running which I’ve left it running in all the sinks. I haven’t left the hot water on because I feel like if I leave the hot water on and we’re running the water that I could be running the electricity up because the hot water would be potentially re-draining all the time.

Water Running and the Dilemma with Heated Hoses

[00:00:57] So I was leaving the water running. Right now a little more than I normally would, but I tried dripping and it wasn’t working. So I’ve left it running in the kitchen sink and I left it running in one of the RV bathrooms. Then I came into the RV bathroom because I was thinking, “oh heat the water and take a shower” but the water I had running in the RV bathroom, has backed up into the RV Shower! Now it is all full, disgusting, and nasty. Plus, the dog food was in there and the dog bed because the cat used the bathroom in the dog bed (Johnny our cat — He’s having like a UTI) so he’s been urinating in strange places!

Unwelcome Surprises: Sewer Line Issues

[00:01:34] My face is breaking out like crazy. Most importantly, RV tanks are now full of water when I came in here to take a shower. And when I went outside, the RV sewer line is frozen shut. So, the sewer line is frozen, so I can’t even drain the water out if I wanted to. So, not good. Not good at all. I’m trying to Heat up water so I can try to get everything to loosen up, but it’s, it’s not good.

[00:02:00] Let me, let me show you.

[00:02:18] I have left our tanks open, which maybe I shouldn’t have but look at these little Icicles are breaking off of this tank. This has given it, but I’m going to show you the other RV Sewer line.

[00:02:38] This right here, it doesn’t even move. It’s frozen. So it’s frozen shut. Even if I wanted to move it, it doesn’t move. And this is open, frozen open with water inside the line!

[00:03:10] So as you can see, Not good. So now I’m trying to figure out what to do to get this un-frozen. But Everything is frozen. I can’t take a shower because the shower won’t drain, but more importantly Like this is all frozen except what’s in here, obviously so I gotta figure that out, but That’s part of the issue and then So I can’t clean.

Keeping the RV Warm: Propane and Heat Sources

[00:04:03] I don’t have hot water. We do have propane in the front. And we have these little devices on the propane. But it’s not reading. Because we have to have these spacers on the propane tank. So I have this thing on my phone that would read the propane. But it doesn’t work. Since it is sitting on the sensor, if that makes sense.

[00:04:20] So I have propane and that’s how I’m getting my heat. And I usually will do the propane and the heat from here. It’s dark, you can’t see over here. It’s probably hard to tell, but we usually will heat the RV from These vents that are down here and I have, you know, a thermostat

Condensation Problems and Moisture Control

The other thing that I learned is I had to keep all of the, RV cabinets open because if not, it gets condensation inside them.

[00:04:57] And then the windows, I’m actually having to put, this looks like a mess because this is literally what my life feels like, but these windows, this towel is probably soaking wet. This towel is soaking wet because our windows literally hold water from the condensation.

[00:05:22] So they just build up water. Okay, so I was trying to see If I can show you without messing our windows up. It looks like that’s not gonna happen. So, for some reason there’s water that builds in the window. I mean, I know why. It’s condensation. But the problem is, you have to take the pillows and move them off.

[00:05:40] Because this is all full of water. But every window in here does this.

On a side note: Petunia and Birdie and Roland from Birdie’s doghouse are here with us. Thanks guys.

The Importance of Keeping Cabinets Open

And then, usually, what’s happened is there will be build up of condensation inside the RV cabinets. There’s a little bit, but not that you can see. To combat that, what I’ve been doing is leaving the RV cabinets open so that the condensation won’t build up in them.

[00:05:59] But these blankets were like getting wet. And what happened in my motorhome was, when I got ready to sell my motorhome, I noticed that the cabinets, I guess we hadn’t opened them in a while, they had got mold on the top of some things like pillows and whatnot. So I just keep like all these cabinets kind of semi open.

[00:06:19] To let heat go in there and even this is supposed to be the laundry room So there are some pipes in there, but I’ve been trying to keep everything as open as I can.

Managing in the Cold: Space Heaters and Blankets

The other thing that we heat with is our heater here. This is a real real electric fireplace and so it does kind of heat in there. And then I have some space heaters I have down here and then obviously bundling up and I have a heated blanket and I’ve made some videos about how I heat my RV — but I feel like I look like a hot mess right now and everything feels like a hot mess because everything’s frozen and so I’m trying to heat water and I guess I’m going to pour it and try to defreeze the pipe but it’s not even getting to like maybe 41 degrees outside today.

Related:

Toilet Troubles: Frozen Pipes and Low Water Pressure

[00:07:08] So I don’t see that pipe becoming unfrozen any time soon and if we try to do anything to it, I feel like we’re going to crack it. And then, the toilet in here, the other thing that I learned, because we only have one toilet in the works right now, because that other toilet is leaking, but we might have to start using it soon.

One Toilet, Low Pressure, and Frozen Pipes

[00:07:23] But actually, I don’t know if it’ll work because that pipe’s frozen. This toilet, it has very little, um, pressure. And I don’t want to show you that because I don’t want you to see down the toilet, but it doesn’t have any pressure. And so I don’t know if it’s the water line or something’s busted or what, but I’m trying to think if there’s anything else to tell you.

Life in the RV: Blankets, Mess, and the Cold Struggles

[00:07:41] I have tons of blankets. I like slept in here to try to sleep near the electric fireplace and I was leaving these cabinets open too,

but this house looks like a wreck. I can’t really clean. I can’t do anything. It’s been freezing for like a week straight here. OMG. This is just another day in my stationary RV life for when it’s freezing and if you haven’t seen my stationary RV tour of this trailer or the other stationary RV videos that I’ve made Please check below this video I will drop a link to those in the entire stationary RVing playlist So you can check that out because I know people love hearing about my stationary RV life

But if we haven’t officially met I’m Blogging Brandi and be sure to Subscribe to RVersity my RV YouTube channel, where I share videos all about my RV life. Please please please be sure to like this video and hit the subscribe button and tap that little bell icon so you’re notified each and every time I publish a new video

A Winterized RV and the Struggle to Stay Warm

[00:08:20] but I really just wanted to update you on what’s been going on here and I’m trying to keep the RV warm. We just, I don’t know, we’ve never been in this bitter cold trying to stay warm in the RV I guess, or at least it’ll only get cold for a night or two, but it’s literally been freezing and not warmed up for four or five days straight.

[00:08:50] The other thing I was gonna tell you is our RV, Puma Palomino. It has this winter package on it. It’s a travel trailer, but we have a winterized package on it. And so it’s supposed to be super, super sealed in for all the winter. I believe this is a 32 BHQS. I could be wrong, it could be a 38, but I’m pretty sure it’s 32.

[00:09:09] But again, I’ll put a link to it below, down below this video.

That’s what we’re doing right now or what I’m doing right now. ’cause I’m literally the only person here and I got the dogs trying to stay warm. And I’ll have to make a list of all the things that I use to stay warm. It’s just, I felt like I needed to show you behind the scenes of what’s really going on in my RV.

The Landlord’s Advice: A Costly Mistake

[00:09:30] And the other thing I thought was kind of crazy, which actually probably led to this entire problem, was our landlord here at the RV park sent this nice slash screw yourself message saying, hey, don’t let the faucets drip in your RV. You just need to heat. Your hose, but what happens when you do that? It froze up all the pipes in our rv

The Problem with Not Dripping Faucets in Freezing Temps

[00:09:50] And the reason that they said to do that is because they didn’t want their water bill running up and they said oh Their water bill literally goes from four hundred dollars a month to thousands a month whenever we run the water So they don’t want to have to pay a bill for their water because water is included in our rent here But they want us to screw our rv If you don’t leave the water dripping in your house your pipes freeze up if you don’t leave the water dripping in your rv You Your pipes can freeze up too.

Dripping Faucets: The Only Solution to Freezing Pipes

[00:10:18] So it doesn’t really matter if you have hot water coming in or cold water coming in or if you leave it dripping. You need to leave it dripping because your pipes are going to freeze up. But yeah, it’s just been a nightmare and I can’t wait for this cold weather to be over. We have like another night of this.

The Nightmare of Winter RV Life: A Cold Weather Challenge

[00:10:32] I’m just ready for this to be over because it’s taken a lot of propane to heat the RV and i’m having to go out there and check it and it’s just a nightmare. Okay, so RV life is fun, but there are ups and downs to it and you really have to prepare for cold weather. And like I said, all these windows, they pour water right now because they’re all sealed.

Preparing for Cold Weather in an RV

[00:10:54] If we left them open, then they wouldn’t pour water out of them. But then if we left them open, then it would be colder in here. So we, we try to seal them up. But, I was trying to see if I could at least show you this, where it gets water in it. Some may not be that bad because it got sunshine, but you can kind of see the water.

[00:11:13] Oh no, now I’ve made this fall. And I gotta pick that back up. Okay, well, that’s my stationary RV life. I love you. I’ll see you in the next one.

Final Thoughts: Pros and Cons of Stationary RV Living In Winter

[00:11:31] Hey there, you’re sewer hose just came off. I know. [Pause] Oh you did know? I’m trying to dethaw it. It is solid ice. My, my whole shower is full. Oh no! Yeah. We were just walking the dogs, sorry. No, I’m actually glad that it’s doing that because I’m like, Oh my God, I could not get it. It completely came off. No, I actually had it off. I appreciate you telling me I had it off because it was not draining out, and thought it I take it off, it will drain out. Okay that you though. I’m actually glad that that’s happening.

[00:11:59] Okay, good. It’s just water, so. It’s okay. That means that the ice came undone. I said to my husband as we walked by I hear water. And then as we walked by, that thing just fell off. It was propt there because I was trying to let some heat get up in there. Thank you so much. No, you’re welcome. I’ve actually been waiting for it to unthaw, so.

BEST Winter RV Living Tips & Essential Supplies To Stay Warm in Freezing Temps

Don’t miss a thing!

Follow and stay social with @RVersity via Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter (now X), and subscribe on YouTube! Plus, stay connected via email by signing up for the RVersity Newsletter!

ABOUT ME

If we haven’t officially met, Hi I’m @bloggingbrandi an EX-Corporate Kool-Aid Drinker, born to be Creator, Digital Nomad and Entrepreneur who loves RVing while running my own business on the road! I created RVersity out of my love hate relationship with RV Life! It’s a space where I’ve put together all my RV tools and resources, plus a tribe of like minded RV Loving individuals all in one place!

🔐 NEWSLETTER
📲 BLOG POSTS
🤳 CONTACT ME
🛒 SHOP MY RV STORE
🗣 JOIN MY FREE RV FACEBOOK GROUP
🎬 WATCH MY STORY: Why I decided To Live in an RV! [VIDEO]

Affiliate Disclaimer: Note this description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned and support the channel at no cost to you. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in no way obligated to use these links. Thanks for your support!

#WinterRVLiving #StationaryRVLiving #WinterRVing #WinterRV #StationaryRVLife #BelowFreezing #WinterTime #WinterStorm #Freezing #RVFreezing #RVEssentials #RVSupplies #RVMustHaves #TravelTrailer #StationaryRV #RVersity #RVPark #RVLife #GoRVing #PumaPalomino #RVWithDogs #RVWithCats #RVWithPets #RVLiving

Related:

rversity

February 11, 2025