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Reading Time: 8 minutesLast Updated on December 22, 2025 by Paul Clayton
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How To Keep RV Pipes From Freezing?
Keeping your RV pipes from freezing is crucial to maintaining your vehicle’s longevity and functionality, especially during the colder months. This article, “How To Keep RV Pipes From Freezing? 10 Tips,” provides comprehensive details and practical advice on preventing this common issue.
Key Takeaways
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- Prioritize Insulation & External Heating: Use heat tape on hoses and pipes, and consider a specialized heater for your holding tanks. For maximum protection, install an RV skirt to trap heat underneath the vehicle.
- Leverage Internal Heat: Keep interior plumbing warm by opening cabinet doors to improve airflow and allowing faucets to drip slightly to keep water moving.
- Manage Tank Levels Strategically: Never allow holding tanks to reach full capacity (to avoid cracking from expansion) or empty. Aim to keep them around 1/4 full.
- Use the Right Additives: Only use non-toxic pink antifreeze specifically designed for RVs. Conventional green automotive antifreeze is toxic and should never be used in your water system.
- Smart Water Sourcing: Fill your internal freshwater tank in advance to avoid using external hoses during a freeze, as hoses connected to park utilities are highly susceptible to icing.
The tips range from insulation methods and heating tapes to the importance of regular maintenance checks. These tips are designed to be easy to follow and implement, ensuring your RV remains in optimal condition throughout the winter.
In cold seasons, most people put their RVs in storage, while a smaller share of RVers, if traveling, head south to warmer areas. However, a few people embrace the adventure of winter travel.
While traveling in cold seasons has its charm, there are a whole bunch of new things that you will need to consider. A key concern in freezing temperatures is ensuring your piping doesn’t freeze.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is it better to leave my RV holding tank valves open or closed in freezing weather? You should keep your valves closed. While some suggest leaving them partially open, the article warns that freezing water can expand and push waste through the hoses. Keeping valves closed prevents accidental flooding and ensures wastewater does not enter unintended areas.
Q: What is the safest way to thaw frozen pipes without causing damage? If your pipes freeze, thaw them from the drain end and work back toward the tank. Use a hair dryer or heat tape, and keep your faucets slightly open to allow water to flow as it melts. Crucially, never use hot water to flush the pipes, as the extreme temperature difference can cause the plumbing to crack.
Q: How does “RV Antifreeze” differ from the kind used in cars? You must use a specific non-toxic, pink-colored antifreeze designed for RVs, rather than the green antifreeze used in automotive engines. This is added to the holding tanks after they have been drained to prevent any remaining liquid from freezing.
Q: Can I prevent internal plumbing from freezing without special equipment? Yes. You can protect internal pipes by opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warm air from the living area to circulate through the plumbing. Additionally, allowing your faucets to maintain a tiny, steady drip can help keep water moving and prevent ice from forming.
Q: Why shouldn’t I keep my holding tanks empty or full? Water expands as it freezes; if a tank is complete, the expansion can cause the tank to crack. Conversely, an empty tank is more prone to freezing quickly and becoming unusable. The article recommends dumping tanks when they are nearly full, but leaving them approximately 1/4 full to balance these risks.
How To Keep RV Pipes From Freezing While Camping
Use Heat Tape on Hoses and Pipes
The simplest way to prevent your RV pipes and hoses from freezing is to install heat tape. This option is cost-effective, easy to implement, and practical. You should be able to buy heat tape from your local hardware store.
Heat tapes usually detect temperature changes and activate when it gets too cold. For effective operation, secure the heat tape along the length of the hoses with electrical tape. Wrapping electrical tape around the hose every 1 foot should be good enough.
Once installed, the heat tape should prevent your pipes from freezing in various cold temperatures. However, the heat tape requires electricity, so you must ensure it has adequate power.
You may cover the hose and heat cable with insulation tubes and tape for added effect. No matter the expected temperature at the campsite, you should probably wrap your pipes in insulation just in case. Heat tapes work, but they may fail in frigid temperatures.
Use heaters on Holding Tanks
You may protect your holding tanks from freezing the same way you would with pipes. You don’t necessarily need to do this, but if there is a risk of the RV’s holding tanks freezing, make sure to purchase a holding tank heater. It works precisely like heat tape for pipes and hoses.
Keep the Internal Plumbing Warm
You may not have thought about this, but your internal plumbing can freeze in frigid temperatures, especially if your RV isn’t well-insulated.
To keep the internal piping warm, open your kitchen cabinets and bathroom doors to let warm air from other areas in. If the RV interior is warm, it should prevent freezing.
You can keep the water moving in the plumbing for a little more protection. Allowing a small drip from faucets can help prevent freezing not only in the interior plumbing but throughout the RV’s piping.
Use the Internal Freshwater Tank
It’s a good idea to fill your fresh water tank in advance when temperatures are warm to avoid exposing your RV’s piping to cold while filling at a campground. Your freshwater hose will be particularly susceptible to freezing in cold temperatures.
On the other hand, this means you may need to limit your use of freshwater when outdoors in cold conditions. However, you may also need to address this while camping in colder seasons.
Heat areas susceptible to cold
If certain areas in your RV tend to freeze, you may want to add additional heating. An example of such an area is the water compartment, which contains water valves and is typically located in the exterior of the RV. You will need to pay close attention to these areas.
A compact space heater should adequately protect the water compartment from freezing. Choose a heater that can be safely operated in small spaces.
Use antifreeze
Another viable option is to use antifreeze, which should not be added to holding tanks before storing the RV. There is a non-toxic type of antifreeze specifically designed for RV use. It is pink rather than green, like conventional antifreeze.
To use this antifreeze, completely drain your black water and gray holding tanks. Then, add a couple of quarts of the non-toxic antifreeze to the tanks. The amount of antifreeze to add depends on your holding tank size; consult the antifreeze instructions for the correct amount.
Added waste will eventually dilute the antifreeze, reducing its effectiveness. Therefore, using a non-toxic antifreeze may not be the best option for longer trips unless you can safely drain the tanks and refill them with new antifreeze.
Skirt your RV
Skirting the RV is an excellent way of protecting the plumbing beneath it, which is exposed to outdoor cold. However, several challenges must be overcome to ensure adequate heat retention with an RV skirt.
Your RV skirt must be installed snugly to prevent heat from escaping. In addition to choosing a suitable skirt, you will need to select a parking spot that is relatively flat to avoid openings in the RV skirt. You may also use insulation boards to cover them up.
Don’t allow your holding tanks to get empty or full
It would be best to prevent your holding tanks from becoming full or empty.
As you probably know, the volume of water increases when it freezes. The expanding water may crack if the holding tank is full or nearly full. Likewise, completely emptying your holding tanks will increase the risk of freezing. While this doesn’t mean that the tanks will get damaged, they will at least become unusable.
When using your holding tanks, please don’t allow them to fill. When they are close to full, empty them to about 1/4 of their capacity. This will prevent your tanks from freezing.
Keep the Valves Closed
Some people recommend keeping the valves partially open in freezing temperatures. This isn’t the best advice, though—on the contrary, you should keep all your valves closed to prevent flooding.
Freezing water in the RV holding tanks may push some mass out through the hoses, and if the valves aren’t closed, the wastewater will likely end up in an unintended location. To prevent this, keep the valves closed in freezing weather.
Protect connections between the RV and the park’s utilities
You should generally avoid connecting the RV to a park’s utilities in freezing weather, but if you need to use your fresh-water hose, take steps to protect it from freezing.
One option is to protect the hose with heat tape, as described above, or use a heated freshwater hose. Insulating the hose with foam tubes could also be effective. Another way to keep the hose from freezing is to ensure a downward slope from your RV to the drain by mounting sewer hose supports at varying heights.
This video has been included to clarify the topic. Credit goes to Wanderful Revolution
What do you do if your plumbing nonetheless freezes?
No matter how well-prepared your RV is for freezing temperatures, you may still experience freezing in your plumbing. If this happens while camping, you can take a few steps to prevent damage to the RV plumbing and get it back in service.
First, identify where the freezing occurred. Go outside and check the RV sewer hose. Thaw it at the drain and back towards the sewer outlet if it feels frozen. You may use a hair dryer or heat tape to thaw the frozen pipe.
It is best to start at the drain to prevent damage to the tank. When pipes thaw, water may burst out. Clear the area to allow water from holding tanks to flow freely without causing damage.
Due to the same reason, keep the faucets slightly open to allow water to flow freely.
If you also suspect the holding tanks are frozen, check them and place some heating below to thaw them.
Check whether it froze if you haven’t put your freshwater hose away. If it did, turn off the spigot and disconnect the hose from the RV. Defrost the hose the same way you did with the sewer hose. After defrosting the hose, you may open your utility bay and thaw the connection with a hairdryer.
Then, you need to check things inside. Reconnect all hoses and check 
each water source individually to verify it works. This little troubleshooting will help you spot problematic areas that need treatment.
Don’t flush your pipes with hot water, as the temperature change can cause cracks in the plumbing.
Once the RV’s water is running, check its plumbing for leaks. If there are, drain your holding tanks and disconnect your RV from any water sources to address the leak. If you don’t repair it immediately, the situation may worsen.
Final Thoughts
Preventing RV pipes from freezing is a significant concern for RV owners, especially during the cold winter months. Here’s how to keep RV pipes that can be effectively employed from freezing. First, it is essential to insulate the pipes; an additional layer helps retain heat and prevent heat loss.
Secondly, insulating pipes with heat tape can be an effective measure against freezing. It’s an electrically powered device that emits heat to keep the pipes warm.
It’s also beneficial to use antifreeze in your RV plumbing system, but ensure it’s nontoxic and safe for RV use. Using an indoor-safe propane heater can also help keep the RV interior warm enough to prevent freezing. Moreover, keeping the RV in motion can prevent water from freezing because of the constant motion.
Keeping cabinet doors open can allow warmer air to circulate through the pipes. Another efficient method is using a heated water hose, which keeps water flowing smoothly even in freezing temperatures. It’s also advisable to use a skirt around the base of your RV to block cold air from reaching your pipes.
Furthermore, regularly checking weather forecasts can help you be prepared for sudden temperature drops. Lastly, draining your pipes and water tanks can prevent freezing and bursting when temperatures are low, and you are not using water.
Understanding how to prevent RV pipes from freezing requires both proactive and reactive measures. Following these 10 tips will undoubtedly help you maintain your RV’s plumbing system during the chilly winter months.
