By Cheri Sicard
The team from All About RVs has produced a handy winter camping video comparing a commercially available heated RV hose versus a DIY heated hose you can make yourself. When it comes to winter camping, water and plumbing are always major worries, so give this video a watch if you are planning on doing any cold weather RVing.
The video shares some additional tips for keeping you warm in your RV when the temperatures dip below freezing.
Of course, the best option is to avoid freezing weather altogether, but that is not always an option.
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A commercial heated RV hose
The first solution covered, a commercially available heated RV hose, is, of course, the easiest. Just purchase the hose, plug it in, and it will warm the hose so the water does not freeze.
A thermostat tells the hose when to click on so it does not waste energy by running constantly. It’s easy to use and easy to handle. After trying several brands, the video reports good luck with all of them.
The major negative to the commercial heated hose comes down to price. It will cost SUBSTANTIALLY more than making your own. The other potential negative is, if it breaks, it’s not really repairable and you are left without a backup.
If price is not an object, a commercial heated RV hose can be an effective and simple solution.
A DIY heated hose
But the folks in the video also had great luck with the DIY version. Sure, a DIY heated hose is a bit bulkier than its commercial counterpart, but it works well and is an economical solution to a common winter RVing problem.
It’s also far easier to use a water pressure regular at the faucet with the DIY heated hose, something that can present a big challenge with commercial heated hoses.
Making a DIY heated RV hose is not difficult. It involves taping a heating element along the hose and then putting insulation around it all. Another advantage to making it yourself is that it allows you to make the custom length of hose that you need without extra length.
Because you can replace the components, the DIY heated hose is repairable should anything ever go wrong with it.
What can go wrong with a heated hose?
Speaking of that… What can go wrong? With either method, if your electricity goes out you will be out of luck and the water will freeze.
You will not want to coil either hose as that can concentrate the heat in one area, which is not desirable.
Also, whichever way you go, be sure to plan ahead and prepare your heated hose BEFORE you actually need it.
So, watch the video and see what type of heated hose is right for you. Winter is almost here!
##RVDT1964
When we got our rig in 2009, I made a DIY heated hose, and we used it a total of four times, for overnight trips. When we really needed it, for a three month stay during the Oklahoma winters, it sprang a leak inside my water bay three days after I flew home, (the wife was helping family). She went to CW and got a CAMCO heated hose, and it worked flawlessly for five weeks before it started leaking (she left the bay door open, removed the drop light to keep the bay warm and temps dropped to 10F…). She also skimped on the insurance.
She took the hose to an industrial hose repair facility that replaced the end fitting with a heavier gauge brass piece (one with an internal o-ring, not a machine pressed piece) and it worked like a champ the rest of the winter. She also learned NOT to leave the stinking water bay open.
What we’ve finally done if it’s going to be really cold out is to fill our onboard tank with water. They are heated (or so they say . . .) and we just use that for our water. Besides, our water pump almost always has better pressure than most RV parks.