How to Keep an RV Water Hose from Freezing: Four Methods Ranked by Effort

The four methods at a glance

Whether you call it a camper hose, a fresh-water hose or the water hose to the RV, it freezes for the same reason: water sits in it at an air temperature below 32 °F. Every method either removes the water, slows the cooling or adds heat.

One popular idea is missing from the list on purpose: wrapping pipe heat tape around the hose. Frost King, a maker of such cable, writes: “never install the Heat Cable Kits on any type of hoses.” The page on heat tape for a water hose quotes the rules in full.

Not on the list either: leaving a faucet dripping overnight. The Portland Water Bureau and University of Illinois Extension give that advice for water pipes in a house. We found no maker and no public authority that gives it for a hose or an RV hook-up in open air, where the water also has to drain somewhere without icing up the ground.

Method 1: disconnect, drain and use the tank

A hose with no water in it cannot freeze. Before a cold night, fill the RV's fresh-water tank, shut off the spigot, unscrew the hose at both ends, let it drain and stow it. Then run the RV from its tank and water pump until the frost has passed.

This costs nothing and needs no power. Its limit is the RV itself: whether the fresh-water tank, the pump and the lines are protected from frost depends on how your RV is built. The owner's manual of the RV is the source for that, not this page.

Method 2: insulate

Foam sleeves and wraps slow the loss of heat. They contain no heat source, so the water in a full hose keeps cooling and freezes once it reaches 32 °F. How many hours a sleeve buys is not something any maker states. Insulation is at its best on the rigid parts that nothing else warms, above all the spigot riser. The page on insulated water hoses, foam covers and wraps sorts the products.

Method 3: a heated water hose

For days or weeks of frost with the water connected, this is the product made for the job: a water hose with an electric heating element running along its length, plugged into a 120-volt outlet.

RVGUARD's page gives no rules on cords, GFCI or added insulation, so the steps below lean on the two manuals we could read, from PIRIT and Miller Manufacturing. Other lengths and the better-documented brands are compared on the page about heated RV water hoses, which is the place to choose a model. How a pick is made without trials of our own is explained under how we compare.

Method 4: a heated sleeve over your own hose

A heated sleeve is sold, according to its seller, to go over a water hose you already own. It keeps a trusted drinking-water hose in service. The open points are larger than with a heated hose: for the sleeve in our product data we found no manual, no wattage and no safety listing to check, and the hose inside must tolerate the heat. Details are on the insulation page linked above.

Step by step: hooking up a heated hose

You need: the heated hose, a GFCI-protected 120-volt outlet within reach of the hose's own cord, foam pipe covers for the riser, and the instruction sheet of your hose. Where your sheet says something different from the steps below, the sheet wins.

1. Measure the run and check the outlet

   Measure from the spigot to the city-water inlet along the path the hose will take. Then check that the hose's own power cord will reach a GFCI-protected outlet. The PIRIT manual says “Do not use extension cords”; Miller Manufacturing says “no extension cords.”

2. Lay the hose out fully uncoiled

   Unroll the whole hose, even if the run is shorter. PIRIT: “Do not leave plugged in while hose is coiled as this can cause the hose to overheat and melt.”

3. Connect the hose as its instruction sheet says

   Screw the ends onto the spigot and the inlet in the orientation your sheet gives, and make sure the washer is in place inside the coupling. PIRIT: do not pull or tug the hose with excessive force, as this may damage the fittings and electronic components.

4. Place the thermostat in open, shaded outside air

   PIRIT: “THERMOSTAT MUST BE EXPOSED TO AMBIENT TEMPERATURE”, not in a heated environment or an insulated compartment of any kind. Miller: “Keep exposed to outside air, shaded from direct sunlight.” A thermostat tucked into a heated wet bay keeps the heater off.

5. Plug directly into a GFCI-protected outlet

   PIRIT: “Connect only to a circuit that is protected by a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI).” Miller: “Use a grounded outlet with GFCI.” Do not immerse the plug.

6. Protect the unheated parts

   Cover the spigot riser with foam pipe covers if the campground allows it. The pressure regulator, the filter and the fittings are not heated by the hose.

7. Turn the water on and keep water in the hose

   Check the connections for leaks. Miller: “Keep plugged in during cold weather” and “Do not leave plugged in without water.”

8. Unplug and drain when it is not in use

   PIRIT advises to unplug and drain the hose and remove attachments when it is not in use, and to store it indoors after the winter season.

The parts the hose does not heat

The PIRIT manual says it plainly: “This hose is NOT designed to provide freeze protection to your water supply. Be sure to take appropriate measures to protect your water supply.” On a campsite, that concerns four things:

• The spigot and its riser. They belong to the park. Ask what is allowed. For a bare riser of about 3/4 in, short foam pipe covers^* (paid link) are the simplest insulation; they slow the cooling and add no heat. For the whole hydrant there are insulated bags such as the DEMEDO extended faucet cover^* (paid link), which is 35 in high according to the seller and made for tall RV park hydrants. It also only slows the cooling, and it must not enclose the thermostat of a heated hose (PIRIT, Miller).
• The pressure regulator and the water filter. They hang between spigot and hose, unheated. We found no manufacturer statement on where they should sit in a winter hook-up.
• The fittings at both ends.
• The RV's own inlet, lines and tanks. Those are a matter for the RV's owner's manual.

Typical mistakes

• Leaving the surplus coiled next to the pedestal. See step 2.
• Adding foam over the heated hose. Miller: “Do not insulate the hose.” Do not add insulation unless the maker of your hose allows it.
• Bending a hose that has frozen. PIRIT: “First plug in the hose and allow it to warm before uncoiling or bending.” If water is frozen inside, the manual says to allow several minutes after plugging in before use.
• Expecting a colder rating to fix a hook-up error. Ratings such as −20 °F or −45 °F are maker claims; no listing or manual we reviewed names the method behind them.

Keep reading

What a heated hose adds to the electric bill is worked out under heated hose power use, and whether it may stay plugged in is answered under can you leave a heated hose plugged in. The heated water hose overview explains the product type and the choice of length.