Winterizing has one goal: no water anywhere it can freeze and split. Everything else is housekeeping. Here is the order of operations that works for almost any rig.
Water system (the part that matters)
- Drain everything: fresh tank, water heater (power OFF and water cool first — pull the plug/anode), and both low-point drains. Open all taps to help lines empty.
- Bypass the water heater so you do not fill six-plus gallons of it with antifreeze.
- Pick your method:
- Antifreeze method: pump RV-specific (pink, propylene glycol) antifreeze through the system until every fixture — hot and cold, shower, outside shower, toilet — runs pink. Pour a cup in each drain trap and the toilet bowl.
- Compressed-air method: blow out the lines at low pressure (commonly ~30–40 psi) through a blow-out plug, fixture by fixture, then still antifreeze the traps.
- Empty and rinse black and grey tanks at a dump station; leave a little antifreeze in each.
Batteries, fuel, propane
- Either remove batteries to a cool indoor spot on a maintainer, or keep them charged in place — a discharged lead-acid battery freezes; a charged one usually will not.
- Stabilize fuel and run it through (motorhomes/generators); exercise the generator per its manual.
- Propane off at the tank.
Interior & exterior
- Remove every scrap of food; defrost the fridge and prop the doors open.
- Deploy rodent defenses — steel wool in penetrations, traps, no cardboard left inside.
- Wash the roof and check seals (see the roof guide) before the tarp or cover goes on; use a breathable cover, tires shaded, vents cracked per cover design.
Reverse it in spring: flush the antifreeze until taps run clear, sanitize the fresh system, un-bypass the heater, and run the first-trip shakedown.
Before your next trip: run the free 47-item pre-trip checklist. Gearing up? The Camp-Ready Gear Guide ($17) covers 50 picks by budget tier, and the RV Life Launchpad course ($97) walks the whole system from rig choice to life on the road.