What Should You Do If Your RV Furnace Dies in the Dead of Winter?

The repair bill could reach thousands.

In August 2024, I brought my RV home for the first time in four years. I parked Jasmine next to the house and prepared her for her new suburban life.

I’m not sure how many RVers can attest to this, but mine only seems to have issues when she’s parked. When we travel and move often, nothing ever seems to go wrong. So, of course, within a week of parking, the hot water system stopped working.

It cost hundreds of dollars to get a diagnosis and then several hours for my Dad and I to fix it. And let me tell you:

YouTube videos are very deceiving. Nothing is ever as easy as they make it seem for RV repairs.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

The same week that winter rolled into Georgia, my furnace broke. My parents had gone in to turn on the heat and told me that the air was on, but it wasn’t warm.

My heart sank. Poor Jasmine has never weathered the low temperatures Georgia gets. The beauty of being on wheels is that she has spent every winter in some of the warmest spots in North America.

I called an RV repair company to fix her, but they said they needed extra parts. That meant Jasmine would need to weather the first week of winter without her furnace.

But our troubles didn’t stop there.

The company then bought the wrong parts. So, Jazzy went through weeks of winter cold without her furnace. Weeks that got so cold that our yard was covered in snow—yes, in Atlanta!

Your RV can sustain severe and costly damage without its furnace.

The RV repair company told me the risk of damage was high without my furnace. They recommended winterizing the RV while I waited for them to get the parts—but I would have to pay for it. I pointed out that we only needed to winterize because they had made a mistake.

Here are some of the potential risk factors:

• Your RV water lines could freeze and burst once the temperature drops below 32°F (0°C) for a few hours.

• Even if you use a space heater inside the RV, the exposed lines (such as outside on the underbelly) could freeze and burst.

• Even if you turn the water off and drain your water lines, your boiler usually retains water and could get damaged if it freezes.

Here’s how we’ve avoided any damage to Jasmine.

Jasmine was without a furnace for about a month of winter and suffered no injuries—beyond her already totaled furnace. So, how did we keep the ole girl safe and sound? And what can you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

First, let me point out that I am not an RV technician. I also want to say that the repair company felt certain my plan would not work, though the RV technician thought it had a solid chance of success. So, you can try these alternatives at your own risk.

All that said, here’s what we did. Many of these were redundant, but we felt it was better to over-prepare in case something failed instead of doing just the bare minimum. You may only need to do two to protect yours.

1. I installed smart sensors in the RV.

I installed sensors to monitor temperature and water leaks before I left Atlanta. I know immediately if the temperature drops below a certain point or the RV springs a leak.

My alarm company also knows and will call me. I know this because the temperature dropped once since I fixed the furnace. We ran out of propane, and the alarm company called me three times.

I highly recommend installing something similar in your rig. That way, you always know the temperature. Even if you’re currently inside the rig, alerts like this can keep you safe.

2. We installed a heated water hose.

One tried-and-true way to reduce the risk of your water line freezing in an RV is to use a heated water hose. These hoses have a thermostat and heating element. When the temperature drops, the water starts to heat up in the line. This prevents the hose from freezing and can also reduce the risk of water freezing in the RV lines.

3. We dripped the water lines.

Heated water hoses are a winter staple for RVers, but they don’t fully solve the problem if the RV isn’t in use. The water sitting in the lines further away from the heated hose could freeze.

To counter this risk, we chose to drip the water lines. In a house, you only drip the cold side, but we let the hot side drip as well in the RV. Why was that?

As I mentioned earlier, your hot water heater can freeze. It’s usually installed with external access, so it’s not as insulated as the rest of the rig and is more susceptible to cold weather. Turning the water heater on and dripping the hot line kept the water moving through the boiler.

We also opened the valves to ensure the tanks didn’t overflow from the dripping. Be sure to open your black tank if you drip the lines in your bathroom, as campers often run the bathroom faucet to the black tank.

4. We used a space heater.

Space heaters are a great way to heat up the RV, but be sure to put it in a safe location. You should also only use space heaters that turn off automatically if they fall over. Homes burn down every year in Atlanta because of space heaters, so keep the risks in mind.

If you use a space heater, open the cupboard doors in the RV to ensure the heat gets into the spaces where your water lines are usually concealed. For example, I have water lines under my kitchen and bathroom cupboards.

How much did I pay for the furnace repair?

The total cost of repairing my furnace in Atlanta was about $2,000. This involved the cost of labor and parts. It also took them three trips to get it done.

It would never cost that much in the West—especially if I got the repair done south of the border. However, RVing isn’t as common on the East Coast, and the prices reflect that rarity.

Hopefully, you find this information helpful. But even better, I hope your RV never has to weather any winter storms without its furnace!

I will say that even though the furnace is up and running, we still drip the water lines. We got a second round of heavy snow in Atlanta this week, and the temperature dropped to 16°F (-9°C) over the weekend. You can never be too safe with $2,000 repair bills lurking in the shadows.

I hope you and your RVs are all staying warm wherever you are in the world!