How to Winterize Your RV: A Step-by-Step Guide to Protecting Your Camper

When the camping season winds down and the cold creeps in, there's one job standing between you and a very expensive spring surprise: winterizing. Skip it, and water left in your pipes can freeze, expand, and crack your plumbing, your water heater, even your pump — turning into a repair bill that'll make you wince. Do it right, and your rig sleeps safe all winter and wakes up ready to roll. Let me walk you through it.

I'm Joe — Squatch to most folks — and today on Camping with Squatch we're going step by step through how to winterize your RV. It sounds intimidating the first time, but it's a very doable afternoon job once you know the steps, and I'll explain the why along the way so it sticks. Whether it freezes hard where you are or you just get the occasional cold snap, if your camper's sitting through winter, this one's for you. Let's protect your investment.

New to the RV life? Don't go it alone. This post lives inside my RV Beginners Guide, where I've rounded up everything I wish someone had handed me on day one.

Why Winterizing Matters (and Why You Can't Skip It)

Here's the simple science: water expands when it freezes. Any water sitting in your pipes, water heater, pump, or fixtures when the temperature drops can freeze, swell, and crack whatever's holding it. Plumbing repairs on an RV aren't cheap, and a cracked line you don't discover until spring can soak your rig before you even notice.

If your camper is going to sit in any freezing temperatures, it needs to be winterized. This isn't a "northern states only" thing — even a few hard freezes here in Tennessee can do damage. So let's get it done right.

Two Ways to Winterize the Plumbing

There are two main methods to protect your water system:

1. The RV antifreeze method — you pump non-toxic RV antifreeze through the entire plumbing system so there's no plain water left to freeze. This is the most common and most thorough, and it's the one I'll walk through in detail below.

2. The blow-out method — you use compressed air to blow all the water out of the lines. It works, but air can leave hidden pockets of water behind, so a lot of folks who blow out the lines also put antifreeze in the drain traps for good measure.

For most owners — especially newer ones — the antifreeze method is the most foolproof, so that's our game plan.

⚠️ Two Safety Rules Before You Start

• Use ONLY non-toxic RV antifreeze — the pink stuff made for drinking water systems. Never use automotive antifreeze; it's toxic and absolutely not safe for your water lines.

• Only drain the water heater when it's OFF, fully COOLED, and not under pressure. Draining a hot, pressurized water heater can scald you badly. Turn it off, let it cool completely, and relieve the pressure (open a faucet) before you touch that drain plug.

What You'll Need

• 2–3 gallons of non-toxic (pink) RV antifreeze

• A water heater bypass kit (most rigs already have one installed)

• A water pump converter kit (lets the pump draw antifreeze from the jug) — or a hand pump

• Basic hand tools, and a wrench/socket for the water heater plug or anode rod

Step-by-Step: Winterizing With RV Antifreeze

Step 1: Empty and flush your tanks. Dump your black and gray tanks at a proper dump station, and give the black tank a good flush. Then drain your fresh water tank.

Step 2: Drain the water heater (safely). With the heater off, cooled, and depressurized, remove the drain plug (or anode rod on Suburban units) and let it drain completely. Opening a faucet helps it empty.

Step 3: Bypass the water heater. Set your bypass valve(s) so antifreeze won't flow into the water heater. Why? Because that tank holds 6–10 gallons, and without a bypass you'd waste a ton of antifreeze filling it. If you don't have a bypass kit, it's worth installing one.

Step 4: Open the low-point drains. Open the hot and cold low-point drain lines to empty the water sitting in your pipes, and open your faucets to help everything drain. Close them back up once they've drained.

Step 5: Pump out the last of the water. Run your water pump briefly to push out remaining water — but don't run it dry for long.

Step 6: Handle your water filter. If you've got an inline water filter cartridge, remove it and bypass it. You don't want to pump antifreeze through your filter.

Step 7: Connect the antifreeze to your pump. Using the water pump converter kit, put the intake hose into your jug of pink antifreeze so the pump pulls from the jug instead of the empty fresh tank.

Step 8: Pump antifreeze through every fixture. Turn on the pump, then open each faucet one at a time — hot side then cold side — working from the fixture closest to the pump to the farthest. Run each until pink antifreeze flows out. Hit them all: kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, outside shower, and the toilet (flush until it runs pink). Don't forget any of them.

Step 9: Fill the drain traps. Pour a cup or so of antifreeze down each sink and shower drain to fill the P-traps, and leave some in the toilet bowl and holding tank.

Step 10: Don't forget the extras. If you've got an ice maker or a water line to the fridge, handle it per your manual. Give the city water inlet a little antifreeze too if your setup calls for it.

That's your plumbing protected. But winterizing is more than just the pipes — let's finish the job.

Beyond the Plumbing: Finishing the Winterizing Job

• Tend to your batteries. Cold weather and a slow discharge are hard on batteries. Either remove them and store somewhere cool and dry, or keep them maintained and charged through the winter. (More in my [RV batteries] post.)

• Keep critters out. A stored camper is a five-star hotel for mice. Remove all food, clean thoroughly, and seal up entry points before you close it down. (My post on [keeping mice out of your RV] is basically a winter-prep checklist on its own.)

• Clean and defrost the fridge and prop the door open so it doesn't grow anything funky.

• Inspect your roof and seals before winter so snow and ice aren't working on an existing weak spot all season.

• Mind your tires — inflate them properly, cover them from the sun if you can, and consider moving the rig occasionally to avoid flat spots.

• Turn off the propane and store the rig covered or under shelter if possible.

• Write down exactly what you did. Come spring, a quick note on your method makes [de-winterizing] a breeze.

DIY or Have It Done?

Winterizing is very DIY-friendly, and doing it yourself once teaches you your rig inside and out. That said, plenty of dealers and service shops will winterize for a fee, which is a fair option if you don't have a good space to work, you're short on time, or you just want the peace of mind your first time. No shame either way — what matters is that it gets done before the freeze.

Squatch Tips: Winterize Your RV the Right Way

Here's what I tell folks tackling this for the first time:

• Don't gamble on the weather. "It probably won't freeze" is how people end up with cracked pipes. If there's any chance of a hard freeze, winterize. It's cheap insurance against an expensive repair.

• Get a water heater bypass kit if you don't have one. It saves you gallons of antifreeze every single year and makes the whole job faster.

• Hit every fixture — the forgotten ones bite you. The outside shower, the toilet, the ice maker line. The fixture you skip is the one that cracks.

• Use the pink stuff only. Non-toxic RV antifreeze, never automotive. Worth repeating because it matters.

• Write down what you did. Future-you, standing there in spring trying to remember, will be grateful.

That's the heart of Camping with Squatch — a little know-how in the fall saves you a world of hurt (and money) in the spring, so your rig's always ready when you are.

Print This: RV Winterizing Checklist

Tape it inside a cabinet for fall shutdown.

Plumbing (Antifreeze Method)

• [ ] Dump & flush black and gray tanks

• [ ] Drain the fresh water tank

• [ ] Drain water heater (OFF, COOL, depressurized first!)

• [ ] Bypass the water heater

• [ ] Open low-point drains (hot & cold); open faucets; then close

• [ ] Run pump briefly to clear remaining water

• [ ] Remove/bypass inline water filter

• [ ] Connect pump to antifreeze jug (converter kit)

• [ ] Pump antifreeze through every fixture until pink (one at a time)

• [ ] Pour antifreeze in all drain traps + toilet/holding tank

• [ ] Handle ice maker/fridge line + city water inlet

Beyond the Plumbing

• [ ] Remove or maintain & charge batteries

• [ ] Remove ALL food; deep clean; seal mouse entry points

• [ ] Clean/defrost fridge; prop door open

• [ ] Inspect roof and seals

• [ ] Inflate tires; cover from sun; avoid flat spots

• [ ] Turn off propane; cover/shelter the rig

Smart Habit

• [ ] Use ONLY non-toxic pink RV antifreeze

• [ ] Write down your method for easy spring de-winterizing

Tuck Her in for the Season

Winterizing isn't the fun part of RV life, I'll grant you — but it's the difference between a smooth spring startup and a heartbreaking (and pricey) discovery when the thaw comes. Take your time, follow the steps, hit every fixture, and use the right antifreeze, and your rig will sleep safe all winter long.

And if you'd rather have someone handle it, or you just want to be shown how the first time so you can do it yourself after — come find me at A&L RV Sales in Christiana, just outside Murfreesboro. Give me a call or text at 615-653-7561, or follow along with Camping with Squatch for straight talk through every season. No pressure, ever — I just want your rig protected and you back out there camping happy come spring.