First thing's first, we still haven't frozen to death. Yet. However, the time spent this winter in a cold-ish climate has given some lessons learned and insights on things that you can do if you want to try RVing in the north during the winter.
First thing's first, consider a skirting. In some parts of the country, this is a necessary step. The polar package isn't necessarily going to be enough to protect pipes and tanks. With most RVs, it will go around the bottom edge, and in the case of fifth wheels, enclose the "garage" area. A good skirting company will work with you to custom fit what you need for your rig, and knowing the exact year, make, and model of your RV, including floor plan, will help with some of the initial leg work. You might have some difficulty with the front stabilizing tripod if you use that on a fifth wheel, but otherwise shouldn't be too bad. It'll cost a decent amount, but may just be worth it for the life of your RV.
Second thing is one of the more obvious ones, and that's propane. In the winter months, you will be using a lot. With the RV we have, we go through a 30 pound tank in about three days, although when we had a cold spurt of near zero degrees Fahrenheit, it ended up lasting about a day and a half. Probably the best thing you can do is to have an extra tank of the same size as your others, and keep it in rotation. You don't necessarily want to get stuck around a holiday weekend, such as Thanksgiving, where everything is closed not only for Thursday, but the rest of the week afterwards. There are fuel stations that will dispense it, but they don't have the staff to do it overnight. Make sure it's also a fill and not an exchange, as we've mentioned previously.
The third, but most important, is going to be your hookups. Get used to using your on-board fresh water tank, because you're not going to be able to keep a water hose attached. Heated hoses do nothing for your filters and other connectors, as we've unfortunately busted a spigot during one of our adventures. Don't even try dripping, because it will still bust, not to mention deplete a park's water supply if they're on wells or cisterns. Leave that hookup completely unattached for the majority of the time. Try to find windows of opportunity where the temperature goes above freezing, and fill/dump when you can. In a pinch, if you're storing the hose in a warm place, you might be able to fill when it's close to freezing temperature. However if you're using refillable water jugs like we have been doing, keep your oldest one empty with a funnel so that you can fill your fresh tank in a pinch. Sewer pipes you should be able to get away with keeping hooked if you make sure it's as empty as possible, but you're not going to want to keep the grey open, lest the contents freeze on the way out.
So if your Internal Compass takes you to the north for winter, it doesn't hurt to be prepared, and these tips should help.
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