Seasonal Storage Prep — DIY Winterize

Summer's ending. Winterize now or pay a dealer ninety dollars later. Here's the full DIY in fifteen minutes.

Three jobs — drain everything, bypass and pump antifreeze, protect everything else from cold.

Step one — drain everything. Fresh tank drain valve. Hot water heater bypass and drain plug. Low-point drains, hot and cold. Run every faucet open until dry.

Step two — water heater bypass. Three-valve setup behind the water heater. Bypass means the antifreeze doesn't go into the tank — it skips it. Saves you eight gallons of antifreeze.

Step three — RV antifreeze (the pink stuff, propylene glycol, not automotive antifreeze) into the fresh tank or hand-pumped through the system. Run every faucet, hot and cold, until pink comes out. Then flush a couple times with antifreeze in the toilet. Don't forget the outside spigot.

Step four — black and gray tanks. Pour a cup of antifreeze in each. Just to keep the dump valve seals from freezing.

Step five — battery. Either remove and store indoors, or trickle-charge with a maintainer all winter.

Step six — propane off. Refrigerator off. Anything liquid out of the cabinets (drinks, dish soap, cleaning supplies — they'll freeze and burst).