[terry and jo]

This will be our first ever winter in an RV. As many of you know, Jo and I are "static" full-timers here in the Oklahoma City area. As such, we have the luxury of making our hookups more permanent than traveling full-timers. What I need from everyone is an idea as to whether my thought process is overkill or underkill.

My thought was to buy the polyethelene foam tubes at Lowes that are split down the length on one side of the tubes, put our two hoses (one fresh water and one black tank flushing hose) into separate tubes, and then put both of those assemblies into something like a 4-inch PVC pipe to add some more protections to tubes and hoses as well as add some additional "dead space" as insulation.

The PVC/hose/foam tube assembly would then run from our underground faucets with some kind of insulated box placed over the faucet enclosure, allowing the end of the 4-inch PVC to be covered with that box. Then the end of the PVC/hose/foam tube assembly at the fifth wheel would be placed up into the bottom access hole of the utility compartment with some insulation added within that compartment.

In the past, we've been known to wrap plumbing with heat tape and wrapped insulation for protection from the cold. However, I don't think it would be a good idea to put the heat tape directly onto the hoses.

Would I have problems with heat tape placed within the 4-inch PVC to help add some heat without damaging the polyethelene foam tubes? Or, would all the above without the heat tape be sufficient?

OR, are there any other ideas as to how to protect the water hoses without having to take them up when it freezes?

All of our advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. A happy wife is one who can take a shower EVERY morning.

Thanks in advance.

Terry