12V Heat Cable for Water Lines?

Riverbug

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Jun 30, 2021
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Location
Minnesota
Anyone have a good recommendation on 12V heat cable for water lines?

When we go south in winter from MN we typically leave mid-December and return end of February, and we regularly use the RV in early May and late October in MN so we experience a variety of sub freezing temps. I have done a number of mods such as adding heat pads to all the tanks, added Reflectix to the belly, modified the low point drains so they are up in the belly and are not exposed underneath, adjusted the duct that pushes heat from the furnace into the belly, etc.

I thought about a adding a bilge heater to the belly but they are not cheap, and I'd prefer not to run 120V to it. 12V heat cable seems like a good idea, but I don't see many options that have reviews. Wondering if anyone has tried it and how it worked. It's certainly cheap enough that I could buy some and test it since temps are well below freezing here now. Thought I'd ask first...thanks.
 
I found "self regulating heat tape" on Amazon some years ago. It's cool stuff! (no pun intended)

There's 2 copper lines with a special plastic between them. As the temp drops the plastic becomes conductive and heats up. So this stuff only heats where it's cold! I ran it along some lines to a rear kitchen, then wrapped both hot and cold lines with household pipe insulation. 3/4" size holds both 1/2" pex and the heat tape. The stuff sucks power so I split 30' into 2 ~9A circuits.

We haven't done much dry camping in snow since then. It worked well at home for Christmas guests. I did some other insulation improvements at the same time so it's not a true comparison.
 

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