If you want to join in on the fun of sparkling snow, peaceful campgrounds, and beautiful sights, pack up your RV and head for a winter trip. Before heading out though, you should prepare yourself and your RV for a comfortable winter trip. Tons of tips and information about how to get prepared RV Living in cold weather. Take a look at these Travel tips for RV Living.
RV living and traveling is quite a breeze during the summer. However, it’s an entirely different experience during the winter. With harsher environments and weather conditions outside, you need to prepare yourself and your RV to take on the cold weather. Unless you prepare yourself well, you could have a horrible living experience, end up with a terrible trip, or worse, damage your RV.
Therefore, take careful measures to ensure that you prepare yourself and your RV well for cold or inclement weather living. To simplify things, we’ve put together this short guide on preparing for cold weather RV living.
Preparing your RV for Cold Weather RV Living
When preparing for cold weather RV living, the key thing to remember is keeping all internal systems and plumbing from freezing over. Additionally, you want to keep the living space’s temperature comfortably warm throughout your trip. Therefore, before heading out, ensure your RV is in the best state and is ready to face the harsh cold weather. Here’s how you should prepare your RV for cold weather living to ensure that it can hold its own against a harsh winter climate –
Install Insulation or Upgrade Existing Insulation – Keep the Interior Warm
Perhaps your biggest challenge will be keeping the RV’s interior, namely the living space, warm and toasty regardless of how cold the weather outside becomes. Therefore, you’ll need to pack your RV with insulation before heading out on a winter trip to keep your family warm within the living space.
In addition to keeping the occupants warm, a well-insulated RV protects many vital components of the vehicle. And so, insulating the base or underbelly of the RV is crucial before heading out on a winter trip. It will also prevent your underlying pipes from freezing over or drawing heat from the RV’s interior living space.
Here are some of the best ways you can insulate the interior of your RV for cold-weather living –
- Seal all doors and windows so that you don’t end up leaking air or moisture through the cracks.
- Consider covering your windows with a thin film or, better yet, a reflective foil to trap heat within the living space.
- Hang drapes over the RV to protect against cold winds.
- ● RV skirting keeps cold air away from the underbelly of your RV. Here, you run the risk of freezing your water tanks or supply pipes. Therefore, skirting can help protect them from harsh winter conditions.
With these insulation measures in place, you should have a toasty living space within your RV. Furthermore, you’ll be protecting all vital vehicle and engine components.
Prevent your Plumbing from Freezing Over
Use heat tape to protect your water supply pipes and hoses. These are at high risk of freezing up when the RV is in harsh weather conditions. To further protect your plumbing, you should consider adding foam to add a layer of protection against the cold. Additionally, you can use the internal storage tank for freshwater instead of connecting your fresh water hose to the campsite. Therefore, you can safely connect and disconnect the hose pipe without worrying about it freezing over.
Prepare the RV Furnace for Cold Weather RV Living
Before heading out on your trip, ensure that your RV furnace is in an excellent working state. If you end up camping in harsh weather, you should have a professional RV technician verify your furnace’s state before you head out on your trip. Furthermore, you should ensure that your furnace is clean and free from all external debris or dirt. Finally, make sure all air pathways are clear and allows unobstructed airflow.
To keep your family extra warm in the harshest weather conditions, you can bring along space heaters or portable heaters to keep the temperature comfortably high. However, when using these heaters, you will have to bring along a dehumidifier. These types of heaters tend to add excess moisture to the interior air of the RV. This moisture can, in turn, damage internal vehicle components. Therefore, make sure you prepare yourself to keep the air in your living space warm and dry throughout your trip.
Conclusion
The key to a successful winter RV trip is ensuring your interior stays warm, and your plumbing does not freeze over. Once you’ve used our short guide to prepare yourself for cold weather RV living, you can enjoy the rest of your trip. Remember to pack plenty of clothes and gear for the trip to keep yourself warm when you’re outside your RV, enjoying the outdoors.
