5 Tips and Tricks for Winter RV'ing

We get asked a lot about how to best prepare your RV for the witner. Below are a few tips and tricks that we have picked up along the many years of experience.

Tip 1: The little heater that keeps you flowing

If you are going to be spending the winter in the deep freeze (North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, etc.) you would be well served to put a small electric heater under your RV and inside the RV skirting (Click here for a link to Amazon). Just having it under your RV and able to plug in and turn on is a huge help and here is a small list of things to keep in mind with this tip:

1. For the best results you will want to glue or screw (carefully) the heater to a piece of plywood or particle board. The reason for this is that many electric heaters have a safety switch that will turn the heater off when you trip on the cord and knock it over. This is good if you have it in your house and bad if you wake up to frozen pipes.

2. This sorta goes without saying, but... make sure that the heater is placed near your water pipes. This is usually towards the back of the trailer and will help keep them from freezing.

3. DO NOT USE A PROPANE HEATER! These can cause a build up of carbon monoxidea and cab be extremely dangerous!

Tip 2: In with the wet, out with the dry

A common problem when staying in an RV for the winter is ice accumulating on your windows. It is amazing that you can be warm and comforatble in the RV And have two inches of ice on your windows. This phenomonon is not only anoying but can be bad for your windows. This is illustrated well by this guy's video:

What is happening is that the humid air you breathe out comes in contact with the freezing window and it immedietly freezes. The best way we have found to combat this is to decrease the humidity in your camper using a dehumidifyer (Click here for a link to Amazon).

This one is made for RV's and while it might not completely eliminate the problem, it significantly decrease the problem.

Tip 3: Keep those home fires burning

This one may sound like a luxury but after a long winter day, it can be a sanity saver, it's called, a heated bed cover (Click here for link to Amazon).

They come in a variety of sizes and HIGHLY recomend the dual temerpature control. If there is one place you should be happy, and get what you want, it should be in bed :)

Tip 4: RV Skirting!

Yes, this is what we do, and yes, it is almost universally agreed upon that you need it!

Some people do opt to forgo the skirting and live with frozen pipes, no running watter, and freezing cold floors. Yes, the floors will get cold. From our experince even 3 wool socks and slippers will not stop the heat from being puilled from your feet and turning your toes to icicles.

We do offer a unique system and would be happy to give you a free quote over the phone (855-937-5478).

Tip 5: Heated water hose

The skirting will keep your tanks from freezing but you are going to need to be able to get the water to your RV.

There are a variety of heated hoses to choose from but most don't add any heat line to wrap your brass fittings and keep the connections from freezing. We have remedies that problem with additional heat line to wrap the attachment.

Also, many hoses you have to turn off when summer comes around or the excess hear will melt your hose. We have a thermostatically controlled hose that will keep you flowing all winter and will automatically turn down the temperature when summer comes around to save the hose and money on the electric bill. (Click here for link to hose)