How To Make Winter Motorhoming More Enjoyable

[ukfetchfan]

Don’t forget your dogs too! We’ve just come back from Dorset and two nights running my Golden Retriever dogs awoke at 4.20am and then woke me. They sleep in the ‘lounge area’ and were really very cold to the touch despite having carpeted floors, soft padded beds & extra blankets. I quickly bought them each a jumper and the next, and subsequent nights, they slept through.

If we were using the van lots over Winter I would invest in electrical heat pads that go under their bedding- such as you use in a whelping box for the pups. Basically an electric blanket for dogs

Must say it was magical when I took them out for a quick walk to warm them up at 4.20am - no light pollution, cloudless sky and bright, bright stars. We were staying on Charmouth CCC site who have strung fairy lights all along their Dog Walk, which added to the atmosphere

 

[TerryL]

And where, pray will "somewhere warmer" be in Britian in January...suggetstions please|?

Who said anything about Britain?

 

[steve69]

Who said anything about Britain?

Because if you are not already in Europe you cannot now go there! I have reports that motorhomes are no longer allowed on the Ferries & Train.

 

[Casper46]

Because if you are not already in Europe you cannot now go there! I have reports that motorhomes are no longer allowed on the Ferries & Train.

Where has that come from..please

 

[steve69]

Where has that come from..please

A friend of mine made enquiries of the Dover crossings and was told of this very recent development. ALTHOUGH apparently you can still sail to Santander from Portsmouth......go figure.

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[Newt]

We just wap the heating on 23 and chill, we have refillable lpg, solar and B2B and manage quite well.
We made the investment to live in this way while in the van.

 

[steve69]

Not in our experience last winter!

If you run the fridge on gas with the covers still in place, there's a possibility of carbon monoxide forming. Please remove the covers before ignting the fridge gas.

 

[NicandJay]

If you run the fridge on gas with the covers still in place, there's a possibility of carbon monoxide forming. Please remove the covers before ignting the fridge gas.

Bottom as well as the top .... thought you needed to restrict cold air intake at lower temps bug yes understand top one being removed

 

[Nanniemate]

I'd like to do that and am trying to figure out if the ceiling behind the cab seats can hold the weight of curtain rail. There's an aluminium strip runs across the ceiling and immediately next to that is a few little plastic brackets screwed to the ceiling for bed safety net, but whether fitting a rail there instead is wise, does anyone know? I cant' determine if the screws are into rawl plug type things or a sold piece of timber. It's a Burstner with drop down bed.

Silly suggestion but you can get extending curtain poles that are attached to each side

Amazon product ASIN B07DFD7KGM

 

[Herbyventures]

Have to confess that up until now we have been mostly Spring & Summer motorhomers with winter sun in apartments of hotels abroad but now year round motorhoming looks like the only viable option for most of us so please post your tips for how to enjoy this more. We like to pick up extra ideas & it might help some new to this.
To start if off here's a few that spring to mind:
Electric hook up - not sure enough solar to keep our compressor fridge etc. running otherwise
Exterior silver screens - normally use internal Remis blinds & exterior mesh screen covers but the thick silver ones really help
Slippers - fluffy lined "Crocs" picked up in Aldi Germany for €5
Hot water bottles - his & hers
Fleece throws to stay cosy
Electric heater - small Kampa Diddy or Eco Chico oil free heater for serious warmth
Flask - boiling a full kettle & putting the remainder in a flask so quick hot drinks always available (saves gas too if not on EHU!)

As seasoned tent campers, we took most of the above on our first trip in the newly converted van, in September! Had EHU, and we didn't need the Kampa Diddy. (Worth spending all that time stuffing wadding into every crevice) The Silver Screens are amazing - 2 people and 2 largish dogs in a LWB Transit, no condensation at all. We hope to go away again this Autumn.

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[Jaws]

Have to confess that up until now we have been mostly Spring & Summer motorhomers with winter sun in apartments of hotels abroad but now year round motorhoming looks like the only viable option for most of us so please post your tips for how to enjoy this more. We like to pick up extra ideas & it might help some new to this.
To start if off here's a few that spring to mind:
Electric hook up - not sure enough solar to keep our compressor fridge etc. running otherwise
Exterior silver screens - normally use internal Remis blinds & exterior mesh screen covers but the thick silver ones really help
Slippers - fluffy lined "Crocs" picked up in Aldi Germany for €5
Hot water bottles - his & hers
Fleece throws to stay cosy
Electric heater - small Kampa Diddy or Eco Chico oil free heater for serious warmth
Flask - boiling a full kettle & putting the remainder in a flask so quick hot drinks always available (saves gas too if not on EHU!)

Mock Crocs.. be aware they do not generally last anywhere near as long as the genuine ones do
Once the tread starts to disappear be VERY careful of shiny floors such as tiles !!

Given the cost of sites with hook up and the fact you may not always have EHU as an option, invest £90 or so on a diesel heater kit from China off of fleabay
Easy as an easy thing to fit..
I wired mine direct to the leisure.. Advantage is you can fire it up when going along which means no initial big drain from the batteries ( alternator handles it when the engine is running ) and as a bonus, when you are travelling just blip the remote control about 10 minutes before you stop, and the hab area is lovely and toasty

 

[Wombles]

Also have some of these slippers https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/sheepskin-slippers-for-winter-motorhoming-from-£17-27-delivered.208957/ & links & new discount code on our last post

 

[monzer]

If the weather is that cold I would stay at home..I only do sunshine,,BUSBY.

Really? You've never mentioned it

 

[SteveandSue]

If you run the fridge on gas with the covers still in place, there's a possibility of carbon monoxide forming. Please remove the covers before ignting the fridge gas.

Several seasons skiing - always had covers on throughout winter - no problems - fridge should be sealed to interior of van
Covers do not stop any fumes escaping they are reducing the amount of cold air coming into the compartment. There are still gaps just reduced.

 

[busbuddy]

If you run the fridge on gas with the covers still in place, there's a possibility of carbon monoxide forming. Please remove the covers before ignting the fridge gas.

Winter covers dont cover the gas flue
Well they dont on mine so I assume there must be some confusion about what winter covers are or there is more than one style of cover

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[Andy_Elddis125]

Two duvets, bedsocks and a nightcap (on my head) - we had minus 5 in the Spanish plains last March

 

[fiferjim]

Silly suggestion but you can get extending curtain poles that are attached to each side

Amazon product ASIN B07DFD7KGM

No, not silly at all. Trying to avoid making holes and not sure the expandable sprung shower curtain type rail will support thermal lined curtains or it may leave a gap at the top, but could be worth a try, thanks. As a test I have used a slim extending rail for net curtains through the hem of a big fleece and hooked to the safety net brackets with S-hooks. Does make a huge difference, though to be fair, I don't have silver screens. Would be nice to know though if the ceiling would take a nice rail like the type in the van shower.

 

[Jane And Rog]

Buy a van with diesel heating, switch to winter duvet, err, that’s it.

 

[Eddystone]

Buy a van with diesel heating, switch to winter duvet, err, that’s it.

But diesel heating uses a lot of battery energy doesn't it?

 

[RogerIvy]

This thread fascinates me because we didn't do anything different (i.e. no special prep) when we travelled through Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania etc in 2007 Christmas. We were very often below zero and quite often around the -10 mark. Once we were -14 (that was our coldest). I think we simply used up a bit more gas.
Maybe it depends on the van, our's is a P-reg Euramobil with nothing exposed (water, waste, batteries and stuff is in the heated underfloor cavity).
I recall the biggest challenge was starting the vehicle in Bulgaria at the Borovets ski resort when it was pretty cold. The engine ran pretty rough for about 30secs when it finally started. I had about three attempts to start it. We used snow chains at least three times that I recall.
Naive or stupid?

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[kevenh]

Winter covers dont cover the gas flue
Well they dont on mine so I assume there must be some confusion about what winter covers are or there is more than one style of cover

Last Autumn our 3 way fridge was working very badly.
RTFM and found we should try adding covers in temps lower than 8degC
Fitted just the lower grill cover & normal service was resumed

Looking now at our manual for clues to confusion in this thread, some upper vents have a separate flu for gas operation. That does not get covered if using the original vent cover.

Our fridge is this 3-way: Dometic Fridge RM7270L

 

[Jaws]

But diesel heating uses a lot of battery energy doesn't it?

Only at startup
When I fitted ours last year I carried out quite extensive testing
Current draw varied originally between .4 and .5A when running
As it 'broke in' it reduced to .25 to .35A

I did a full install write up of it at the time, which you can find here:

Installing diesel heater in Autotrail Chieftain

Just a few pics I put the heater under the bench seat on the off side, the separate diesel tank went in the tall offside locker, using 2" spacers to ensure it cleared all the pipework and was easily accessible to fill and all the exhaust and inlet pipes down in to ( and out ) of the...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[pandas]

log fire

 

[EuroTrotters]

Christmas Tree

 

[Happy1]

Gaslow and then just run the heater it’s fab

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[Happy1]

If you run the fridge on gas with the covers still in place, there's a possibility of carbon monoxide forming. Please remove the covers before ignting the fridge gas.

Only if not sealed properly

 

[Happy1]

This thread fascinates me because we didn't do anything different (i.e. no special prep) when we travelled through Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania etc in 2007 Christmas. We were very often below zero and quite often around the -10 mark. Once we were -14 (that was our coldest). I think we simply used up a bit more gas.
Maybe it depends on the van, our's is a P-reg Euramobil with nothing exposed (water, waste, batteries and stuff is in the heated underfloor cavity).
I recall the biggest challenge was starting the vehicle in Bulgaria at the Borovets ski resort when it was pretty cold. The engine ran pretty rough for about 30secs when it finally started. I had about three attempts to start it. We used snow chains at least three times that I recall.
Naive or stupid?
View attachment 429907

Yes but quality van to start with!

 

[bobandjanie]

This thread fascinates me because we didn't do anything different (i.e. no special prep) when we travelled through Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania etc in 2007 Christmas. We were very often below zero and quite often around the -10 mark. Once we were -14 (that was our coldest). I think we simply used up a bit more gas.
Maybe it depends on the van, our's is a P-reg Euramobil with nothing exposed (water, waste, batteries and stuff is in the heated underfloor cavity).
I recall the biggest challenge was starting the vehicle in Bulgaria at the Borovets ski resort when it was pretty cold. The engine ran pretty rough for about 30secs when it finally started. I had about three attempts to start it. We used snow chains at least three times that I recall.
Naive or stupid?
View attachment 429907

Our second motorhome was an a class eura mobil, superb quality built for the job.
Our first motorhome was a swift kontiki, and at home we had five ash and three oak trees, and we had to wait for the leaves to fall and clear them before we left for Spain, because it was easier than doing it when we came back after 3 or 4 months and the grass took a long while to recover, so we always travelled in cold wet or snow, one year it was so cold we put cardboard boxes on the floor.
We no longer have that problem living in Spain. Bob.

 

[Swifter]

Has anyone mentioned a dressing gown ?

 

[RogerIvy]

Has anyone mentioned a dressing gown ?

Did you actually mean "onesie"?

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