Winter Storage

[BellaC]

This will be the first winter for us owning a motor home and I’m worried about damp and frost during the winter months when it’s not being used. Where we store it we don’t have access to EHU. We have an Alde water boiler and I wonder if I could set this to come on for 1 - 2 hours on a low heat in the evening and morning to help with the temperature and dampness. We have 200w of solar panels which would hopefully keep the leisure batteries top up, along with 2, Gaslow 11kg gas bottles.
Am I being stupid or is this an option?

 

[David and Sally]

Drain all the water down and leave it. They can be stored long periods like this as they do at dealers.

Leave window blinds open to let any sun warm the inside.

Occasionally check tyres and batteries. If possible take the batteries out for the occasional charge.

Others will be along to add their experiences.

 

[PP Bear]

None of the vans on dealers forecourts are heated in any way, so I wouldn’t with yours either. Park up, drain every single drop of water that could possibly freeze, including draining the shower hose and head (expensive mistake, trust me), drain water heater, fresh and grey and leave all taps open to air. Some say crack a window slightly if safe and possible, but I don’t, as there’s plenty of airflow designed into the vans. Turn off gas, empty every single item of food from inside and seal up your bedding in vacuum bags, or remove indoors. I cover my bed and sofas with throws.

Then take it for a drive monthly to rotate brakes, tyres and get the oil splashed around the assemblies. Jim does a good guide on parking up for winter and worth a read.

Also had one of these in the van for 10 years now and I swear by how good it is and it still amazes me just how much moisture it gets.

 

[Lenny HB]

Don't do anything with ours apart from if we haven't used for a few weeks I take for a drive.

 

[tonka]

The great heat it or not debate starts

I'm in the no heat camp and have been for 20 years and 8 vans.
Just drain water, open cupboards for airflow, If cloth cushions lift them up or take those out for house storage.
Dont bother with de-humidifiers as the vans have air vent and all you do it take mositure out the air which is then replaced as soon as new air come in.

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[David and Sally]

The great heat it or not debate starts

I'm in the no heat camp and have been for 20 years and 8 vans.
Just drain water, open cupboards for airflow, If cloth cushions lift them up or take those out for house storage.
Dont bother with de-humidifiers as the vans have air vent and all you do it take mositure out the air which is then replaced as soon as new air come in.

What he said

 

[the1andonly]

from what i wrote last time
We do a number of things
1 drain water all tanks clean , grey, boiler and then blow out any excess in the pipework with my home made floe system (one in the resources area).
2 remove all dry cell type batteries (not SB and LB)
3 remove all fresh and dry food, tins ok.
4 set up ventilation, crack open vents to allow flow but not water ingress
5 set LB to winter settings on BMV712 (SB all ready sorted with solar all year around) Both have bluetooth monitoring from inside the house.
6 try to remember to switch main panel off (sometimes dont bother)
7 never waste electric trying to heat it up.
8 Remove clothing (from cupboards not me silly).
9 Change bedding ,remove pillows.
10 lower bed a tad (electric bed in ceiling) to allow air flow.
11 Pump tyres up .
12 chock wheels and Take handbrake off
13 tax it for 1 month time monthly 30mile runs to occur twice in a calendar month and sorn for 2months either side of it.
14 must be at least 2 more
15 lockit up and put on all yellows
16 sacrifice a virgin.
17 use it if you can and repeat steps 1 to 15. (virgins at a premium)

 

[FrankNicklin]

Just bought ours and it will be storage. Its an oldie, but plan to drive it at least once or twice a month through the winter just to keep it moving. Even just a 20 mile potter around to keep the brakes free and the tyres rotating. All water removed and will remain that way unless we decide to actually go away in it.

 

[Pausim]

No heat. Condensation forms when air cools because cold air holds less moisture than warm air. A couple of hours of heating is the very thing I would try to avoid. I have had no problems whatsoever leaving my Carthago unheated all winter.

Edit. Also I don’t use a cover, it just obstructs the ventilation. If Carthago had wanted me to use a cover it would have been on the options list when I bought the motorhome.

 

[Brains]

We are looking for a 'shower cap' type cover, as we are parked under oak trees.

Within 2-3 weeks the roof will go black again and it takes about an hour to scrub off enough of the black stuff to then start to clean the roof.

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[Pausim]

We are looking for a 'shower cap' type cover, as we are parked under oak trees.

Within 2-3 weeks the roof will go black again and it takes about an hour to scrub off enough of the black stuff to then start to clean the roof.

Understandable but I think the roof lights are part of the ventilation.

 

[BellaC]

Thanks for all your advise, will leave the heating off

 

[hja]

Draining all the water is the most important. We take the shower head off the shower tube and leave the tube hanging down. Dont forget to drain boiler. We also have some other water pipes under a false floor that need draining. Leave taps open in mid temp position. If you can drain at home driving to your storage will help to disturb any remaining water. had a problem with the bathroom washbasin tap last winter - it froze somehow and pushed the pipe off under the washbasin. Fortunately the tap was OK (that would have been expensive) Been advised to take the little black thing off the end of the tap - the thing that makes it spray slightly. Will do that this winter.
Our 120w solar keeps the battery up to charge. But we do check it all out every so often, and we do take it for a run occasionally.

 

[MisterB]

I'm in the NO humidifier camp. Of course you're always going to get the moisture from the natural air circulation but leaving the windows uncovered will help dry any moisture.
One thing extra to consider is whether you can keep rodents out - so make sure there are no foodstuffs left in the van, especially crumbs under seat cushions !

 

[ontheroadagain]

No heat for us. This was the temperature INSIDE our motorhome during a cold snap last December. No damp and no frost damage as it was well drained down.

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[andyelbac]

No heat for us. This was the temperature INSIDE our motorhome during a cold snap last December. No damp and no frost damage as it was well drained down.

View attachment 821042

Never thought I would ever have Control Panel envy! That's a lovely looking thing. Think I could just sit and stare at that for hours.....looks like you could command it to move to warp speed !