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Prepare your caravan or motorhome for winter storage

Home Inspiration Prepare your caravan or motorhome for winter storage

How do you pick the right storage facility for your beloved motorhome? And what steps should you take to make your RV winter-ready? We are here to help you out!

Now summer is officially over, it is time to store your motorhome for the winter months. But not before you clean your motorhome thoroughly and take the necessary precautions for a safe winter stay. First things first: let us take a closer look at the different options for storing your RV.

At your home or at your own site

Storing your RV at home comes with lots of benefits. You can easily charge the battery when needed and your vehicle is available whenever you want to use it – no discussing with storage owners necessary.

Sounds perfect, right? This option is only reserved for the lucky ones who own a garage that is large and high enough to house their caravan or camper.

When you are not in the possession of a large garage, you could choose to keep your motorhome on your driveway or in your garden. Note that some local councils have strict rules for this: what is allowed – and what is not – differs between locations.

caravan

Outdoor storage

Outdoor storage facilities are probably the cheapest way to store your motorhome for the winter. However, you should be cautious with this option. Keeping your motorhome outside has many disadvantages.

Keeping your motorhome outside during the coldest and wettest months of the year can result in some unpleasant surprises. Even the tiniest little crack between the bodywork and windows can fill up with water and cause damage when temperatures drop below zero. Besides, there is a risk of leakage, which can cause mold on the inside of your camper. In general: keeping your camper outside will result in it ageing more quickly.

To soften some of the consequences that come from storing your RV outside, you can use a caravan cover. This keeps the RV clean and protects it from rain.

Official caravan storage facility

With ‘official’ caravan and camper storages, we mean storage facilities that are specialised in RV’s. Even though those facilities can be quite pricey, they are often the best guarantee that your motorhome stays in great condition.

Official RV storage facilities have all the necessary permits and are usually very well equipped for storing recreational vehicles in the best way possible. Sometimes there is even a tire pump (very useful!) and a floor made of seashells (keeps moist away). Some storages are associated with a caravan- or camper service, meaning they can also perform maintenance on your vehicle whilst it is in storage.

How much does it cost to store a caravan?

caravan

As you’d expect, it is cheaper to store your vehicle at an outdoor storage compared to keeping it at an official indoor camper storage. Also the size of your RV is an important element. Costs for motorhome storage are often calculated by square meters and time of storage.

Prices for storing your RV can vary a lot. Therefore we advise to compare multiple storage facilities, to find the best deal for you.

Tip: Check how often you can pick up your caravan or camper for the standard fee. Sometimes you have to pay extra if you want to come by more often.

How to winterize your motorhome or caravan

Whichever type of storage you picked, it is important to winterize your RV before you take it there. We share the exact steps you need to take to perfectly winterize your vehicle for storage.

Clean the exterior

Placing your caravan in storage is the perfect opportunity to make it squeaky clean. Make sure you clean the entire exterior of your caravan. Most stains are quite easily to remove at this point. After a long winter in storage those stains can become a lot more stubborn to get rid of.

Especially when you have a rather new motorhome, it is wise to wax it. This layer protects your vehicle from weather influences and keeps dirt from damaging your RV.

thetford bathroom and toilet bowl cleaner 0

Clean the interior

Sweep loose sand, vacuum the floors and wipe all cabinets. Remove water, sand, dust and stains. Remove your pillows and bedding to store it at a dry location (don’t forget to wash the sheets and blankets before you put them back on in spring). For optimal air circulation, it is wise to leave your locker and wardrobe doors open. Also leave fixed beds open, so air can freely circulate.

Treat the pipes of your vehicle with Grey Water Fresh, to reduce deposit formation and to prevent nasty grey water smells.

We finally turn to the bathroom. Use our Toilet Bowl Cleaner for an ultraclean and hygienic toilet bowl, free of hardwater and soil deposits. Then use the Bathroom Cleaner to thoroughly clean all plastic surfaces, inside and outside of the bathroom.

Keep the fridge door ajar

Store your vehicle with the fridge door open. This prevents mold from building up inside your fridge. Thetford refrigerators have an extra feature to leave the door open ajar.

Also, remove all food products from your motorhome. Even canned products that can remain good for long periods. When you have the misfortune of your cupboards getting a little damp in winter, those cans can leave some unsightly rust rings.

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Drain the water tank, pipes and water heater

Most motorhomes have three tanks: the cassette tank, the grey water tank and the fresh water tank. To winterize your motorhome, it is important to drain these tanks completely. Both the cassette and grey water tanks contain bacteria, which have the chance to breed over winter and create a toxic mess by the time you pick up your RV. In addition, any liquid that is left in the tanks has the potential to freeze, which can lead to damage.

Empty your water tank by opening the tap and let the water run until nothing comes out anymore. Make sure both the tank and the pipes are completely empty to prevent all the above. To further empty the tanks you can open an additional disposal at the bottom of your vehicle.

Emptying waste holding tank cassette toilet

Besides your water tank and pipes, it is also important to drain your water heater. If you leave water in, it could freeze and the tank could even burst. Make sure you switch everything off before you drain the water heater. After it is cooled down completely, you can open the drain plug at the bottom of the tank. Often, an electric safety button is installed in the warm water system that empties all the water automatically at six degrees Celsius or with an empty battery.

Maintenance

Nothing is worse than picking up your caravan after a long winter, only to find it with a nasty smell all over the vehicle. That is why you want to pay some serious attention to cleaning your waste holding and grey water tanks.

Start by thoroughly draining and cleaning the waste holding tank. By using our Duo Tank Cleaner Concentrated, you can easily clean both the waste holding tank as well as the grey water tank. The product removes limescale, encrusting and grease deposits and cleans the technical parts inside the tank as well. Not only will this cause a welcoming smell when you pick your RV back up, it also prolongs the lifespan of the tanks.

Using Duo Tank Cleaner Concentrated works as follows:

  1. Combine the right amount with warm water and leave it in your waste holding and grey water tanks.
  2. Leave this mixture in your tanks for about 24 hours. You can shake it now and then, or drive around with your vehicle, to make sure the product reaches all surfaces.
Repeating these steps twice per year (in the middle and at the end of each season) prevents limescale from building up that in turn prevents the tanks from leaking.

Thetford Duo Tank

Seal Lubricant Spray

Use Thetford Seal Lubricant Spray for the periodical care, protection and lubrication of seals, locks, hinges, awning rails, bicycles, etc. The spray has been specially developed for our toilets and is absolutely safe to use.

  • Thoroughly lubricates and protects toilet seals from drying out
  • Ensures the smooth operation of Thetford toilet valve blades
  • Safe to use on all types of plastic and rubber

Thetford seal lubricant

After completing all maintenance on the waste-holding tank, open the blade and loosen the cap of the pour-out spout to ventilate the waste-holding tank. Keep the blade open during the storage period. The waste-holding tank can remain in its original position in the vehicle while in storage.

Take safety precautions

A clean caravan or motorhome is nice, but a safe RV is way more important. That is why we advise you to take the following safety measures while preparing your RV for winter.

Store the gas cylinder

Gas cylinders are best kept at home or at a special area in your storage location. Also, make sure to cover the gas pressure regulator with a plastic bag to prevent your gas pipeline from filling up.

Store the battery

Most modern caravans have a mover that works on a battery. Even though you are not using the battery, it slowly drains during the winter months. Therefore, it is smart to remove the battery from your vehicle and take it home to charge. Be mindful that in some cases, an alarm can go off when you remove the battery. Please do inform yourself about the particular situation of your vehicle.

If you have a – fully charged – lithium-ion battery, it may stay in the caravan. The same goes for a modern gel-battery. But if you do not mind the extra effort: even in those cases it is wise to take the battery from your caravan.

Heavy lead batteries cannot be left in your caravan. Those batteries need to be on a trickle charger all winter. Most storage facilities do not offer this service, which means you should take the battery home to keep it full.

Inflate the tyres

Just like with batteries, the tire pressure of your RV drops after a while. Inflate your tires just a bit more than you would normally do: about 0,2 to 0,4 bar more. This prevents the tires from getting flat at the bottom. Travelling with flat tires is not quite comfortable and also not safe.

caravan

Get ready for winter

Check, check and double check. Have you picked a suitable storage location and taken all necessary precautions to winterize your motorhome? Congratulations, you are about to enjoy a careless winter knowing your beloved camper or caravan will be in perfect shape when you come back to pick it up.

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