Winter motorhoming

[terryW]

Yes when it's snowed in on the drive!

[Dave225]

looking at the replies the question was slightly ambigous. I suspect what was intended was do you use your motorhome for vacation trips in winter time but many have assumed that day trips thereby using it as a transport to activities and night halt, also count. So, using it to visit relatives and sleeping on the drive has been included. I see little diffrence to driving in a car and staying in the guest room.

 

Looking at the question the way I think it was intended, I would say the main objection to winter motorhoming, or caravanning for that matter is the shortness of the days. When daylight starts about 9.30 am and is dark by 3 pm then there is not a lot of time to do many things and you end up spending the majority of each day inside, which is not the true reason to have either motorhome or caravan. Even heading south to the Med still means short days and unless you are having a 'party time' each night with a crowd, then it is back to watching tv or whatever, the same as you do at home.

 

I do not say do not do it, but it is different from summer, and you need to be aware of that.

[Retread24800]

I know all about the problems of winter 'Vanning on the Med.

Empty Aires

Reduced rates on Campings

No Crowding

Temperatures no better than a British Spring day

Parking beside the beach without the attention of a jobsworth

etc

etc

B-)

 

[Guest pelmetman]

Retread24800 - 2012-08-10 8:40 PMI know all about the problems of winter 'Vanning on the Med.

Empty Aires

Reduced rates on Campings

No Crowding

Temperatures no better than a British Spring day

Parking beside the beach without the attention of a jobsworth

etc

etc

B-)

Ditto B-).......................Once spent Christmas at Dulverton ;-).....................Now discovered winter sun B-).....PS.... you forgot most of the Aires are free in winter :D

[Lobster]

Yes, well for the last three winters anyway.

 

Top tip. Be somewhere south of the alps!

 

Chris

[Sparkle]

We do, in fact most of our longer trips are over the winter months, but then being based here in Spain is a tad different weatherwise.

 

Locally we have quite a few campsites/aires which have a huge ex pat influx around the October and November time until March, over wintering in the sun, making the most of reduced ACSI rates where possible for longer stays. Infact one particular site in Calpe gets booked up usually just after New Year for the following winter! Forward planning indeed!

[Bill48er]

We have full-time motorhoming in mind for the very near future. Re winterising, we have not bought our 'van yet and I'd like some feedback.

1) One line of advice is to go for some German, or at least Continental, made models. But, in giving this advice, is it meant A Class types or all types including all or some C Class?

2) Is it possible in the UK to have a 'van modified for winterising? Here I don't mean a new vehicle. Are some models more suitable than others for this type of work? Would this involve adding a second floor or re-routing pipework above the existing flooring?

3) Apparently there are 3 classes of insulation for winter use. Which if any UK motorhomes come close to the highest classification or offer it as an option?

4) Is there any performance difference between diesel or gas heating?

Bill

[Guest pelmetman]

Bill48er - 2013-04-03 7:03 AM

 

We have full-time motorhoming in mind for the very near future. Re winterising, we have not bought our 'van yet and I'd like some feedback.

1) One line of advice is to go for some German, or at least Continental, made models. But, in giving this advice, is it meant A Class types or all types including all or some C Class?

2) Is it possible in the UK to have a 'van modified for winterising? Here I don't mean a new vehicle. Are some models more suitable than others for this type of work? Would this involve adding a second floor or re-routing pipework above the existing flooring?

3) Apparently there are 3 classes of insulation for winter use. Which if any UK motorhomes come close to the highest classification or offer it as an option?

4) Is there any performance difference between diesel or gas heating?

Bill

 

We intend to full time as soon as we can sell the house *-)............and intend to do it in a 23 year old camper ;-)...............Ours is a UK built camper..........but has been more than adequate for the last 3 years worth of winter trips to Spain B-)............and that includes well below freezing temperatures on the way down and on the way back 8-).................Just one other point diesel heaters use a lot of battery power and are noisy.......gas fires are silent and need no battery power unless using the blown air heating, which I only use when sat on the throne :-D

[Mel B]

Hi Bill - welcome to the mad house! :-D

 

Bill48er - 2013-04-03 7:03 AM

 

We have full-time motorhoming in mind for the very near future. Re winterising, we have not bought our 'van yet and I'd like some feedback.

1) One line of advice is to go for some German, or at least Continental, made models. But, in giving this advice, is it meant A Class types or all types including all or some C Class?

There is no hard and fast rule on this, some A and C class MHs have double floors which makes the more 'winterised' than others, but that's not to say that some without double floors aren't winterised either!

 

2) Is it possible in the UK to have a 'van modified for winterising? Here I don't mean a new vehicle. Are some models more suitable than others for this type of work? Would this involve adding a second floor or re-routing pipework above the existing flooring?

Some UK MHs have the option of being 'winterised' at an extra cost so you may find some used ones already have it, but again, what is meant by 'winterised' is anyone's guess. It is possible to retrospectively winterise some MHs by adding covers to external water tank, or installing tank heaters (waste tank only), and also adding insulation to external water pipes and heating pipes, it could be more difficult however to re-route heating and water pipes from outside a MH so that they all run inside a van as access to the areas to be able to do this could mean a major dismantling of the MH!

 

3) Apparently there are 3 classes of insulation for winter use. Which if any UK motorhomes come close to the highest classification or offer it as an option?

I'm afraid I don't know they answer to that, but others may be able to help.

 

4) Is there any performance difference between diesel or gas heating?

I've had both gas blown air heating and diesel blown air heating, as well as just a gas convector heater, and a gas convector with a blown air option. These are my views on them:

 

Diesel blown air heating (eg Eberspacher, Webasto) is noisy and has a high draw on the battery. It takes the fuel straight from the diesel tank and you can obviously get diesel quite easily, but with the cost of diesel now being so high I'm not sure if this is the most 'economic' form of heating.

 

Gas blown air heating (eg Truma combi) is noisy but soon settles down. You obviously need to have enough gas on board to be able to use it but again this is quite widely available, either by using 'local' cylinders, or having a refillable system fitted. One benefit I've found with this is that as the water and heating are combined in the same unit, even if I don't have the water on, just having the gas heating on actually warms the water up too!!!!

 

Gas convector heating on it's own is very quiet and you virtually silent so ideal if you want to have it on overnight, however it is limited as the heat isn't circulated round the van so you could end up with cold areas.

 

Gas convector heating with blown air facility fitted - this is better as you have the choice of just the convector or blown air along with it.

 

Blown air heating (gas or diesel) is very good at heating the interior quickly and quite controllable especially since you can close off the vents you don't want a lot of air to come out of, however of these I never felt the gas convector version with the blown air facility on was that good at warming the van and the 'dedicated' blown air gas or diesel heating was much better.

 

One other type of heating is Alde wet heating, a bit like a domestic radiator system but in a smaller form, but I've never had any experience of this as I've never bought a van with it in as they are expensive!!! :D

[keninpalamos]

Chloe MMM - 2011-11-23 3:33 PM

 

Hi all, the question was meant to be:

 

Do you use your motorhome all year round? If so, what are your top winter tips?

Yes, Have done now for more than 12 years. Top tip is drive to somewhere warmer than the canaries as it is only 13c there today. Try the costas on the Med. where it was 22c in Andalucía yesterday

[ColinB]

Winter in the UK, we used to put newspaper on the floor to soak the damp then throw it away.

Now we are retired we go south for at least six months and the problem is mostly sand on the floor. Could be worse. Colin.

[Stitches]

Yes have several trips planned, all in cold parts!

[101279]

I have just bought my first motorhome and hope to use it at weekends throughout winter - providing I can get it out of the car park and up onto the main road. I live in Bannockburn, Stirling and winter can be cruel. I read that I should keep the van heated - how do i do this? I have two bottles of red gas and a solar panel on the roof which is attached to two new batteries under one of the seats. I did not get any information about the solar panel, so have no idea how it works. Should i try and hook up to an electric supply?

 

I also have an oil fired De'Longhi radiator which i used to use at home - could i use this in the Motorhome?

[PJay]

Living in Scotland , you should definatly hook up, than you can use your electric rad.Also if you don't have silver screens, I would get some, as the cab can be hard to heat. Just aquired some ourselves and found them great for condensation, and that was in SPAIN. The red (propane ) gas bottles are better for use (which you have) as the work in lower temps. Enjjoy your van

PJay

[Zydeco Joe]

As many people say get and use Silver Screens they really do help to keep the van warm and no condensation on the screen.

We take LED touches to help with not running the leisure battery down as they can be replaced easily.

We use a double sleeping bag plus a nice warm blanket for when its really cold not that it is down in Spain in December & January when we go. B-)

[Clive_Adams]

I agree with all of the above, didn't see the Fridge Vent Covers get a mention? Propane obviously is a must in really cold temperatures, and a good set off Insulating Screens, keeping the van and yourselves warm is the key to it all. Lastly don't forget the carbon monoxide detector (hopefully you'll never use it)