Winter caravaning
Well we have our CL booked for the 23rd to the 3rd @ Looe, so now all we need to do is make sure we ahve everything prepared for caravaning in the colder winter months, as its our first time I'd like to ask your opinion on what we need to do.
We have plenty of thermals, warm socks and jumpers packed. Boots with sheepskin inner soles, gloves and thick coats, (including a spare incase it gets too wet). We have also bought thermal jacket for our Waterbottle and pump,
we have a gas kettle incase of power cuts, and a snow shovel. We have plenty of blankets and thick warm bedding as well.
We know we still need to buy a bucket for waste water. But here are our questions we would like advise on please.
* Can anyone recommed anything else that are essentials for caravanning in the winter
* Whats the best way to keep the condensation down in the awning. It is a vango air awning.
* Is anti freeze needed in the toilet or will the heating from the caravan keep it from freezing.
Thanks for reading and for any advice you can give us in advance.
Hope you all have an enjoyable holiday season no matter what holiday you are celebrating if any.
Lorn and Ken
Comments
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Don't know what gas you use but for cold weather you need propane (red bottle) rather than butane (blue bottle).With cold weather you will most likely get some condensationin the awning just give as much ventilation as pos without making it to drafty.Our
Vango even has condensation in summer so hope for the best.Good luck and enjoy Christmas in the van.Mike
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Don't forget that Looe will be a fair bit warmer than East Yorks.
Check out the BBC weather app for temps and it's often a couple of degrees warmer than that shows. For instance, I'm not far from Looe and the weather app shows 13° for today (Wednesday) whereas the reality is 16°.
You're unlikely to freeze although nothing's impossible
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Don't just think about freezing - Christmas is quite often fairly mild - it's February when it invariably gets really cold. Windy and wet are more likely - have you got storm straps for the awning for example and since you're on a CL, if there isn't a hard
standing, be prepared for a wet soggy field!! We're not venturing as far away as you - just a short drive to one of our favourite CLs at Flamborough over Christmas and New Year. Enjoy it - it's a lovely time to be away.1 -
K&L are you not tough northeners in vests? Seriously at Looe it will be relatively mild.
If the CL has a tap near the pitch it may be worth using a hose to feed the caravan rather than the aquaroll (other water containers are available). Do you have an onboard water tank? If so keep that filled.
Open the awning door during the day to let it air if it gets condensation. We tend not use the awning in the winter. We place foam tiles around the step to take footwear off on before entering the caravan. Then put footwear in a collapsible box just inside
the caravan. Saves trapsind mud in. Leave the heating on even when offsite.Do a full Xmas dinner in the oven. Make a pie from the remains of Xmas dinner for Boxing Day.
Most of all, enjoy, it's a great way to spend Xmas.
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I wouldn't carry thick cumbersome blankets/bedding; just a really good winter tog duvet.
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Hi Ken & Lorn,
Do enjoy your first xmas away. Of the last 20 yrs we have spent at least 15 xmas periods at Barnstones CP nr Banbury ( even whilst living in France for the last 7 yrs.). Nothing like making full use of the shorter daylight hours by wrapping up and enjoying a walk, return to a nice warm 'van especially with a warm stew in the slow cooker.
If you prepare properly you'll love it. An old coat in a strong bin bag will help keep your Aquaroll free of frost.
Enjoy and let us all know how you get on.
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Thank you everyone, there is hard standing but it looked pretty exposed where as the field is pretty sheltered.
Yes we got a lot of condensation in the awning during the summer too.
Collaspable box for shoes good idea, but with two dogs they are likely to defeat the purpose lol
Dont think we have an onboard water tank, apart from the one for the flush.
We're looking forward to being away from the stress of christmas and having a relaxing time with our two adult sons, who havent been on holiday with us for many years.
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Pretty sure Cornwall will be mild , however you have just about covered everything .
We have caravaned every winter for 15 years , never had a problem having gone every direction except North , we were in Fowey last November , it was wet , I recommend Gortex trousers , they have come down in price of late, light warm and of course waterproof
.Cornwall is great anytime of the year have fun .
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Quite right, Wye. It's at its best when it's quieter.
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Have a great time. Make sure you have a water container for drinking water. A 5 litre one is a good size and even if your outside water freezes you will be able to have a hot drink.
Good point, we have for many years used a two gallon water carrier inside the 'van for kettle, teeth cleaning and drinking, IMO no sense in pumping in from Aquaroll.
Happy caravanning.
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Enjoy your winter caravanning L&K. Should you have freezing temperatures I'd suggest that you take your water pump out each night before going to bed, and keep a container of water in the van.
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Here`s another random question.................
We`re going away for 3 days on the 27th Dec.
Only going to Stanmore in Bridgnorth and I was thinking about the useless electric heating in the van.
What are peoples views on running with the heating on whilst towing??
(Not gas obviousy!)
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I was just wondering how you would run the heating whilst travelling in a caravan? It certainly wouldn't run off the 12v system. One advantage of having a motorhome is that the cab heating can contribute to the general warmth so you get a bit of a head start. Some motorhomes have special gas regulators which do allow the use of gas heating on the move but to my knowledge these are not fitted to caravans.
David
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You sound well prepared. Don't forget to keep your house from freezing while away. We leave the central heating on low all the time and leave the loft hatch slightly ajar to stop the roof tank from freezing.
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The heating does work on 12v,
But I must admit I haven't left it on for any amount of time tho
?????????????
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Cherokee
I am still confused of Milton Keynes! Surely the 12v only allows you to run on gas rather than the electric side as there wouldn't be enough power to run the heating element? At least that has always been the case with all the heating systems I have had in caravans over the years. If I am wrong please put me right.
David
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I stand corrected,
After reading the manual, the heating is indeed 240v,
I assumed it would work as I could hear the fan operating on 12v.
Well thats the difference twixed newbie and a seasoned owner!
So I`m gonna blast the heating on gas for an hour before we set off, then high tail it to bridgnorth, hopefully that will take the chill out of the van
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We find that using a small portable electric heater in the van, as soon as we have power in the van, heats it up nicely as we get on with the rest of the jobs of setting up. We then just use our onboard electric heating and don't bother with the gas heater.
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There is certainly a lot to learn! I am still learning on different experiences and I first went caravanning in 1952! One size doesn't fit all that's for sure! Winter caravanning is really great too - for people like me who prefer away from the madding crowds. The only thing I miss - is a REAL fire as I have at home - but safely placed candles help that one - floating ones being the safest.
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Gas will be much more effective at heating the van up quickly. I was in the motorhome today (back garden) and put the heating on gas in order to empty a gas cylinder and it warmed up very nicely in no time at all.
David
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Dependant on your heating system you may be able to use both gas and electricity at the same time which will obviously warm things up quickly, then switch back to elctricity only to maintain the temp and conserve your gas.
Down here in Cornwall you will be most unlikely to find it cold enough to freeze anything up, we've only had a couple of mild frosts so far this year.
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if you set the heating to 'mixed mode' (gas and electric) the gas portion will reduce automatically as the van heats up leaving only the electric part doing the heating.
should the electric not be sufficient to maintain you desired temperature setting, the gas will gently feed back in to give support until reached.
saves flicking backwards and forwards between modes....
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We more of less do the same, usually we just switch on the caravan's electric heater unless it is very cold then we use a portable fan heater that we carry to get a "kick start" then switch to the caravan heater, we let the caravan heater heat up for approx. 20 minutes before we switch on the fan to distribute the heat via the warm air ducts. We tend not to switch off the heater until we leave the site at the end of our stay, we find that by doing that and controlling the heat output using the thermostat it keeps the caravan very cosy and warm.
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By default we only tend to caravan in the UK between October and March. We have an insulated cover for the water barrel but to be honest its got to get very cold (below 0C) before you need to worry. Insulating the pipe from the barrel essential for those properly cold days.
Gas Propane. Never had a problem with this. Anything inside the van will be fine. With new vans you should not have a problem with condensation but do remember ventilation when cooking.
After a few days you get used to a lower temperature. Enjoy.
Alan
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Are there still arrivals/departures, toilet cleaning etc on Christmas day or do the wardens shut up shop and have a well earned Christmas break?
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