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| We have just received the following e-mail from Karl - have a look at his great winter caravanning tips! A nice little mod I did with my 'van for winter caravanning is to seal my external pipework under the chassis with expanding foam. You might find you have some heating pipework underneath the van as well which cools the heated air rapidly and the far extremes of the caravan don't get warm. Again, put a coating on and this will ensure the warm air stays that way until it reaches the extremities. Put foam pipe lagging around your waste pipes (if not using expanding foam) and fresh water hose. An electric under blanket in the bed is nice as you can have the heating in the van turned right down and enjoy a warm, cosy nights sleep. A thick cardboard box that is painted with varnish (yes, it works!) and a 100 watt light bulb inside will keep your water from freezing over when placed over your aquaroll, but just ensure that the light bulb does not touch the plastic. Car antifreeze in the waste tank stops that freezing up too. A lot of vans can combine the heater with gas and electric for fast warm up, quite a lot of people forget this. So we have our heater on a very low setting on electric when we are out and about and then come in and 15 mins of max electric and gas power gets the van all toasty. Cut foam out to the correct size of your rooflights and push intoposition. Yes, the caravan will be darker but so much heat is lost through the plastic. We got some 1 inch thick stuff from a packing company that looks like little egg cups but it really keeps the heat in. A small dehumidifier will stop the condensation at night when the van cools down. I've taken our Avondale all over the country in minus 14 degree temperatures and have found all the above really useful. I would add snow chains to your motoring list and use of winter tyres both on the car and the caravan. |
If you always go winter caravanning, or have some winter caravan tips, please let us know.
You may not need any of this equipment as the weather can be so unpredictable, but it's a good idea to carry it, just in case …
