As winter rolls in once again, lots of RVers put their rigs into hibernation mode while others choose to travel to warmer climates. Some RVers, however, spend time enjoying the winter camping experience in areas where temperatures regularly approach or drop below freezing. Some travel to visit loved ones over the holidays or take an occasional winter camping trip, while still others camp in cold and snowy weather longer-term (or for the whole winter).
With these folks in mind, today’s post offers The RVgeeks’ top tips for winter RV living.
- 1) Can I Use My RV for Camping in the Winter?
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2)
15 Top Tips for Winter RV Living
- 2.1) Fill Your Fresh Water Tank and/or Use a Heated Water Hose
- 2.2) Fill Propane or Connect an External Tank
- 2.3) Keep Sewer Hose Off the Ground and Flowing Downward
- 2.4) Keep Gate Valves Closed and Insulated During Winter RV Living
- 2.5) Run a 60-Watt Incandescent Light Bulb
- 2.6) Seal Off Sewer Hose Entry(ies)
- 2.7) Use Steel or Brass Wool to Seal Small Openings
- 2.8) Use a Remote Temperature Sensor
- 2.9) Moisture Control For Winter RV Living
- 2.10) Use Holding Tank Heating Pads
- 2.11) Warm Your Bed to Use Less Rig Heat
- 2.12) Increase Your RV’s Insulation
- 2.13) Skirt Your RV
- 2.14) Cover AC Unit/Units
- 2.15) Watch this Video from Mortons on the Move
- 3) So It’s Possible to Go Camping in Sub-Freezing Temperatures?
Can I Use My RV for Camping in the Winter?
You can absolutely camp in your RV in the winter, provided you prepare adequately to keep yourself and your RV safe from harm.
It’s not easy to camp in winter, but many people do it with joy and very little stress, and that’s because they’ve learned how to plan ahead and prepare their RVs for the cold. They know how to keep the plumbing system from freezing and bursting (often easily accomplished by protecting exposed parts from the cold), keep the temperature inside the RV at a safe and comfortable level, reduce or prevent moisture accumulation, seal out intruders with little paws and big whiskers, and many other important winter camping preparations.
Anyone who’s lived in an RV for any duration of time in cold and snowy climates is likely to have a list of things to do – and a list of things to NOT do – to stay nice and warm while keeping their RV safe from winter damage.
15 Top Tips for Winter RV Living
Even though we try very hard to avoid the cold, we’ve spent our fair share of time RVing in freezing temps. Here are our top tips to help you make winter RVing as comfortable as possible.
Fill Your Fresh Water Tank and/or Use a Heated Water Hose
Water. It’s very important for a lot of reasons, but when temperatures fall below freezing (particularly if they reach hard freeze levels, which are 28°F or below, for at least an hour), water turns to ice. And when it does, it expands… potentially bursting/damaging hoses and plumbing. For this reason, if you have the intention of doing some winter camping, you’ll need to put water on the top of your list of things to prioritize.
A frozen water hose like the one shown at this campground spigot means no water coming into your RV, and may also mean a plumbing disaster if your rig’s plumbing isn’t adequately protected from freezing temperatures.
If you’re winter camping for a short duration (say a week or less), you can choose to simply fill your internal fresh water tank and use that water (via your onboard water pump) for washing, cooking, drinking, etc. If you’re parked near a city water source of any kind, you can connect your fresh water hose and refill the tank as needed. This technique avoids the issue of your freshwater hose freezing at all.
However, if you plan to keep your RV stationary for longer than that in an area where ambient temps are likely to hit freezing or below on a regular basis, you may wish to invest in a heated water hose. You can buy one, or you can make your own heated water hose as we’ve done. Either way, it’s very important to make sure that the water coming into your RV from your city water source can’t freeze when the temps drop.
And while you’re at it, be absolutely sure to always use a water pressure regulator when connected to any city water source (including in the winter), in which case you may want to wrap it in some type of insulation, too.
Fill Propane or Connect an External Tank
Prior to heading out on a winter camping trip (or before getting settled at a long-term winter campsite), be sure to fill your propane tank/tanks, or obtain the necessary materials to connect to an external propane tank as we show in this YouTube video.
If you’re going to need propane for heating your rig and water, and for cooking, you’ll need to prepare ahead of time so that you don’t run out (we recommend having a couple of different options for heating your rig if you’ll be camping in sub-freezing temperatures because you can’t risk losing all of your heat sources if your supply of propane should run out).
Don’t run the risk of running out of propane when you need it most… refill your tanks ahead of time!
Keep Sewer Hose Off the Ground and Flowing Downward
If you’re going to be connected to a sewer inlet during your winter RV living, you’ll want to keep your sewer hose off the ground and with a steady downward slope. An easy way to achieve both of these goals is to do what we’ve done… use a Slunky sewer hose support.
The Slunky elevates and supports your sewer hose (off the frozen ground) and provides the slope you need for proper drainage. The Slunky is a 20-foot support that’s 7” tall at the RV end, sloping to 4.5” in height at the sewer end.
- RV SEWER HOSE SUPPORT: Elevated design supports your drainage hose and promotes better draining
- IMPROVED DESIGN: 26% wider and 30% deeper for increased stability and a smoother overall RV experience
Keep Gate Valves Closed and Insulated During Winter RV Living
Along with using a sloping sewer hose support, you’ll want to keep your gray water and black water gate valves closed (you should ALWAYS leave your black valve closed!), opening them only when you want to dump your holding tanks.
When left open, any small amount of water you run down the drain(s) will exit through the hose. These small flows can easily freeze as they flow through… slowly building up (like the layers of a pearl) until the hose is completely blocked with ice.
Samll flows of water through your RV’s sewer hose can freeze up, eventually blocking the hose completely.
Also, if you are camped in freezing temps for longer than a few days, you may want to consider insulating your gate valves (if they’re not enclosed in a heated compartment) so they’ll open when you need to dump. Frozen gate valves and a full holding tank make a miserable combination.
Run a 60-Watt Incandescent Light Bulb
When we’re winter camping in very cold temperatures, we run a 60-Watt incandescent light bulb in our rig’s water compartment. While you might not think of a 60-Watt light bulb as providing much heat, it’s a small space (so it doesn’t take much), and it serves our goal of not having to run our rig’s furnace (our single biggest consumer of propane) to keep the water compartment warm.
We hang the lightbulb safely using a work light bulb guard like this:
- Designed in the USA with quality materials
- Used in Tactical, Outdoor, Recreation levels
Keeping the water compartment warm with the light bulb allows us to shut off the furnace and use space heaters to stay warm inside the RV.
Please note: we specifically referred to an incandescent light bulb. LED bulbs don’t give off the heat that incandescents do (it’s a result of them being so much more power-efficient), so LED bulbs aren’t effective in this application. Look for “rough service” bulbs (used in high-vibration locations like garage door openers) like these:
Seal Off Sewer Hose Entry(ies)
Another way to tend to the warmth of the basement or water compartment during winter RV living is to seal off the sewer hose entry. If you’ve got your sewer hose connected, then you’re probably running it through a hole provided in the bottom of the bay. That hole allows cold (and potentially rodents) into the water compartment, thus negating the warmth provided by the light bulb.
We use steel wool to seal around our sewer hose opening when camping in the cold. This serves two purposes – to keep the cold from entering the bay and to keep mice from entering as well! If staying in a damp climate, or for longer term, consider brass/bronze wool instead, since it won’t rust.
Use Steel or Brass Wool to Seal Small Openings
To keep mice from seeking warmth inside our RV, we’re careful to seal all small openings using steel wool (brass wool also works, especially if using it for longer term or in moist environments, since steel wool will rust). We also set traps in the basement (and anywhere else rodents may be able to enter), just in case they foil our attempts to seal them out. We’re not mean-spirited and we do love animals. We just don’t like stowaways that reproduce at warp speed and love to gnaw on everything in sight (and lots that AREN’T in sight)… ending an otherwise wonderful winter RV living experience!
Use a Remote Temperature Sensor
We have an indoor/outdoor thermometer with a wireless temperature sensor. When camping in very cold climates, we place the sending unit in our basement/water compartment and bring the monitor into the RV so that we can keep an eye on the temperature in that bay. This works very well and serves to alert us if the temperature in the water compartment begins to drop.
One like this should serve the purpose well:
- Measures indoor and outdoor temperature (°F or °C) and humidity, and displays trend arrows to indicate whether each measurement is rising, falling...
- Outdoor temperature shown in large, 1-inch digits
Moisture Control For Winter RV Living
Moisture control in an RV is essential to prevent mold and mildew from causing potentially serious issues. In winter, it’s especially important (and harder) to keep moisture at bay. Even though you’re probably inclined to want to seal everything up airtight to keep heat in and cold out, DON’T! You’ll only trap all of the moisture you’re creating in your RV.
The three most significant sources of moisture in an RV are showering, cooking, and breathing. Since we generally need to do all three, we suggest using a few simple methods to reduce the problem. So…
Run your vent fans
Yes, even in winter. You need to be able to run your roof vent fans in any kind of weather. This is why we have long recommended the installation of RV roof vent covers. They allow vents to be open without letting rain or snow enter the RV (check out our post on how to install an RV roof vent cover for further information). Vent covers aren’t expensive and are well worth the minimal effort to install.
- Offers 30 percent more open vent area than other brands
- Mounting hardware included; Mounts to existing 14” x 14” roof vents
Reduce Water Leftover In Your Shower
We recommend using a squeegee to pull the water off of your shower walls and toward the drain after each shower. If you don’t do this, the water leftover from showering will add to the humidity level in your RV as it evaporates.
A shower squeegee is also inexpensive but is a great tool for keeping moisture at bay. We use it all year long – not only when winter camping (we hate water spots, LOL!).
- Flexible blade for fast, streak-free drying
- Slim profile stores neatly with included suction cup
Use A Dehumidifier
Finally, if you take the actions noted above and still continue to see moisture accumulating on your RV windows (which is an early sign that then humidity level in your RV is too high), you can opt to use a small electric dehumidifier (if you’re connected to shore power) or a dehumidifying product like DampRid positioned throughout the interior of the RV.
Use Holding Tank Heating Pads
If you’re winter camping in sub-freezing temperatures for an extended period of time, and especially if your tanks are exposed, you may need to warm them by using RV tank heating pads. Some RVs come equipped with them from the factory (we opted for them when we bought our Newmar Mountain Aire, and we’re ultimately glad that we did), but they can be added after the fact, too.
In our post 5 Best RV Tank Heating Pads we go into detail about what holding tank heating pads are, how they work, and give five of the best options on the market.
Warm Your Bed to Use Less Rig Heat
This is an easy tip, and it works very well. So that you don’t have to run the heat throughout your rig or run your space heaters all night to stay warm, use warm linens (including flannel sheets) and/or invest in an electric mattress pad/blanket to take the chill out of the bed. Turn it on for 10-15 minutes before you get in to preheat the linens before you get in. You can thank us later. 😉
Just be aware… if you’re not running your propane furnace, you aren’t supplying any heat to your RV’s basement/water compartment(s). Most RV furnaces are configured with a duct (with or without a blower) to add heat there whenever the furnace runs. If you’ve set the heat back too low or are using space heaters to avoid running the furnace, your basement/water compartment isn’t being heated… so use a remote temperature sensor and/or an incandescent bulb like the one listed above.
Increase Your RV’s Insulation
Even RVs that are well-insulated (with good insulation in the walls, floors, and ceilings) have weak spots that allow a lot of heat to escape, causing drafts and providing cold surfaces for moisture to condense. Identifying and insulating these places can make the interior of your RV a more cozy place. Spots to focus on include:
RV Windows
These are often the weakest link (especially single-pane windows, but even dual-pane don’t provide the same level of insulation as your RV’s walls) and are likely the biggest contributors to RV heat loss. Depending on how long you plan to stay in very cold temperatures, there are options you can choose to help. You can insulate RV windows with heavy curtains, or you can create DIY “storm windows” using ⅛” plexiglass or PETG panels (which you custom cut to fit your windows). Adhere them to the inside of your windows using clear double-sided mounting tape like this:
- PRESSURE SENSITIVE - Press firmly for 15-20 seconds to activate bond, holds up to 5 lbs per square inch of tape.
- WEATHER RESISTANT - Using industrial-grade heavy duty acrylic adhesive, this is perfect for indoor and outdoor mounting projects. Whether it be in...
Alternatively, many campers choose to use Reflectix, heavy-duty foam board, or even bubble wrap to insulate windows. The problem with these products is twofold. First, they seal out the light and need to be removed and installed daily to allow the sun in (unless you like living in a dungeon). Second, they can prevent you from noticing moisture that’s accumulating on the windows/window frames.
You can also use a combination of choices to cover your windows, such as your choice of window covering combined with heavy-duty curtains. Although we often think of them as insulation from the sun, high-quality windshield covers can also be helpful in cold weather (especially since windshields in motorhomes are single-pane glass that doesn’t offer as much insulation power as dual-pane windows).
RV Skylights & Roof Vents
Just like the windows, skylights and roof vents are weak points in your RV’s insulation. You can insulate your skylights using a pre-made skylight cover like this:
- RV Vent Reflective Insulation: Camco’s vent insulator blocks the sun's damaging rays. It helps keep your RV cooler in the summer and warmer in the...
- Saves Energy: This product reduces heat transfer and increases A/C efficiency.
These are inexpensive and serve to insulate your RV from the cold that can come through the relatively thin plastic of the skylight. Please note that this one is 14” x 14”, so be sure to measure the inside of your skylight frame to obtain the proper dimensions for your insulator.
Some RVers use these in their roof vents as well, but if you do this, remember not to cover them all, as it’s very important to run a roof vent fan to prevent moisture from accumulating in the RV.
On the bright side, these skylight/vent insulators are also good at keeping the heat out in summer.
Skirt Your RV
Believe it or not, the wind blowing underneath your RV is very effective at pulling heat out, something you’ve probably noticed if you touch wood, vinyl, or tile floors on a cold winter morning (or if you’re barefoot on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night 🥶). But using skirting to seal the area under your RV from air flow can make a huge difference.
Traditional RV skirting requires a fair amount of installation (both initially and each time you need to set it up), which may make it less desirable if you don’t RV in the cold all that regularly. But an easier (though not necessarily cheaper) solution exists: inflatable RV skirting. Made by a company called AirSkirts, they pack down small and are easy to inflate and install under your RV when needed. If these sound interesting to you, we’ve got a coupon to save you money:
By insulating and protecting your RV’s undercarriage, you prevent freezing pipes and save money on energy costs year-round. Using a deceptively straightforward design, AirSkirts tubes are laid out around the perimeter of your RV, inflated, and...Show More
By insulating and protecting your RV’s undercarriage, you prevent freezing pipes and save money on energy costs year-round. Using a deceptively straightforward design, AirSkirts tubes are laid out around the perimeter of your RV, inflated, and then held in place by air pressure with no drilling or adhesives required. And with heavy-duty PVC tarpaulin and military grade valves, AirSkirts will insulate and protect your RV for years and years.
Now, you can save $100 when you order any AirSkirts kit directly from their website and enter the Promo Code RVGEEKS at checkout.
Show LessCover AC Unit/Units
Cover your roof air conditioning units. This is important from the perspective of keeping the cold from entering your RV and also as a means of protection from the elements. Check out this post from our friends Tom & Caitlin Morton for more on air conditioner covers.
Of course, you don’t want to do this if your RV’s air conditioners are also heat pumps that you plan to use as a source of heat while you’re camping. Just be aware that they’ll only work in outside temperatures of about 40°F and warmer, so they probably won’t be of much use when the temps really begin to drop.
And speaking of Tom and Caitlin, they’re our 15th tip for winter RV living!
Watch this Video from Mortons on the Move
So It’s Possible to Go Camping in Sub-Freezing Temperatures?
It’s not only possible, it can even be fun! However, as we’ve noted above (and as the Mortons note in their video), it’s imperative to maintain attention to safety when camping in freezing temperatures. Not only is it essential to stay warm and healthy, but you have to be very cautious with propane and even electricity.
Preparation is everything. If you’re adequately prepared, you can indeed enjoy camping in the deep freeze… though we think we’ll stick mostly to snowbirding (camping all winter without the snow).
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Peter
Wednesday 18th of December 2024
Good to know info! The weather in Alberta Canada is substantially colder and didn’t though, which takes MUCH more preparation and work…how about constant temperatures of - 15 and colder!
Hunter Dotson
Saturday 7th of January 2023
Please send me your newsletter. Thank you!