Planning for your Winter Vacations

If you are planning to travel winter touring this season, here are some essential ideas to help your holiday go smoothly.

Heating

Most caravans and motorhomes now have balanced flue space heaters, which theoretically are safe to leave on all night, but be aware of wind-blown rubbish or snow blocking the flue and creating problems.

Waste water

To prevent freezing of the waste tanks, add car-type anti-freeze. Attempt to make sure the waste pipe runs vertically and that there aren't any kinks which can trap water.

Awnings

We would recommend that you purchase a porch awning such as the Dorema Laser Porch Awning They are much easier to erect and dry-out when compared to a full-size awning. They also provide a useful location for wellie removal and storage.

Fridges

An absorption refrigerator actually starts to over-cool in colder temperatures - to help prevent this, we advise you fit a purpose-made 'winter cover' over the fridge's wall vents. Dometic suggests that you ought to attach winter covers whenever temperatures fall below 10°C (50°F). There are WINTER COVER LIGHT GREY and Upper Vent winter covers both of which come in beige and white.

LPG

Liquified Petroleum Gas (propane) is the gas to choose in winter conditions - butane is only effective above freezing point (0°C), check gas hoses are in good shape prior to setting off.

Fresh water

Fresh water- in cold conditions your outside water container may partially freeze over. An insulated 'hat' made with foam pipe lagging might postpone the icicles! Buy a second fresh water container such as a 5 Gallon Jerrycan that you could put inside caravan and transfer your water pump to. You could also invest in a fish tank heater for your aquaroll so that you can prevent the water freezing.

Pitching

If, you are allocated a grass pitch, make sure you have wedges, ground mats and chocks. You don't want to sink or find yourself in trouble on soggy ground. Milenco Grip Mats are heavy-duty mats which will give your wheels something to grip on to in muddy conditions.

Car tyres

Mud and snow tyres improve traction in the winter months, but can be used all year round. In icy conditions, it is advisable to keep any touring to the absolute minimum which might mean remaining on the site longer than you anticipated. In some circumstances, vehicle manufacturers recommend running on slightly lower tyre pressures than normal - look at your user guide.

Cable care

If snow is on to the ground, regularly lift and shake the mains cable or it could become embedded.

Advice specific for motorhomes

Insulation

In order to avoid heat loss through a motorhome's single-glazed windscreen (all caravan windows are double-glazed), fit an interior blind such as the Milenco Universal Interior Thermal Blind or a Thermal Exterior Screen for added insulation.

Water In a motorhome

A frozen underfloor freshwater tank i