By Cheri Sicard
As the weather gets colder, a lot of folks are going to start thinking about how to stay warm in an RV in winter. If you’re one of them, you will definitely want to check out this video from RV Street that has some great tips.
Martin, the host, says staying warm in an RV boils down to three main components: insulating, heating, and protecting your RV.
You probably have not seen some, or possibly many, of these simple tips before. These guys are innovative RVers who develop creative DIY solutions to typical RVing dilemmas.
The good news is that a lot of the easy DIY projects will help protect from the heat in summer as well as cold in winter.
The video begins with a shopping trip to Home Depot for supplies. These include:
- Foam insulation tubes for plumbing
- Foil tape
- Insulation boards
- R-19 faced fiberglass wall insulation
After shopping, the video shows you how to use what you bought.
How to stay warm in an RV DIY projects
The DIY projects will improve the coach’s warmth and comfort and cut down on drafts. Projects include:
- Insulating under your slides. This works for sealing out dirt as well as cold in winter or heat in summer
- Insulating the wet bay to help prevent plumbing from freezing
- Insulating your pipes and pipe areas
- Sealing front door and battery storage area drafts
- Insulating the motorhome front cab cabinets, which also works to improve conditions in cold or in the heat of summer
- Insulating under the sinks to prevent drafts and protecting the pipes
- Insulating the kitchen back wall behind the drawers
- Using vent pillows to prevent drafts
- Insulating under the mattress
After insulating you have to heat. The video recommends different portable heaters and discusses the built-in furnace too. They also recommend heated mattress pads for sleeping.
Lastly, Martin covers how to deal with the condensation that inevitably will happen if you have a toasty warm RV on a cold day. (I would prefer a USB rechargeable dehumidifier to his electric version.)
So, check out this handy video and get ready for winter’s chill!
##RVDT1972
Any tips for insulating the cargo door of a toy hauler?
Thank you for your helpful videos!
Plexiglass on coach windows helps tremendously. Also, the pipe insulation can be put under the edge of the slide under the inside edge, and this works well when the slide is IN as well to close off that big void under the slide where lots of cold air resides. I have used some big blocks of memory foam in the void over the step area inside to block drafts from battery box and coach door… easy in and out, light weight and very easy to store. 🙂
Great suggestions Nigel. Thanks!