Motorhome living or travel doesn’t just have to be a summer thing and we’re here to tell you our hints and tips for staying in your Motorhome in winter.

Most new motorhomes are built to withstand the colder months as well as the warm, but there are plenty of alterations and additions that you can make for yourself to ensure that you stay as warm and cosy as you can in your motorhome in winter.

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How to stay warm in a motorhome in winter

Living in a campervan or a motorhome in winter is quite obviously not as easy as living in the summer. Cold, wet, windy days can prevent you from getting outside as much so you may be stuck inside a small space more, having issues with drying wet clothes, condensation and mould and generally just being colder than you might be in a house.

For all of these reasons it’s really important to have as many different ways of keeping as warm as possible, to make winter motorhome living a little easier.

Thermal window covers – We use thermal window covers on the windows in the cab, all of our other windows have blinds which helps to keep out the cold and these covers can also help with condensation. We also have a large windscreen cover for when it is particularly cold to prevent the windscreen freezing over. These can also be purchased on Amazon.

Condensation – Condensation is a common problem in the winter in a campervan or motorhome. You can use a window vac or a cloth to remove the condensation and there are also moisture catchers which you can find on Amazon or in supermarkets etc which are not expensive at all. Placing a couple of these around your campervan or motorhome could help to reduce any condensation issues.

Heated water tank – We also have heated water tanks in our motorhome which is amazing for making sure that the water pipes don’t freeze and cause damage. If you don’t have heated water tanks, this might be something you may want to consider for your motorhome or campervan as it could save a lot of time, money and stress in the winter.

Fiat Ducato vent cover – Our motorhome is a Fiat Swift Escape which is a Fiat Ducato van base. We noticed that there was a real draft coming from the cab area, which we discovered was coming from a vent under the passenger seat. By law, the van has to be made with this vent to circulate air, but this is from when it was a van and due to the motorhome having a lot more air vents in other places, this means this one is obsolete and from carrying out some research we actually managed to find out that there was a cover you could buy to cover the vent.

We contacted a Fiat dealership in our local area and they were able to order one in for us at a cost of £27.00 If your motorhome has a Fiat Ducato base, this may also be something you may want to look into, as having cold air coming into the van is not ideal in winter!

Pets – If like us, you’re travelling with pets, you’ll know that they obviously get dirtier than usual in the winter, even just going outside of the van for a couple of minutes to go to the toilet can result in muddy paw prints around your tiny home on wheels. We use a terrain suit for Lottie when we’re going out for walks in the winter which helps to keep her much more clean – 3 Peaks Dog Terrain Suit Blue | Pets At Home

And we also keep wipes Earth Rated – dog and cat Wipes 100 units : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies, a paw buddy Paw Buddy – Dog Paw Cleaner & Pet Hair Grooming Brush – The Fastest Way To Clean Your Muddy Dog’s Paws Using 300ml Of Water – with Comb Attachment for Removing Loose Hair : Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies and a microfibre towel Microfibre towel – compact, ultra lightweight & fast-drying microfibre towels – lightweight beach towel and microfibre travel towel (30x50cm winered – without bag) : Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors close to the door of our motorhome so that we can easily access these after going out for a walk to keep as clean as possible.

Wild Camping – If you’re wild camping, try not to have the heating on all the time as you will go through gas really quick and it will get expensive if you’re not hooked up to electricity. Try using hot water bottles and wearing warm, thermal clothing with plenty of blankets, throws and a thick duvet, and having lots of hot drinks instead! We have these oversized hoodies which keep you so toasty and warm, we love them! – Oversized Blanket Hoodie for Men & Women, Super Soft Warm Cozy Wearable Sweatshirt Hoodie for Adults Thick Flannel Blanket with Sleeves and Giant Pocket, One Size (PINK) : Amazon.co.uk: Clothing

Motorhome Gaslow system

Gas is expensive, especially during winter, and currently gas bottles are notoriously difficult to get hold of. They are like gold dust due to a gas shortage in the UK. This is our first winter in our motorhome and we realised quickly that we were going to get through gas super quick due to having the heating on more often.

Although we were not having the heating on for long, only for a short while in the morning and evening, and wasn’t even using it much for cooking, the gas only lasted a week. We realised then that we needed to find a different solution, something more cost effective in the long run and easier to get hold of, which is why we made the decision to switch to a Gaslow system.

You can check out our van tour YouTube blog here where we talk in more detail about our Gaslow system –

What is a Gaslow system?

A Gaslow system is basically refillable gas bottles. So rather than swapping out your gas bottle for a new one, you get a Gaslow system fitted and you can go to a fuel station that supplies LPG and fill up as you would with petrol or diesel – which makes LPG much easier to get hold of than gas bottles in the UK.

We used a local motorhome servicing company to fit our Gaslow system which cost ??

If you are planning to live and travel in your motorhome in the winter then we would highly recommend considering a Gaslow system as it’s going to save you time and money.

How does diesel heating work in a motorhome?

Diesel heaters use the fuel from the vehicle’s main diesel tank and the leisure battery or electric source to power the unit. Most diesel (and gas) heaters use a heat exchanger to warm the air, this is then blown round the vehicle using a 12v fan.

Whilst we don’t currently have a diesel heater in our motorhome, although this is an addition we hope to make in the future, we have done extensive research and written a blog post on our top 3 diesel heater for motorhomes and campervans if you would like to check it out – Motorhome Diesel Heater: Our Top 3 Best Diesel Heaters (threeasabird.com)

Motorhome Winter Tyres

If you’re planning to travel in your motorhome in snowy winter conditions then it is definitely recommended to purchase some good winter tyres. They tend to have very good grip which can help not just in snow but in wet, muddy conditions too. After doing lots and lots of research into this, as we plan to change our motorhome tyres to winter tyres too, a popular option seems to be the BF Goodrich All Terrain tyres. However, there are other options, and it’s worth carrying out your research to find the most suitable tyres for you and your budget, as they can get costly.

We also have a motorhome car care guide to what motorhome tyres you need, if you would like to check this out – Motorhome Car Care: What Motorhome Tyres Do You Need? (threeasabird.com)

We really hope you have found our guide to travelling in your motorhome in winter useful and that you feel a bit more confident and knowledgeable in how to make sure are fully equipped to survive winter van life!

You can take a look at some of our other van life posts which include lots and lots of hints and tips on all things van life here – Van Life – Travel Information, Hints, Tips and Advice (threeasabird.com)

If you’d like to follow more of our adventures or keep up to date with our travel hints and tips, please join our Facebook group, we’d love to connect with you all! –https://www.facebook.com/groups/309295536220437