If your static caravan isn’t adequately prepared for winter, the lowering and freezing of temperatures can bring various problems with them: burst pipes, mold, mildew, and condensation. Rodents or insects could even claim your home as their own while you’re away and they’re not exactly the type of guests you’re looking for in your holiday home. Fortunately, preparing your static caravan for winter consists of a few easy – but crucial – steps, and we’re covering all of them to ensure a worry-free winter and pleasant future holiday season in your static caravan.
Items you will need:
- Antifreeze solution
- Newspaper
- Salt or silica gel pods (or a bowl filled with salt!)
The Main Thing You Need to Do to Prepare Your Static Caravan for Winter:
The worst thing that can happen during the winter is the bursting of your pipes due to the water freezing inside them. To prevent this, you’ll need to drain your caravan out of any traces of water completely. Here’s how:
- Before you turn off the water supply: Open the lid of your toilet cistern, flush it, and as it refills, add antifreeze in a 3 (water):1(antifreeze) ratio.
- Detach your shower hose and head.
- Turn off your water supply: turn off the water pump and disconnect it from your water supply.
- Open your drain down valve or stopcock: you’ll find it under your caravan, and you can either remove or unscrew them. (Consult your owner’s handbook if you’re unsure where to find this) If you don’t have a drain-down pipe tap, detach the pipe above your stopcock so that the water in the pipes is free to drain.
- Open all your taps until water no longer flows through them. For mixer taps: open them halfway between hot and cold.
- If possible, blow through the pipes with compressed air.
- Pour non-toxic antifreeze down the toilet.
- Check your specific handbook for information on draining your water heater.
Checklist for Preparing Your Static Caravan for Winter:
There are a few other things to consider for foul odor as well as mold and vermin infestation. Here’s a checklist for preparing your static caravan for the winter months:
Bedrooms:
- Take all bedding home or store them in vacuum-sealed bags. Pests can invade these warm textures.
- Lay your mattresses on their edges if possible.
Kitchen:
- Turn off and disconnect the gas supply and store the canister safely. Clean the gas stove.
- Empty your fridge, clean its interior with bicarbonate of soda (to remove any smell), and leave its door open.
- Remove food from cupboards and wash them with an anti-bacterial solution. Don’t leave unopened packets of food: rodents know how to open them.
- If you’re leaving tinned goods, lay paper underneath them to avoid rusting.
- Clean all surfaces.
Toilets:
- Plug in sinks and shower trays, and stuff newspaper into the S bend of the toilet to prevent unwanted visitors.
Living Room:
- Clean and vacuum all surfaces (especially the insides of your couch): crumbs can attract rodents.
- To improve circulation: put your furniture in the center of the room and roll up and place rugs on their ends.
General Tips for Interior:
- Don’t leave anything of value.
- Turn off your source of power.
- Unplug your appliances.
- Take down your curtains (they can cause mildew). Alternatively, leave them open to showcase that there’s nothing worth breaking in for.
- You can place salt pods or silica gel bags around your caravan to prevent dampness (they absorb air moisture). You can pick these up online or home stores.
- Ensure that your windows and/or skylights are tightly shut.
- Leave your inner doors, cupboards, and closets open to improve air circulation.
- Pull up your blinds to avoid damaging their mechanism.
General Tips for Exterior:
- Ensure that rain gutters and air vents are free from blockages.
- Ensure that your locks all work.
- Block any openings/gaps/loose joints that rodents or water could infiltrate.
- If your steps are removable, place them inside the caravan.
- Clear vegetation underneath your static caravan to prevent wildlife from claiming the area.
- Lock your front door!
Of course, if you don’t want to take on all of the winterisation tasks on your own, many static caravan parks (including all of the SF Parks locations) will offer this as a service available to you for a fee.