What to buy for new a MH?

In cold weather the improvement in warmth is dramatic partially because the windscreen is a large uninsulated area.

As insulating screens,  in the summer they insulate the van from the heat of the sun. 

Additionally  they reduce solar degradation of the interior of your van and aid privacy.

All of that but they do make the interior dark by day so, if you fold them down, you lose the insulation properties. 

Yep so a great example of a recurrent theme  in motor-caravanning you have to compromise or prioritise. Do you want to be bright and hot or cool but shaded ?

Taylor  Made  and  Silver  Screens  in  winter  are  a  blessing  indeed 

but  in  Summer  they  also  act  to  stop  the  heat  from  our 

scorching  summer  sun  from  causing  'vans  internal  temperature 

from  overheating  the  occupants  !

I  know,  I  know  it  sounds like a  joke  or  a  salesman's  'come-on' 

but  its  true,  they  do  help  keep  the  van  interior  cool  !

Most  of  the  above  are  good  ideas  BUT  can  I  suggest  you

  have   a  w/end  or  two  away  before  you  start  buying  all  those 

'must -haves'  unless,  of  course  you  want  to  help  me  empty 

them out  of  my  workshop  (shed)  and  store  'em  in  yours  !!

In addition to "Silver screens", levelling  blocks (I just use pieces of wood) and a small heater,  I'd add a low wattage electric kettle and a small torch.

I don't find the van being a bit off-level is a problem and wouldn't bother with a spirit level (but a bottle of single malt is OK).  Most fridges are fairly tolerant to a degree of tilting.

Part  II

I  use  a  5ft  section  of  square  guttering  with  a  'fold  down  leg' 

at  one  end  to  assist  my  aging  body  with  the  grey  water

dumping  It  takes  up very  little  room,  is  easily  cleaned  & 

allows  me  to  do  a straight  lift  on  manhole  covers,  instead  of

grovelling  under  the  van  risking  my  dodgy  back!

The  Three  or  Four  Milenco  plastic  levellers  should  suffice  on 

even  the  steepest  pitches,  but  for  a  lot  of  Club  sites  they 

may  seem  to  be  a  touch  of  'over-kill'.  So  a  cheap  lower  set 

might  be  worth  it  to  start  with.

What  ever  you  do  choose  please  make  a  list  of  the  good, 

the  poor  and  the  pointless  and  post  it  on  'ere  for  2017 

Newbies  to  take  advantage  of.  I  ask  that  'cos  some  of  us 

have  been  around  for  a  little  while  now  &  might  have  got  a 

little  out  of  touch  with  all  things  super-modern!!

Brian  AB M

P.S.  Grumblew's  point  about  the  LOW  WATTAGE  electric  Kettle  is  well made  !

Also  if  your  van  is  not  yet  to  hand,  there  is  knowt  stopping  you  chatting  up  the

  dealer,  if  any,  for  as  many  or  few  of  the  above  bits 'n bobs  as  you  can  get  away 

with  !!

B

As usual we are the odd ones out, we have never had a silver screen and have been ok without one. Our first van had a cold cab area and we bought a small heater to boost the warmth. Our present cab is better insulated and our pleated blinds are ok. Try it first before rushing out to buy what is quite an expensive item.

A bucket has been very useful to empty grey water, also a plastic container to top up with fresh water. This saves moving the van to a motor home point for refills and emptying.

Don't buy lots til you've tried it out, it's quite good to keep the motorhome free from too much kit.

I agree about Silverscreens, they are based at Cleckheaton just off the M606, but do mail order obviously. Keeps you warm and stops condensation in the cab area. You won't need any additional heating, the Autograph Alde Heating is very good.

I also have:

A USB adapter to plug into the the 12v socket to enable charging of phones, tablets etc.

I take a 5 ton bottle jack as I am not sure about how good the supplied scissor jack actually is. I also have a cordless tyre compressor for the tyres. (but maybe that is just me).

I also have two grip mats to park the front wheels on when on grass. I have seen them work in wet weather and they are excellent.

Enjoy your motorhoming.

well Brue, we are odd ones out, too as we dont have an external screen, neither do we get much in the way of winter condensation in the mornings....

our cab is also well insulated with double floor, and a large slide down (or up) pleated insulated blind which does a pretty good job of keeping things warm at nigh.

the beauty for us, is that this can be opened (top down) in the mornings to allow light, yet maintain privacy.....without going outside...

an external blind/cover for an A-class van is a pretty large thing to be messing about with....so we dont bother as our blind is also good for keeping the hot sun at bay when required...

To the OP........

as for other 'stuff' to carry, just a word of caution.....and that word is 'weight'...

i have just gone through our MH garage and weighed everything (another story) and it all came to around 120kg....

just be aware that, when considering what you want to carry, check that you can legally carry it.....

for a first time MHer, running a van on 3.5t, these are a few things to consider....that wont be in that listed MIRO figure....which allows for no water, these days....

the '75' models have only around 300kg of payload and, even if you are running one of the larger '79' vans, these have under 500kg......

this might sound like an awful lot......but it isnt and soon gets eaten...

what model are you buying....?

be aware that the media pack plus weighs 13kg

passenger 75kg

'accepted' requirement for each passenger (clothes, books, gadgets, etc) 2 x 75kg (obviously this varies from person to person, but is a useful guide) so 150kg 

a full tank of water, including the boiler 100kg

ooops.....youre already over the 300kg limit and we havent even touched on that locker full of 'stuff' which is the subject of this thread

easily between 50-100kg (we have 2 electric bikes in our garage hence my higher figure)

however, those suggestions of levelling ramps, external screens, hoses, wastemaster, chairs, tables, bbq, etc, etc just keep adding up......

havent mentioned all that food to go into the kitchen and fridge freezer..

and all the pots, pans, crockery, cutlery etc, etc.....

having a sat dish fitted, second leisure battery, etc?

i dont list these items to 'scare' you in any way, merely to bring to your attention that 'stuff' weighs plenty, and payloads are tiny.....

i suggest you get your new vehicle weighed (the dealer will have weighing pads).....not any new vehicle but your vehicle as there can be a significant variance.....

only then will you know what capacity you have (or dont have) for kitting yourself up with all these good suggestions

good luck, please come back with any queries as (small) payloads can make life tricky.

Agree with BoleroBoy payloads must be taken into account when buying items.  A weighbridge is helpful to ensure you are within limits.

Get basics only until you really know how you will use the vehicle ie staying on site & possibly hooked up to all facilities for a week or 2 or moving every few days to a new site.