Keeping the Caravan on the drive over winter...

I agree with birdebilly not to heat a stored caravan. I did it for 3 days before a winter trip as the tempreture was forecast to go below freezing and I was happy to use some calor gas up as I am now on Safefill. I found heating just increased condensation on the windows and inside walls. I just keep it ventilated and have not had any damp or mildew problems.

We heat ours using electric with the alde a few days before going off. No condensation problem. If the weather is very cold the fridge will not work properly for us unless the van is heated and we want that on ready to recieve food and frozen pre-prepared stuff when we are off for our two week Christmas break.

We actually jack the van up onto axle stands over the winter if/when not being used - not too difficult if you have a trolley jack. Saves the pressure on the tyre even if you can rotate it a little. We also throw a cover over it.

When we had roller blinds in our first van, we were advised to leave them open over winter to save the springs. To stop the sun from fading the soft furnishings I used garden weed suppressing fabric cut large enough to cover each window & kept in place by clothes pegs onto the curtain rails. The fabric is extremely light & it worked a treat.

Why not just pull across the curtains when the blinds are down. That's what they are there for, aren't they?

Some interesting post and food for thought. I like the idea about closing the curtains over to save the springs and jacking the van onto stands to save the tyres. Mixed views about the heating, think I will go for keeping it off and cupboards open etc. Looking at buying a cover which will be the next bit of research....

If we have drained down thoroughly we leave the heating off until we are about to go away mid December.

Draining down is normally the first thing I do when we get back each time. Good shout about the shower head, I will lower it to ensure there is nothing left in the shower hose. Axel stands to take the pressure off the tyres seems another good idea to take the strain of the tyres and suspension. I am thinking just enough to take the strain / bulge of the tyres and no more. 

I use to lower mine and travel with it lowered anyway. However even with the head in the base of the shower it cracked over winter. Now I just remove the head, also means I can blow down the pipe when draining.

Not mentioned above - make sure you take all food out of the van and hoover up crumbs in cupboards etc, so that mice aren't tempted in.

We had mice in ours once, if you leave Bounce Tumble Dryer Sheets in various places in MH/Van, it gets rid of them,apparently mice hate these, (they also hate peppermint oil) it works and it helps make the MH smell nice. I even leave them around in discreet places when we are away as we tend to go to rural places, helps with the doggy smell too.

I do it slightly diferently (Surprise)

I drain down properly, set bedding on end and open all locker doors. Unlike some, I do heat the caravan.

I use an oil filled radiator set at 10 C and just leave it on. When we get a nice day, (even if cold) I will open some windows, the roof vents and leave the door open to get ventilation through the caravan. Obviously I turn off the radiator during this time. At some point during the day I close everything and put the radiator back on.

I know some just rely on the ventilation to keep mould and damp away but because air can retain moisture better at higher temperatures I never see moisture on the hard surfaces and the soft furnishings never feel cold and damp.

Works for me, been doing it like this for a long time and I can afford the extra leccy.

By the way, I also have a weather station and put an extra sensor in the caravan so I can see the numbers from inside the house.