Top 10 Winter RVing Essentials

With the cold season in full swing, many RVers have packed up their rigs and put them away. Not everyone gives up RVing in winter months though. There are still a handful of people out there enjoying the camping life, and if you miss going RVing yourself, you could absolutely be among them.

That said, you will definitely want to gather a few winter RVing essentials first! The list below includes the top 10 must-have items for RVing in winter. Make sure you have these items on hand and you’ll be ready to head out in the cold and make some amazing camping memories!

Full Propane Tanks

First and foremost, you will want to make absolutely sure your RV’s propane tanks are filled up before every trip. RV furnaces use propane to keep things nice and warm in your rig, and if you run out of propane and the furnace is your only source of heat, your home-on-wheels will get cold fast. 

Not only that, but in many RVs, furnaces also act as underbelly heaters, keeping your holding tanks and water lines warm. If you can’t run the RV furnace and the weather gets below freezing, you could be looking at cracked water tanks and burst water lines—two things nobody wants to deal with.

Electric Blankets

The unfortunate thing about those RV furnaces is that they can burn through propane in no time flat. This can get really expensive, so many RVers like to find other ways to keep warm. This is where electric blankets come into play.

If you’ll be camping somewhere with electric hookups, electric blankets are the perfect way to keep warm overnight without running the furnace constantly. If the weather will be below freezing overnight, you can still run the furnace at a lower temperature just to keep the plumbing from freezing, but you won’t have to keep the whole place super toasty if you’re snuggled up under an electric blanket.

Space Heaters

Space heaters are another great thing to have if you’ll have an electric hookup wherever you land. These can be run instead of the RV furnace when the weather is cold but not freezing, and in conjunction with the RV furnace when you really need to keep the water lines warm but don’t want to use all your propane in a single night of camping.You will want to check the wattage on any space heater you buy to make sure your camper’s electrical system can handle it, and we recommend sticking with ceramic space heaters with the tip-over safety feature. This heater is a good pick.

Blankets and heaters are two essentials to staying wam and cozy.

Mr. Heater Buddy Heater

Planning on boondocking or staying in a campground with no hookups at all? Obviously, you could just use the RV furnace and accept the fact that you’ll burn through propane quickly, but there is also the option of investing in a Mr. Heater Buddy Heater. This is a small, portable propane heater that can be used indoors (see next paragraph!) and it is much more efficient than the typical RV furnace. 

What you have to know about the Mr. Heater Buddy Heater is that you have to crack at least one window in the RV in order to ensure you have plenty of oxygen. You’ll also want to ensure your carbon monoxide detector is working properly to keep yourself safe while using the heater.

Window Insulator Kit

It’s no secret that RVs aren’t the most well-insulted things. Heat escapes quickly, and that can make keeping your home-on-wheels warm during the coldest winter months a major challenge. And the place where a huge portion of the heat escapes? The windows. 

That’s right, your RV windows are letting the heat out and the cold air in, and by properly insulating them, you will be much warmer and happier campers. For this we recommend a window insulator kit, which uses a super-easy-to-install film to help keep drafts at bay. 

AirSkirts

If you’ve used a window insulator kit and you’re still cold, it might be time to break out the big guns. AirSkirts are a fantastic product that allow you to quickly and easily add a skirt to your RV. All you have to do is place the skirting under the RV and air it up, and it fills in all the gaps under the RV so the cold can’t get in.

This keeps your floors warmer, helps protect your plumbing in freezing temperatures, and makes it easier to heat the interior of your RV.

We love that the AirSkirts set up is so fast and that this particular skirt is so small and lightweight when deflated, making it possible to carry the skirt with you wherever you go.

Dehumidifier

Condensation goes hand-in-hand with RVing in the winter. Windows tend to be covered in moisture, and sometimes even the walls will be wet to the touch. This is a problem because the moisture can cause mold, mildew, and even cause water damage. 

You can mitigate moisture in an RV during the winter by using space heaters instead of the RV furnace and avoiding cooking in the RV kitchen or taking super hot showers.

Unfortunately, these things aren’t always realistic when living your day-to-day life in your camper. For this reason, we highly recommend purchasing a small dehumidifier before you do any winter RVing, especially if you’ll be staying somewhere humid. 

Keeping humidity and moisture levels down in your RV during cold months is important.

DampRid

If you’ll be camping without an electric hookup, running a dehumidifier day in and day out isn’t really realistic. Still, condensation in your RV will likely be a problem when RVing in winter, and it must be dealt with. This is where DampRid can help. 

DampRid works by drawing moisture out of the air and holding onto it so it can’t cling to your windows and walls. It’s relatively cheap, requires no electricity, and although it isn’t quite as effective as a dehumidifier, it work decently well for those electricity-free camping trips. 

RV Antifreeze

Depending on the temperature where you are and whether or not you have an enclosed underbelly, running the RV furnace may not be enough to keep your tanks and water lines from freezing while winter RVing.

In this case, your best bet might just be to use RV antifreeze to winterize the water system and stick to bathhouses and bottled water instead of using the RV plumbing while RVing in winter. 

If the weather is going to be warmer during your trip but will drop below freezing again afterward, you could de-winterize the RV for the days you’re out and then winterize again once you return home. Some people also like to pour RV antifreeze into the holding tanks even if their rig isn’t fully winterized. 

Emergency Items

Lastly, because winter weather can be so unpredictable, you will want to keep important emergency items on hand at all times while winter RVing. Make sure you have plenty of all of your necessary medications, a good supply of food (including non-perishables), lots of blankets, bottled water, and anything else you might need should you find yourself snowed in or with a car that won’t start. 

RVing in winter can be a lot of fun. We encourage you to gather these winter RVing essentials and give it a try. You might just fall in love with RVing all over again!