We're Making Mistakes so You don't have too

The mistakes we made, nobody talks about enough.

I've been living in RVs for a while but I have just recently purchased the largest RV I've ever had. This beauty stands 40 ft long and 8.5 ft wide with 3 bump-outs.

It's winter here in New England and the BIGGEST problem we've faced so far is condensation. Our door freezes on really cold nights, water pools on our windows, and sometimes our walls inside our cabinets sweat. To combat this we wipe up the water immediately, we also use a dehumidifier at night, open vents throughout the day for 20 or 30 minutes, and turn the fan on over the stove anytime we cook, we have also poured about a Tablespoon of  100-90 proof Alcohol or antifreeze in the sliding doorway, and if you're doing this and it still doesn't help get Damp Rid for your cabinets and closet.

Another problem one would face in winter is keeping your pipes insulated. I suggest insulating the undercarriage of the ENTIRE RV. Our RV has the main floor insulated but not the bump-outs and you can feel the difference between the two. Another thing you want to do is make a skirt out of foam board insulation and tarps if you can't afford a fancy mobile home skirt. This eliminates wind from blowing under and your heat from escaping. Skirts also prevent wild animals from making a home in or under your RV. We used 2 tarps and some heavy-duty camping steaks and when it snows it helps insulate the tarps.

A large expense you will face one way or another is your heating source, RVs can be heated just like any mobile home. If you choose to use propane, get a couple of 100 pounders, if you are at a permanent location you could get a 500 pounder. This will save you so many midnight trips in the cold as well as fewer trips to the refill spot. Propane can be expensive so make sure you do spring for the big tanks. You can also use your electric heat. We choose not to use electricity because we don't want to run up the bill any more than we already are. We are not sure of how much it would run it up because we haven't ever used it.

But we do have one tiny electric heater that we run in the kitchen to help keep the temp up and our furnace from kicking on or running constantly. This size doesn't seem to trip our power or cause the lights to dim while running. OR, if you have the ability, you can remove your propane stove, build a firebox and install a small but decent wood stove. We will be installing one once we are on our homestead and can remodel a little bit.
When winterizing your RV for full-time living, it is also important to wrap your windows with shrinkwrap; we cut out some double reflective insulation and put it inside the windows before wrapping them with plastic. Thick shades are also a good idea as an added layer of insulation. Our RV came with decent pull blinds so this was something we left alone. We have also hung extra blankets and thick blackout shades over the doors to help us keep the heat inside, every little thing you can do helps.
Unlike a normal house, you will have to worry about how much electricity you use. Shutting lights off whenever you can be your best friend. Make sure your bulbs pull the lowest wattage you can get. Unplug anything that's not being used at the moment. We even switched a few fuses that aren't in use right now off.

Another great tool I have found is these GE auto-on/off flashlight night lights. They are great for when the power goes out or lighting up the night as a night light. My kids love them as toys but they're also great tools to have.
A mistake we made this year was not wrapping the bump-outs with an insulation board to prevent any water from getting to the bump-out. When we transplant to our homestead we plan on putting a makeshift roof and four-season room with a wood stove to heat us. We bought this RV late in the season which prevented us from making the changes and additions we wanted to.

Anything you can do to save electricity and keep your heat inside your RV is steps you're going to want to take. Even if your RV has the Winter package, that insulation is only so much. No one living in an RV doesn't want to save a few bucks somewhere in their expenses.

I hope this helps someone somewhere looking to live in cold weather in an RV.