There are a lot of people who come to sunny Southwest Florida each year to spend time in their RV, and then go back up north in the Fall and leave it here all winter until the next go-around.
Parking your RV in Southwest Florida for the winter requires some preventive measures that would be different than up north in colder climates. These measures will help you make it ready for the winter, and be ready to use next spring, and also so you need not worry too much about it while you are gone. It’s also a great way to keep costly repair bills down due to the damaging results that can happen when left in Southwest Florida unattended. Now the question is how do you prepare it for winter in Southwest Florida? Seems almost like an oxymoron doesn’t it? While the pipes may not be in danger of bursting due to the extreme colds, other perils can happen that can have the same effect on your pocket book.
Below I’ve listed some steps that you can take to make sure that when you return to your beautiful coach in the spring you will be returning to a wonderful vacation place and not a problem to fix:
- Turn off the water to the RV. Water damage could destroy your coach, not to mention the hefty water bill you’ll get!
- Drain, and turn off the water heater.
- Clean out the refrigerator and leave it opened and turned off.
- Clean all toilets, showers, and sinks.
- Check the water in the batteries.
- Make sure all power inside the coach is off. Some people turn off the batteries.
- Drain both the black as well as holding tank, making sure you flush them out too.
- Fill the fresh water tank all the way, and put a conditioner in it. Make sure you drain the tank when you return and put clean water in it, also treating it.
- Cover the toilets with saran wrap, and plug all drain openings in sinks, and showers. This will keep gasses out of the coach when the p-traps evaporate.
- If you have shore power hooked up (suggested) keep the A/C running where they will cycle from time to time to keep inside dry and mildew free. The battery charger will also keep the batteries charged.
- Protect all exterior openings from rodent access. You can buy Rodent devices that have been known to keep rodents away at your local hardware store.
- Cover all of the tires to protect them from U/V rays
- Cover all of the interior windows with some form of reflective material to keep inside cool and stop harmful U/V rays from wearing on the interior.
- Clean inside and outside of the RV, and wax it if possible. Make sure there are no perishables or open items in it as this will attract pests.
- If possible, have someone check on your coach to inspect it weekly.
- If your RV is parked near trees make sure you clear the limbs from around your RV
- Above all….Lock your RV.
- Lastly, consult your owner manuals for other tips too.
This checklist is a basic guide that is intended to help you in when storing your RV in Southwest Florida over the winter. I hope you find this helpful, but it is extremely important that you read your owner’s manuals as well for more unit specific guidelines.