Winter is Coming - Things You Need to Know to Get Your Van Ready for Winter
We know, we know. That is a lame GOT quote that every single one of you used at some point in the last few weeks. But hey! We build vans here; we are no stand up comedians. And this article will tell you what you need to know to get your van ready for winter. Not make you laugh.
Let's go.
Winter is coming - Credit: Vanlife Sagas
1) SOLAR PANELS
The first thing you'll need to understand for the upcoming weeks is how your solar panels will get affected by the season.
The angle of the Sun
During winter, the Sun will get lower and will affect your solar panel's efficiency. The further North you are on the map, the worst it will get. You will have to deal with it unless you have removable or rotary panels that you can align with the Sun. And even then, daylight will be shorter in every case.
Clean your panels
We often see people coming into the shop with dead batteries, asking why winter killed their electrical system. We then realized their solar panels were comfortably sitting under a foot of snow for three months, blocking 100% of the Sun's rays, therefore killing the battery.
You need to clean your panels every time it snows. The way you do that is quite simple:
If there is fluffy snow, remove it with a soft plastic push broom as soon as it snows. That way, it won't have time to harden on your solar panel's cells.
If the snow is hard or a little icy, you can scrape it with the plastic tip of your car's scraper, UNTIL YOU REACH THE PANEL. Then, you can try to pull off the remaining snow blocs with your fingers. Never scrape or bang on your solar panels. Never.
If your panel is entirely iced, meaning there is a real 6-foot long skating rink on it, DON'T THROW BOILING WATER at it. We've seen it in the past, and we'll see it again: this will crack your panel in half. The temperature gap between the ice and the boiled water is just too high for it to react as you want it. Instead, you can try blowing hot air at it with your van's heater, or any indirect hot air (some use steamers, propane heaters, etc.) If you’ve got ice, freezing temperatures and a sunny day you can put a black plastic bag over the panel to harness the Sun’s heat to melt the ice.
Cleaning panels - Credits: Vanlife Sagas
Service your exterior electrical connections and roof penetrations
Winter is the perfect excuse to climb on your van and service the whole roof area. Before winter hits, you might want to wipe the entire roof surface, check your MC4 connections, make sure everything is sealed tight, clean anything that seems a bit dirty and re-seal (if needed) any of the connections you’ve got up there. You want to do that; otherwise, ice will find its way into your van.
You don't want that.
2) BATTERIES
Preparing your batteries for winter is easier than walking the dog. However, we find most people don't take it seriously and just hope their batteries come back to life after sitting in the van for winter.
Here's what you need to do if you are planning on storing your van for the winter:
Example of a Lithium Battery - Credits: Battle Born
Charge your batteries - A full battery is less likely to freeze during winter.
Disconnect the negative cable and check the voltage after a few hours - A full battery will read 12.6V on the voltmeter.
Remove all loads - Most of our conversions have a master switch you can turn off. This will prevent small electronics from sucking the juice from your battery.
Store the batteries in a cool place - In the garage, somewhere on your shelves. Don’t worry about leaving batteries on concrete. That tip comes from batteries that used to be made with wood casings. …WOOD!?
Charge your batteries every month - It will prevent it from freezing and extend its lifespan.
Note on Lithium Batteries:
Most Lithium batteries we use can be discharged in cold temperatures, but CAN'T BE RECHARGED. You will therefore need to warm up the vehicle before doing anything with your Lithium battery.
3) HEATERS
Some of you already have heaters; some of you will need to install one in your van. We can help whether you are in the first or the second category.
If you already have a heater
Check the batteries in you CO detector and ensure you have a fire extinguisher. Not that we’ve ever heard of one of these heaters needing either of these things, but it’s always better to be safe and prepared.
You might want to get your heater checked and serviced before the cold season. Why? Because you never really know what is going on in that combustion chamber. And when your heater gives up in the middle of a cold night, you’ll wish you had done some preventative maintenance.
We install and service Eberspächer heaters at Vanlife Customs, and they aren't difficult to fix if we catch them before they break.
If you don't have a heater yet
Here is a list of things you need to consider when choosing your heater:
Size of your vehicle.
Fuel type.
Fuel efficiency.
Altitude adjustment for the fuel-air mixture.
Features and controllers.
Serviceability (Note: China knockoffs have no service points in North America).
CO detector and fire extinguisher.
The Webasto Air Top Evo 40/55
We would recommend the following models for the majority of the conversions we do:
The Eberspacher - Airtronic 2000 - B4L (gas) and D2L (Diesel)
The Webasto - Air Top Evo 40 (gas) and 2000STC RV (Diesel)
Please contact us if you need more info on this!
4) WATER SYSTEMS
A Frozen water system over the winder bring unexpected spring showers in your van. And you don’t even have a shower in your van.
Simple water system - Credits: Vanlife Customs
What to do with simple water systems
Drain you fresh water tank
Turn on your pump and turn on your faucet to run any water in the lines out of the system.
Turn off your pump and store the van with any drains, faucets or spigots open.
Drain your grey water tank
Carry water during winter in portable water jugs, and DO NOT plug them into your water system. Use the water directly from the containers.
What to do with bigger RV water systems
*These instructions are meant to be generic; please read the owner's manual of your RV for precise instructions.
Turn on your pumps.
Turn on your hot and cold faucets.
Flush your toilet.
Drain everything in your grey and black water tanks.
Turn on all your faucets and let it run for a few minutes until you see antifreeze in all water outlets (shower, sink, water heater, etc.)
Flush the toilet until the antifreeze appears.
Turn off pumps.
That's it, folks! If you are the summer type of vanlifer and prefer leaving your van resting for the colder months, that's perfectly fine. If you are the type of person that prefers watching videos instead, our friends at Vanlife Sagas did a pretty good job going over some of the tips listed above. Just click to watch the video!
If you need more information, please contact us!
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