How to Winterize a Seasonal Mobile Home
Motor homes used to only come out during the spring and summer months. A few adventurous folks would push their motor-home usage into the fall. But now motor-home owners are hitting the road with their home-away-from-home throughout the entire year. The winterizing of a motor home before leaving the warmth of the garage is vital to ensure the cold weather doesn't cause any damage to the vehicle and ruin the trip.
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Things You'll Need
- Plastic heat-shrink window film
- Blow dryer
- Tape
- Expandable foam insulation
- Foam pipe tubing insulation
- Compressible rubber weather stripping
Instructions
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Windows
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1
Stop heat loss through the windows. With a help of another person, unroll a layer of plastic window shrink wrap over the inside of the window. Make sure that it extends beyond all window edges by ½ inch.
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2
Hold the plastic temporarily in place with tape at each of the corners.
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3
Use a blow dryer to shrink the plastic around the window. Move the dryer back and forth quickly until the plastic has become tight and there aren't any wrinkles. Be careful not to stay on one spot to long or the dryer will make a hole in the plastic and you will have start over.
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4
Carefully remove the tape at the corners if desired.
Pipes
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5
Look for gaps in and behind the cabinets in the motor home. These gaps often go all the way to the exterior wall of the motor home if pipes or electrical wiring pass through that area.
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6
Spray expanding foam insulation in these areas to seal up the gaps and stop the escape of warm air.
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7
Wrap pipes in foam insulated tubing where possible to prevent freezing.
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8
Keep door of cabinets where pipes run ajar slightly to allow the heat from the cabin to circulate next to the pipes.
Doors
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9
Turn off all the lights in the motor home and look along the edge of the door with it closed on a bright sunny day. If daylight can be seen in the corners or along the base of the door, there will be a major loss of heat.
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10
Open the door and remove the manufacturer's weather stripping.
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11
Install a rubber compression weather stripping along the strike area of the door jam. This weather stripping might require a little more effort to close the door but it will compress around the edges of the door resulting in a tight leak-free seal.
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