We have people ask Pam and I, “why would you want to live in such a small RV? Are you crazy?”
So, I thought it was time for a small RV living full time update! Since we just celebrated our first year in our second full time RV living RV, and in our eighth year of enjoying the lifestyle, I want to share some thoughts on what it is like to live each day in one hundred and sixty square feet.
As I mentioned earlier, since trading our monster 5th wheel and medium duty truck for something smaller, we have traveled in our class C RV almost eight thousand miles and lived in it for three hundred and eighty days.
We lived and traveled in our 5th wheel for over seven years. We enjoyed the comfort and residential amenities of the 5th wheel, but when it came to moving it, that was sometimes not as much of an enjoyable experience. It was basically like driving a semi-truck!
When it came time to adopt a more mobile lifestyle due to our RV inspection business, we decided that a smaller motorized RV would suit us better. It may sound strange to say, but we felt that our 5th wheel was just too big and that we did not need all that room, except to store our stuff. So, we just got rid of the stuff and went for small RV living!
Small RV Living Full Time
Let’s see if I can give you an idea of what a day in a small RV is like!
Like most RV’s, we have a kitchen, a dinette, two front chairs that spin around to service the main living area, a small bathroom with sink, toilet and shower, and a bedroom with a queen bed. Basically, everything you need to be comfortable no matter where you are!
The RV has two slide-out units that add space in the bedroom and living area, but even when retracted the unit is still comfortable. We don’t always extend them when boondocking at Walmarts. We don’t want to appear like we are staying long-term!
A Typical Day Spent in the RV
If Pam and I are not traveling to do an RV Inspection or teaching a class, we typically spend the day inside working inside the RV. In addition to growing our RV Inspection business, I also administrate this full time RV living website. As it continues to grow it does take work in responding to people’s questions, monitoring the pages and posts on the site, and writing additional content. I enjoy hearing from others looking to adopt the lifestyle and helping out as I have time!
A typical day starts out with Pam getting out of bed first and taking care of Lindsey, our authoring Corgi, and getting the coffee made. I stay out of the way and check the morning communications via my smartphone. I find this works best, so we are not competing for the same space.
Once Lindsey goes out for her morning constitutional, I move from the bedroom to the main living area to do what I need to do. After the morning green drink and some bathroom activities, I head for the coffee pot and then to the laptop to start my day of work. Now, not every day is a full work day. If so there would be no reason to live in an RV! The fun of the lifestyle is to move about and enjoy the sites of many different locations.
My desk is the dinette area. This area is also where we eat and where we sit and watch TV. The TV is mounted on the curbside kitchen wall. It does pivot out so we can sit in the front chairs and watch from there, but we seem to prefer the dinette area. Lindsey has adopted the drivers chair as hers.
When the street-side slideout is extended, there is plenty of room for Pam and me to navigate around each other. We very rarely feel like we are in each others way! With the slides retracted for travel and boondocking, that can be a bit more of a challenge.
We find the bathroom is plenty adequate for us. The shower could be a little bit larger, but for a thirty-foot RV, it is what you get. At first, we felt the bathroom sink was small, but we have had no problem with its use. Our black and gray tanks are thirty-four and thirty-one gallons respectively.
The black tank can last us a week or so, but the gray tank requires dumping every other day or so depending on showering, etc. We can easily boondock for two or three days if we are conservative on the fresh water usage of the forty gallon tank.
Meals are not a problem! We can cook most anything we want and have the space to handle the prep work. We are not making elaborate meals. We enjoy salads, chicken and vegetable meals, and skillet dinners, etc. Dinners could be the most challenging in this type of RV, but our simple meals pose no problem! With the large micro/convection oven, and the 3-burner gas cooktop, cooking is easy!
Our seating arrangements consist of the driver and co-pilot chairs and the dinette seating. I miss the euro chair that I had in the 5th wheel, but then I don’t miss some of the other things I had to deal with in the 5th wheel that I don’t with this RV! If I desire to recline somewhere, I have pillows at the dinette, and I lie across the bench seating and can rest my feet on a folding table if I want to.
The bedroom has plenty of storage for our clothes, and the bed is large enough to work for us. Lindsay makes her way to the bed each evening to keep us safe – attack Corgi on duty! With those ears, she hears everything. Sometimes she hears too much!!
So, working at the dinette area, perhaps an afternoon walk, meals, evening TV viewing while doing a little more computer work, and that’s the day! The commute from the bedroom to the dinette is pretty rough to take some days! LOL Even on the days we are working outside the RV, we take it with us as our mobile office. That’s the beauty of this size RV!
Could you possibly see yourself enjoying small RV living? That really depends on the lifestyle you are used to. Pam and I migrated from a thirty-eight hundred square foot house to a twelve hundred square foot home to a four hundred square foot RV to what we have now.
For us, it was a progression. Could we have jumped from the large house to our current RV? Probably not! Everyone’s journey will be different, but yes you can enjoy full time RV living in a small RV! It just takes planning and the research to know what you are getting into before buying one.
If you think you want to try it, rent one. Small RV’s are easy to rent! This would be an excellent way to test it out!
If you are enjoying full time RV living, or you have more questions about this subject, please feel free to comment below!
One of the most popular posts on my website is the one that talks about the best 5th wheel RV for you. That proves to me that selecting an RV to buy is a difficult choice, especially if the person making the choice has never traveled in an RV before!
There are many determinations to make when selecting an RV to purchase! That decision can be entirely different if the RV is being used for full time RV living or it is just for occasional travel. But, in either case, there is not a more comfortable way to travel! When on the road in an RV you have everything you need! Where ever you are, you are at home because everything you need is with you!
What I want to address in this writing is to give you things to consider when starting your research for an RV you may be considering buying.
It amazes me that 1.3 million Americans live in an RV and are enjoying full-time RV living! The question is, did most of these folks make the right choice when they made their first RV purchase?
My research has led me to answer no to that question! Many people we have met in our eight years on the road have shared how many RV’s they have had since they started the lifestyle. Most people have traded their RV every one to two years.
They also admit that they have made impulsive purchases. They were attracted to mundane features that had no real significance for what they really needed for their RVing lifestyle! They bought in the moment instead of thinking the RV purchase through!
RV dealerships prey on emotions to get you to buy at the moment! Statements like, “Oh look how lovely this fireplace will be on a chilly night! You can enjoy watching your flat screen TV and have a fire too!” What they don’t really know is how you are going to use the RV and what your actual needs may be!
There are some dealerships that will take the time to learn your needs and match them with the appropriate RV. But, when you first start looking you may not know exactly what you will need in an RV purchase.
Selecting an RV!
What should you be looking for? These could be some things to consider:
What amount of engine power will you need?
What class of RV will work best?
Will my choice be easy to drive?
Does paint quality matter to you?
What floorplan will work best?
What about features and technology?
Will you have enough storage space?
Can you carry everything you want with you?
What is cargo carrying capacity?
Should I buy a new or used RV?
Will you need to tow a car or a trailer? How does that affect your RV chassis choice?
If purchasing a towable RV, how much truck will you need to safely pull the RV?
So, those items I listed above are just a few of the considerations you need to make when selecting an RV to purchase. But first, it really does not matter what you may think you want if you can’t afford it, right?
So the first thing is to set a realistic budget. Will you pay cash for your RV or will you be financing a significant portion of the purchase? You must decide so when you go shopping on the internet, or at an RV dealership, you are working within your budget.
Once you have that number, keep it to yourself! A salesman’s first question is “what is your budget?” There are many ways they can make the numbers work! Payments can be spread out over twenty years.
But will you still have that RV in twenty years? If you trade it in after just a few years you will be upside down: owe more than it’s worth. Choose the class of RV that you are considering and share that with them.
For example, when the salesperson asks, “what budget have you set for your RV purchase,” respond with something like, “we are looking for a class A gas powered RV in the thirty-six-foot range.”
It will be best if you choose a class of RV before going to the dealership. This will be part of your pre-visit research. Don’t buy on the first visit! Go home and evaluate what you saw. Take lots of pictures!
If after looking at the RV of your choice you decide that it may not work for you then you have spared yourself from making a mistake! Just re-examine your priorities and try again.
RV’s are a depreciating asset. They are not even an asset! Once you drive it off the lot, especially if it is brand new, if you turn around and come back a week later, it is now a used RV.
That is why it is so important to buy right, the first time, and you can do this by spending a lot of time reading, visiting dealerships, and talking to others who are already on the road.
I want to address some of the items to consider when purchasing an RV that I listed earlier by telling our story and process of how we were able to buy and keep our first RV for almost seven years!
The best thing Pam and I did was to rent RV’s for seven years before deciding to get into the full-time RV lifestyle! We were at the point that a vacation in an RV was far better than other options we had done previously! Once we were out on the road, we learned so much about what we would like in an RV of our own and what we would not.
Once we finally decided to start looking for the class of RV we had decided on, I researched my choice vigorously! I set a budget and decided a used RV that was in the two to the three-year-old category would suit us best.
My determination was mostly based on an RV manufacturer that I thought had great quality. We also based our choice on one that we had rented from this particular RV manufacturer and the feedback of other owners.
I found the one I wanted, and it was only a couple of hundred miles away, so we went to look at it, and with our purchasing budget in mind.
It was just what we were looking for but about twenty-five thousand dollars more than I wanted to spend for it. So we thought perhaps we should go a few years older, but the same make and model, if we could find it.
As chance would have it, a few weeks later the dealership was having a close-out sale and the price of the RV we looked at had dropped twenty-five thousand dollars. The RV price was now right where we wanted it: two years old, it had hardly been used, looked like new, but it had a bad odor inside.
It was not a mold issue, but a black tank odor. It turned out they had never dumped the black tank after receiving it as a trade-in. Once the tank was emptied and the RV interior was cleaned, the odor was no more!
We closed the deal and purchased our “new to us” 2006 Newmar Kountry Aire 5th wheel! We now had our full-time RV living home, and we were delighted!
It was in our budget, it had all the space we required in the kitchen, it had plenty of storage below, it could carry the weight of the items we planned to put in it, the full body paint was stunning, and it appeared it had been well cared for. As it turns out, we should have had a certified RV inspection done on the RV as I missed a few things that cost me money later on!
The point here is that because we spent a lot of time researching the RV lifestyle, we traveled thirty-five thousand miles in rented RV’s before buying one, spent the time deciding what would work best for us, talked to other RVers about their experiences, and did not rush into a purchase, we had that RV for almost seven years and it worked out perfectly for us!
And, because we purchased both the truck and the 5th wheel at below market value, we did okay when it came time to trade the RV in!
Why did we trade the RV in you ask? Well, our needs changed in a way that we could not have anticipated when we started the full-time RV lifestyle. And that’s okay! But, since the RV was approaching the ten-year mark, which for us was a good time to trade, and we needed a different class of RV due to our business, we started the process all over again!
But, since the RV was approaching the ten-year mark, which for us was a good time to trade, and we needed a different class of RV due to our business, we started the process all over again!
What Class of RV will Work Best for You?
There are so many things to consider when thinking about purchasing your RV! The first main issue, other than price, is to decide what class of RV will work best for you? Will that be a motorized RV or a towable RV? If you choose a motorized RV, will that be a gas engine or a diesel engine?
Gas powered RV’s are great if you are not going to be moving around that much and staying in places for months on end. However, they certainly don’t have the carrying capacity of their diesel counterparts. Carrying capacity can be a significant issue for full-time RVers! Also, the larger gas powered class A RV’s don’t drive as well as one that is on a diesel powered chassis with airbags that improve handling and ride.
But with that improved handling and ride comes a significant increase in cost! Depending on the make and manufacturer you can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price tag if choosing a new RV.
As far as fuel consumption, they are about the same as far as gallons consumed, per mile driven. You are going to get seven to ten miles per gallon, at best! I have people tell me they are getting seventeen miles per gallon pulling their forty foot 5th wheel with their one-ton dually truck. Horse pucky!
Listen, this is just my opinion, and it is my website, so I can say what I like. This advice is based on years of experience! If fuel costs are a big deal in your RVing lifestyle, then RVing may not be for you, at least for an RV that you are going to move a lot. If it is something that you will only bring south for the winter, perhaps a park model would be a better fit! Overall they are cheaper, you don’t have the stresses involved in driving them, and park models require much less maintenance than an RV!
If fuel costs are a big deal in your RVing lifestyle, then RVing may not be for you, at least for an RV that you are going to move a lot. If it is something that you will only bring south for the winter, perhaps a park model would be a better fit! Overall they are cheaper, you don’t have the stresses involved in driving them, and park models require much less maintenance than an RV!
If selecting an RV as a choice to get out of a house and it will not be moved very much, indeed a towable unit is a better choice than a motorized one. If at some point you need it moved you can hire an RV moving company to come and relocate it for you. That will probably be cheaper than owning a truck that will never pull the RV regularly.
Carry Capacity When Selecting an RV
What is carry capacity and how can you find this information in an RV? There will be a data plate in the RV, either in the front, on a door, or listed inside a cabinet door. That label will tell you what the RV can carry. Depending on the class of RV we are talking about here, that figure will include the weight of occupants, fresh water in the tank, and items brought onboard the RV.
Take a look at this yellow label describing the carrying capacity of a thirty-four-foot class C diesel puller RV.
This label states that for this RV the combination of the occupants, fresh water and cargo should not exceed 1,233 pounds. That is not much carrying capacity! It would be incredibly easy to overload this vehicle to the point of being unsafe!
This would not be a good choice for a full time RVer who wants to carry all their possessions with them! Even with a cargo trailer, it would be tough! A five hundred pound tongue weight on the hitch pulling a five thousand pound GVWR trailer would knock that carrying capacity down to a little over eight hundred pounds.
Now, add two adults at three to four hundred pounds total and you barely have the carrying capacity for anything else.
Does this change in a class A diesel RV? Sure! Some can carry five thousand pounds or more! Even some of the larger class A gas RV’s have a carrying capacity of three to four thousand pounds.
The reason for going into such detail on this topic is because we know so many RVers who travel in an overloaded situation. When doing so, that puts a strain on all the mechanical components of the RV, as well as the tires that may not be designed to carry the additional weight. What can that lead to? Perhaps a tire blowout during travel. That is not something you want to experience if you can avoid it!
So, when selecting an RV that you want to purchase you can now see that there is so much more than deciding one day to buy one and then go to a dealership to look. That is the best way to get confused and probably get pushed into the wrong purchase! The same is true at RV shows! Yes, there are deals to be had, but only if you know exactly what you want after having done lots of research!
That is the best way to get confused and probably get pushed into the wrong purchase! The same is true at RV shows! Yes, there are deals to be had, but only if you know exactly what you want after having done lots of research!
Please be a smart RV buyer and do your homework! And if it is just impossible for you to know what kind of RV that will work best for you, rent one, or borrow a friend or family members, and try it out. If you have to rent an RV, and it won’t be cheap, it will be the best money you will have spent! It sure was for Pam and me!
Best of luck on your future RV purchase! When you do finally decide and buy your home on wheels, and it is a used RV, please visit our Used Purchase RV page on Facebook and share your experience with us and others! This Facebook Group has been set up to help buyers of used RV’s to find places where they can have good buying experiences.
Please leave a comment below if we can be of assistance to you in this process!
Barooooo! Guess who? It’s me Lindsey back with another new Bark Report. This time, I want to bark at you all about an icky subject, natural home remedies controlling pest insects bugs in and around your RV. (Sorry no significant others will be covered in this report.)
For me, they provide a good, quick protein snack. Catching a fly in the air is a fun game. Snap, snap, snap. Who’s faster? Another favorite of mine is rolling on the crawly kind to see if it can survive a corgi back scratch. Neither are a favorite of Mom, so I will have to give you her words of wisdom keeping our moving house pest free.
First off I got to say, if you find one of them stink bugs, by all means don’t squish it in the house. Mom grabs it with something with a paper towel and puts it outside or in a sealed jar. You can suck them up with a vacuum but be sure to dump it immediately. Warning, if you squish one, it’s a nasty smell for humans. It’s the smell that keeps on giving. Phew! I rolled on one in PA and got a long soapy bath and lots of a Perfect Coat coconut freshening spray. In my mind, the bug smelled better.
Use a spray of 2 cups water to 10 drops mint oil to keep those bugs away! Mild dish soapy water kills them. Garlic repels them. ( Not just for vampires!) Mix 2 cups water and four tsp garlic powder. The little stinkers come in through vents or small holes. I sometimes get lucky and find them when Mom brings in the slide rooms. Try rubbing your door, windows and vent screens with a strong smelling dryer sheet daily until the problem is fixed.
Next one to bark about is ants. You know those teenie, weenie, tiny little things that build mounds and make it look like the earth is moving? Well, a cool way is to sprinkle grits (yes you heard me right. The stuff all good Southerners eat for breakfast.) around all the ant mounds. They take it back to the impress their queen, eat it and POOF! Exploding ants! It expands when they eat it. The industrious ones that survive will move the colony but you just keep sprinkling, and they continue until all gone.
Sprinkle garlic between any decking or bricks to keep them off your patio. You don’t want to step on those guys cuz they get mad and bite.
Oh, I did forget to mention if you get ants inside your moving house, bay leaves help discourage them. Rabbit trail. We had someone time because the mints were left on a window ledge. The teeny tiny little buggers came right in between the slide-out room like a small army invasion with a trail right into that little tin. Mom put some whole bay leaves around the seals and ledge where they were coming in. Got rid of our tin of ant covered mints too. (Cucumber peel works too,) You can use in cabinets or tuck around slide room rubber seals. It will last about a month. They get crusty and dry when it’s time to change them.
Yo, check it out. Put a line of cayenne, or spray soapy water around entrance points. Ants won’t cross it. I guess they don’t want to be clean and don’t like spicy food. Go figure!
Okay, so all you Harry Potter fans remember Ron Weasley and his fear of spiders? Dude, he just needed a mixture of peppermint oil and water. Spray it around inside and it keeps the spiders out. Just a drop or two and some water in a small spray bottle. Spray around slides, crevices or wherever the little creepy, crawlies comes in. It makes your RV smell good too. Remember to spray where their food source is too. Outside lights attract flies; thus, Spidey shows up.
Mud Daubers, those weird looking waspy things with long legs that like to hang around all your vent areas of your RV. Prevention is best on these bad boys. Good news is they eat spiders. Remove the webs and spiders. Buh-bye. Don’t be cheap. Spend the money and get the dauber screens to put on your outside refrigerator, water heater and furnace vents. If they get in there, you can find a whole nest, and that’s not good. It can impact on your appliance operations.
Now we come to a really nasty bug, roaches. For you northerners, there are two kinds. One is called a German cockroach, and the other is called a palmetto bug. (Palmetto bug is a cockroach on steroids.) They like food and wet areas. Rule number one, clean and clean often and then clean again. Get rid of garbage daily and seal up all food. They don’t like bay leaves, garlic or cucumber slices. Put it in areas where they like to hang out, high places above refrigerator or cabinets.
The best way to keep roaches out is don’t let them in. Duh! If you have lots of pine straw around, roaches like to live in it. It’s common to see in Florida because it helps kill weeds. It’s toxic to kids and furkids, but boric acid, also known commercially as Borax laundry detergent will keep them out. You can sprinkle around your site outside, or above cabinets, slides, refrigerator inside. They’re stupid like ants and take it back to the nest to eat. Clean but dead roaches.
So a few other things roaches don’t like. Catnip. If you’re handy, make little pouches of catnip and put around your RV where you may find them. Your cat could be euphoric if it gets into these! Barooo! Sometimes I just crack me up! Or if you want to forgo that beer, soak 1 or 2 pieces of bread in a coffee can soaked in beer. They no like.
Or there is my favorite, death by dish soap. You have to be quick but spray that bugger with dish soap. Kills them dead.
You know those annoying buzzers that bite you called mosquitoes? Well, they do not like lavender or citronella. Rub some on and it will help keep them off you. A concoction that Paul Harvey says works is to buy a big blue bottle of cheap mouthwash and mix it with 3 cups Epsom Salts and three stale, cheap beer until dissolved. Spray around your site. It will last about 80 days. Mosquitoes and bugs hate it. Of course, I know a lot of humans who hate stale beer and cheap mouthwash too. Also, avoid the scented shampoos, laundry detergent, and fabric softener. Those little buzzers like scents as well as lights.
Got moths? They are a fun game to try to catch. Mom found that dried lemon peel is a natural deterrent for them. You can put some in a cheesecloth and toss or hang in your closet. Aromatic cedar oil(juniper) soaked on a cloth works too.
We need to talk flies. Boy, do they set me to buzzing by dive bombing my head and landing on me when I’m trying to catch some ZZZs. How rude! If they buzz you too, try putting crushed mint or eucalyptus oil on an absorbent cloth around the moving house. It helps deter them. We never leave my food or any people food open, but if you do, an open container of sweet basil and clover nearby will help discourage them.
Lastly, I hear you asking about mice. Hmm, I’m not a cat, but Mom did say that a couple drops of peppermint oil on a cotton ball and placed where ever mice may enter will deter them. ( Is it my imagination or is peppermint a major pest deterrent?) Food for thought for another day. One of Dad’s students even said he heard putting moth balls in your bays or engine area will keep them out.
“Get that camera out if my face! I am trying to take a nap on Mom and Dad’s bed!”
Okay, I’m done. Time to check out the inside of my eyelids. If you want to bark at me below, please do. Until next time,
Since our Fall Update, Pam and I have been back in Florida. We spent time in the panhandle of Florida from mid-November to early January 2016. Pam and I enjoy the Destin area of Florida because of the beautiful white sand beaches and gorgeous sunsets! It was a warm Thanksgiving and early December!
In early January, we headed to the Tampa area to spend a week at Lazydays in Seffner, FL. We were teaching an NRVIA 5-Day Learn by Doing Advanced RV inspector training class. We had six eager students who were perfecting their RV inspection skills!
This year we decided not to stay in any one place for very long as we have done in past years during the winter season. When visiting Florida in the winter, in an RV while enjoying full-time RV living lifestyle, it can be difficult to find an RV spot in February! It is much easier to do so if you are willing to move around a bit. And, there are deals to be had! Some of our camping club memberships give us discounts even during the winter in Florida. That is awesome!!
Once we left Lazydays, we headed to the Tampa RV Supershow. This event is held every year at the Tampa Fairgrounds facility that is located near I-4 and I-75. This year had a mixture of warms days and some cooler, and we had several days of rain during the event. The weather had an effect on the visitor numbers as they did not break last year’s attendance record, but they only missed it by a few hundred attendees.
Pam and I enjoyed visiting with vendors and manufacturers to learn about their new products for 2016! There certainly are some creative innovations being used in RV’s coming off the line. We saw some 5th wheel RV manufacturers that are using some creative thinking by putting the kitchens up front, raised living rooms in the rear with storage bays underneath, TV’s behind mirrors in bedrooms, and large slide-in-slide units.
And of course, who can resist looking at the multi-million dollar units on display! Some are set up to view from the outside only! You can’t go inside unless you make an appointment, have a credit check run on you, prove your net worth, and give up your first born! LOL
While everyone else was checking out the interiors of the more expensive units, I was outside checking out all the storage bays with all the equipment installed that controls plumbing, heating, electronics, electrical functions, etc. I look at RV’s differently than most! I try to determine how you get to things if service is needed and how things work? As an RV inspector/trainer, I am always evaluating what the RV manufacturers are doing!
While looking at some of the class A gas toy hauler units, I was intrigued by something I have never seen in a factory installed appliance. I have seen RV owners install window AC units in their RV’s, but now one particular manufacturer has come up with a way to do that to eliminate the added height of a rooftop AC unit.
They took a small window type AC unit and installed it in a cabinet. They placed an oversized vent on the exterior wall of the RV. To vent the heat, they used a rooftop refrigerator vent that you would typically see in a Dometic or Norcold installation. To make this work the small AC unit was mounted near the interior ceiling. I was not able to test its operation, but I was intrigued by the ingenuity!
While at the show we were able to stay in the vendor camping area. After a long day of walking around the Fairgrounds, it was nice not to have to deal with the rush hour traffic while trying to depart from the show. Staying right at the Fairgrounds was very convenient and enjoyable!
Since leaving the Tampa RV Supershow, we have been staying north of the Tampa area and visiting RV parks that were offering deals at the show. So far so good! We have been able to get an RV spot in campgrounds that were offering specials. Sometimes you get a decent place, other times you don’t!
Last week we were parked in a campground RV site right at the entrance gate and the mail delivery area. Use your imagination as to our thoughts there. However, for nine nights the average cost was $15.83! So, we could not complain too much I guess! It is winter in Florida, and the snowbirds are here!
The following week we were in another RV park, and we were located right up front near a busy two-lane state road. The office told us that this was all they had. For the price paid, I guess we can’t complain here either! We were able to get a week’s stay for $99.
So, we left that park and headed to Walmart for some shopping and decided to stay the night. While there we decided on our next location. We found another RV park in the area offering a $99 for a week special. Awesome!!
We are now in a quiet little campground that is located out of the city busyness. It is an older park with an eclectic mix of older RV’s and park models, but again, for the price it is just fine!
From here we are headed back to Lazydays for another Learn by Doing 5-day Advanced Inspector Training class. We will be there till the end of February.
Where will we be after that? Right now we don’t know! But that is the fun of full time RV living! It does not matter. If we can’t find a spot, there is always a Walmart parking lot we can hang out at for a few days. Some of the Walmarts north of the Tampa area are pretty nice!
Are you out traveling in your RV this winter, or not? Share what you are up to in the comment area below!
Baroo! Hello, my furry and non-furry followers. Lindsey here with my Bark Report. I’m here to bark at you about RVing in Florida in the Winter. Mom’s computer machine quit, so my puppy paws had to hold back on my topic. Since we’ve been RVing for the past 53 dog years (that’s seven plus human years), I thought this would be a good topic, especially since we spend most of our time in Florida.
Tip #1: Dude, check out the RV shows. Deals to be had! Mom collected them at the Tampa RV Supershow like they were giving away money. Many exclude the busy months of January, February and March but lots don’t. They just want to get you to stay at their park. But you have to be flexible. Be an RVer. My motto, if you don’t want to move, get a dog house!
Tip #2: Long term rates are the best IF you can find them. Once someone comes, they book year after year as fast as they can. And the parks like that so they give them preferential treatment for doing that. It’s like Network Marketing. They tell their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their friends. Seems that’s the one way to get a long term spot. So make a friend. BOL!
Tip #3: RV Parks always have something called Transient sites. That’s not “homeless” transient but short term sites. What that means is if you are flexible you can find a week or two. Move and move often. The park we are in right now just happened to have a cancelation AND had a week or two-week internet special.
Tip #4: Join a club like FMCA, Escapees, Passport America, Thousand Trails, Good Sam. Can you say Discounts? Most will do at least 10% off and may have some restrictions on how long or when you can stay. We use Passport America, so we get 50% off stays. That spells more bones for me!!!
Tip #5: State, County and City parks. If you are over 65, they give you 50% off. They have to keep some transient sites open for up to 14 days. Too bad they don’t count dog years. I would surely qualify for that discount.
Tip #6: Check out northern Florida. Their busy season is in the summer. You can find some excellent off-season rates and less traffic. Even close to or on the beach. Yea yea I know. You’re telling me it’s too cold. Compared to what? Where you live? At least, you won’t be shoveling snow if you get my drift. (Get it? Snow? drift?. Sometimes I just crack me up!)
Tip #7: Fill ‘er up before you cross the state line. Gas is cheaper in neighboring states. Dad says they have lower taxes. There’s a site online you can check out gas prices. It’s called gasbuddy.com.
Tip #8: Ever think about Workamping? You ask, what is workamping? You exchange hours worked for a campsite. If you want to be in Florida in the winter, think about it. You can save a ton of money doing a seasonal job for a campsite. Some even pay for extra hours worked. Volunteer as a camp host at an Army Corp of Engineer or State Park. Most offer a site for minimum hours worked.
Tip #9: Look for smaller, family owned campgrounds that are farther inland. Mom says the price goes up per mile the closer you get to the beach.
So, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Did I miss anything? Questions? If so, Bark at me below, and I’ll get back to you. Time for my puppy “snap”.(Short nap)
In part one of this article I talked about the importance of setting the correct cold tire pressure based on the loaded weight of an RV. I also discussed inspecting the RV’s tires before each trip and when is the best time to replace those tires.
In part two of this article, I would like to address tire pressure monitoring systems, what to do with RV tires that are stored or sit static for months during full time RV living, DOT codes on tires, and a little more discussion on when to replace RV tires.
Tire Pressure Monitor Systems
More and more RV’s and cars now come with tire pressure monitor systems installed. They are mounted inside the rim where the tire valve stem is located. These sensors feed current tire pressure readings to an inside source where the vehicle driver can monitor these values. Not only do they give current tire pressure readings but some also give internal temperature readings.
These devices allow the driver to know when preset values increase above a percentage of what is normal. The sensors will also indicate a loss of pressure whether sudden or slow; that might create a situation where the change in pressure could create a serious issue while traveling.
Pam and I have used these devices for years and have been alerted to serious issues that allowed us to pull off the road before significant damage was done to the RV! When pulling a trailer, a 5th wheel RV, or when towing a car or trailer behind a motorized RV, these devices are especially important because sometimes you can’t tell when a problem may be occurring!
I travel with added piece of mind during both day and night travel with a tire pressure monitor system installed! In the dark, while traveling with our big fifth wheel, with dual tandems, and the big Freightliner truck, I would not even feel the loss of one if it’s eight tires. The truck would not care! It would just keep on trucking along! Have you ever had a semi-truck pass you on the highway and you noticed one of its tires is shredded or missing? They don’t realize it either.
While traveling I-75 in Florida one hot August day, with the outside temperature recording 97 degrees, we had a catastrophic failure of one of our tires on the rear axle of the street side outside tire. Now, in this case, we heard it because it sounded like a shotgun! Before the blowout, the tire pressure indicators did show a normal increase in tire pressure as expected for the hot day we were traveling.
The sensors immediately set off an alarm to which we responded to by pulling off the highway. When the noise was first heard we did not know what it was, but when the tire pressure monitor system alarm sounded, I knew a tire had failed. Because we were notified very quickly, I was able to get off the road and minimize the damage to the RV, which luckily there was very little. That was because I did not continue to drive on a damaged tire that would have continued to deteriorate even further, unravel and beat up the underside of the RV.
While holding some seminars at Lazydays RV Rally Park last year, I was able to overhear another seminar being held by an RV manufacturer talking about the cost a rear tire failure can have on a class A RV. He stated that the average cost to repair the damage by a tire that fails at highway speeds averages about fifty-two thousand dollars. Wow!!
If you don’t currently have this technology in use on your RV, how can an externally installed tire pressure monitoring system help you? It can by allowing you to address slow increases or decreases in tire pressure, out of range temperature readings of the tires, and even the sudden loss of tire pressure if the driver is unable to sense the change.
If your RV does not have this sort of system installed as a factory option, it is well worth the investment to have them placed on every tire valve stem involved in your RV setup. They simply screw onto the threads where the valve cap is located. If a class A RV has six tires and pulls a car behind, it can be equipped with ten sensors for the RV and the tow vehicle. The same can be said for trucks and towable units.
Anyone who travels in an RV should have tire pressure monitors installed! Prices start at a few hundred dollars and go up from there depending on the unit you choose and the number of sensors you require. In the past few years, the systems have improved even more! I like that they now offer lighter weight sensors and that you can change the sensor batteries yourself instead of sealed units that you have to send back to the manufacturer to replace.
RV Tires That Sit For Months Without Being Moved
RV tires that sit for long periods of time have more of a challenge than those that are driven more often. Such a case might be when an RV is used only a few weeks out of the year and stored the rest, or for a full time RVer, who lives in the RV but does not move it much because they stay in one area.
What RV owners may not know is that tires age in a different manner when they are not driven. They actually may age faster. Without the tire being able to rotate, heat up, and the entire tire allowed to flex under load, the tire is not given the chance for the protective agents in the tire to be able to do their job.
If an RV is being stored, more thought needs to be given to the needs of the tires. The recommendations from the major tire manufacturers are to store the RV in a cool, dry and weather protected unit. The best place to set the RV tires is on a smooth non-petroleum based surface with a barrier between the tire and its parking surface.
Most people forget to think about reducing the load in the RV while it is placed in storage. For those that are living full time in their RV, they may be able to use the leveling system to not only level the RV but to take some of the load off their tires.
What are some other things an RV owner can do to protect their tires, whether for a full-timer or not? It is best to keep the RV tires clean by using a mild soap and water. Also, if they are going to be exposed to sunlight and ultraviolet rays, keep them covered. If possible, it is also a good idea to keep them out of a high ozone area. I will discuss the application of tire dressings in part three of this series!
And of course, the tires should always be inflated to the recommended pressure indicated by the RV manufacturer! But, please keep in mind the best thing you can do for your tires is to use them!
The Expected Life of an RV Tire
The various materials and rubber compounds that make up an RV tire are there to be sure the tire functions as it should. How long the tire will last certainly depends on many factors. These can be factors of how the tire is used during its life, how it is stored and maintained, and the weather conditions the tire has endured.
How can you know how old your tires are and if they should just be replaced? Can the Department of Transportation code indicate that they are past their useful life? The DOT code placed on all tires is there to help you know the date that the tire was manufactured. It is stamped on one side of the tire. You have a fifty percent chance of being able to spot it on your tires. Some RV manufacturers like to mount the tires, so the DOT codes are facing inward to protect them from being scuffed off when tires are scrubbed against curbs and other roadway hazards.
This four digit date of birth code for late model tires tells you the week and year a tire was made. If the date code shows 0304, that means the tire was made in the third week of 2004. How is this information helpful to you?
As of late, the major tire manufacturers and the National Transportation and Safety Board have stated that tires should be replaced after six years. Michelin states that tires that are ten years old are recommended for replacement, and that includes spare tires as well! I have seen recent updates that after five years from the DOT code the tires be checked by a certified tire specialist each year after that five-year mark.
Certainly it is better to air on the side of caution than to try and save money by not replacing the tires on an RV when age is in question. Of course, if the tires start to show age-related cracks and gouges at any age, replacement should be considered. Cracks in the tire sidewalls that are between 1/32″ and 2/32″ should be examined by a tire specialist at a tire dealer.
As Michelin once stated, “so much is riding on your tires!” Why would you want to take a chance! When it comes to the stresses that an RV places on its tires, it is imperative not to take their maintenance seriously!
If the recommended age limit has been reached, or they appear to be deteriorating beyond normal, replace them for the safety of all involved – not only for those traveling with the RV but for the other drivers on the road who may be put in harms way when an RV tire fails!
Stay tuned for part three of this article where I will address rv tire maintenance, possible causes of abnormal tire wear and selecting replacement tires for your RV. Until then Pam and I wish you blessed travels in your RV! We hope you are lucky enough to be out on the road this time of year!
For any RVer, proper tire maintenance is imperative. But, for the RVer enjoying the full time RV living lifestyle, regular RV tire maintenance is, even more, critical.
Some people who live full time in their RV’s tend to move them even less than those that don’t. They may park in areas where less consideration is given as to the surface on which those tires are parked. When tires are not used regularly, and no thought is given to their care due to lack of knowledge, those tires can deteriorate quickly thereby shortening their life. Poor tire maintenance habits can lead to a life safety issue when traveling in the RV!
So What Do You Need to Know?
While traveling, your RV is riding on the air in your tires. If the tire fails because it is unable to contain that air, problems will occur! So, that being said, tire inflation is a major issue in being sure that tire treads wear properly, and the overall performance of the tire is maximized.
Tires that are under-inflated can reduce traction, increase fuel consumption, reduce the load carrying capacity of the RV, create premature tread wear, and cause permanent damage to the structural integrity of the tire. Just a few simple procedures at the start of each trip, and once a month, can help you to get the most from your RV’s tires.
RV tires have a cold pressure value located on the sidewall of the tire that show its maximum inflation pressure. In other words, the pressure of the tire when it has not been driven on, and that has not been sitting out in the sunlight. A hot tire can read five to fifteen psi higher than a cold tire. Checking inflation pressure when a tire is warm will lead to under-inflated tires!
A good time to check RV tire pressure is at least once a month either when the RV has been sitting in static full time RV living mode or because the RV is in storage. RV Tires should also be checked each morning before road trips. Checking air pressure on a regular basis will help to spot any slow leaks that might create an issue while on a long road trip. Inflate the RV’s tires to the recommended pressure listed by the RV manufacturer. Those numbers should be on a label inside the RV.
The inflation pressure suggested by the RV manufacturer may be the maximum cold pressure of the tire, or it may be a lesser value. It depends on the load that is expected for each tire.
When beginning an RV trip, I always check my tire’s pressure early in the morning the day of travel. I do that each day we are on the road. I never check them in the evening because they will be warm, and that would give me an incorrect cold pressure reading. I travel with an air compressor, so I am always able to keep my tires at their proper pressure. I also use an air dryer on my compressor so that I am not adding moisture to the inside of the tires.
A few more things about tire pressure: be sure not to exceed your RV’s gross vehicle weight, don’t overload one side of the RV past the axle’s weight ratings even though the gross vehicle weight may be okay, be sure to use a good quality tire gauge, be sure the inner and outer tire pressure on duals is the same, adjust RV tire pressure on all tires to match the tire that is carrying the most load, and match all the tires on the same axle with the same inflation pressure.
One thing you won’t want to do with your RV tires is to reduce tire pressure to create a smoother ride. A reduction in the required pressure could damage the tire creating a possible blow out due to overheating, as well as difficulties with the RV’s handling capabilities. For every psi a tire is underinflated, that tire can lose twenty to thirty pounds of carrying capacity. That can put significant stress on the tire sidewalls!
Inspect your RV tires!
Performing a visual check on your RV’s tires, on a regular basis, is critical as well! Checking to see that no items are lodged in the tread of the tire is a good thing to look for before each travel day. If something is found, do not drive on the tire. It is best to have a mobile service come to you if you can’t bring the tire to a service center.
Here are some other items you can check for: check every tire for sidewall cracking, avoid putting tire dressings on that will accelerate the aging process, look for unevenly wearing tires, and replace tires when the tread has reached the tread depth indicators. They are the little triangles located between the tread grooves on the sidewall of the tire. Addressing these issues could save you from a tire-related breakdown when traveling in your RV.
RV tires have different considerations than automobile tires do. Therefore, they are made with materials that best allow them to function for the purpose for which they are designed for. The materials in these tires change over time.
How that happens depends on factors related to weather, how they are stored, and how they are used. The load at which they are subjected to, the speed at which they are driven, the pressure the tires are inflated to, and how they are maintained all play a vital role in the overall life of an RV tire.
The question I am often asked is when should I replace my RV tires? The answer I give is first to tell me how you have taken care of them and how have you driven on them. Recently major manufacturers came out and supported that tires that are six years old would be recommended for replacement. When it comes to RV tires, and those that are older than five years by the DOT date stamped on the tire, they should be checked by a certified tire specialist once a year for road worthiness.
What about those products that can be applied to the tire for additional UV protection? Is that something that should or should not be used? Stay tuned! I’ll address that and other issues in part two of this article.
After a long summer on the road, we are back in Florida for the winter season. Pam and I left Florida last June with the intent of visiting/traveling through seventeen states. Our purpose for the summer travel was to attend RV shows and teach advanced RV inspector classes in the northeast states.
Our plans worked out perfectly, and we were able to accomplish everything we had planned. Since starting the full time RV living lifestyle back in 2008, we have spent a good portion of our time in Florida as we have aging parents that we like to be available for if they need us.
In June, we visited the panhandle before leaving the state. We spent a week at Carrabelle Beach RV Resort as we had never been to that area before. The small beach across from the RV park is not like the beaches of Destin, but it was still nice. We did venture out to St. George Island and found those beaches closer to what we like.
The next area we headed to visit was with friends in North Carolina, north of the Raliegh area. We boondocked at our friends small ranch that is located out of town in the country. It was nice to awake to the sounds of nearby livestock and the horses playing nearby. It is so enjoyable to be able to visit friends and family as we travel but not burden them with taking care of us, and Lindsey. Where ever we go we have everything we need and are always comfortable in our home on wheels.
Once leaving North Carolina, we headed to Indiana for the month of June and July. The purpose of being there was to teach two advanced RV inspector classes. We stayed at the KOA in Middlebury Indiana. We enjoyed our stay there, and the staff was most accommodating allowing us to use their facility to hold our two weeks of classes.
We were so glad to be up north over the summer months, and not in Florida! The weather was beautiful and stayed mostly in the seventies and low eighties all summer long. We even had days where the highs were only in the sixties. It was like being back in the mountains of Colorado!
From there we ventured into Illinois on our way to Wisconsin to visit family in the Oshkosh area. Pam’s brother lives in a small town, on a lake, and he has a property that he allowed us to parked the RV. He was able to supply us with both water and 30 amp electric service. By using their shower facilities, and bathroom when needed, we were able to stretch our tanks for a week.
Once we left that location, our next stop was up in the upper peninsula of Michigan around Mackinaw Island. We wanted to visit this area again to do some biking. There are miles of both paved and unpaved bike trails. We enjoyed biking from the KOA in Mackinaw City into town to check out the sites.
You can take a ferry over to Mackinaw Island, with your bike, and ride the bike trails that are on the island. Since cars are not allowed it is a great place to enjoy a ride without having to share the roads with vehicles, just horse-drawn buggies that run around town.
From there we traveled towards western Pennsylvania to the Mercer KOA. We had another RV inspector training class scheduled for early August. Once again the nice folks within the KOA system allowed us to use their clubhouse facility to have our five-day class. We only spent a week around the Mercer area but enjoyed our stay and the small town atmosphere of Mercer, PA.
From there we traveled to Ohio to check out a Thousand Trails RV park that we had some good reviews. Since we received a two free week offer to try out their system of RV parks, we decided that this would be a good time to take advantage of the offer. We had some free time before we needed to move on.
We stayed at Lake Kenisee RV Campground. It is located out of town from Jefferson, Ohio. It was in a country type location, and the campground was adequate for our needs. We did spend two weeks at this location using the free offer and were thankful for free camping. It sure helped keep our average nightly park fees at a reasonable rate. Through our summer travels, we managed to stay right around that $20 for our nightly park fees.
At that point, we had three weeks before we needed to be in Manheim, Pennsylvania for the Hershey PA RV Show, the RV Tech Course, and to teach another RV inspector class. Since we had never been to Niagara Falls before and wanted to write an article for Passport America’s Multi-Briefs, we traveled to that area. I wrote an article titled ten free things to do in Niagara Falls. It was a lot of fun visiting the area, taking great photos, and creating an article that would help others enjoy the area too!
We stayed in several locations while we were there. We enjoyed boondocking at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino. They allow RVers to stay in their east parking lot. We found them on freecampgrounds.com. From that location, it was a short ten-minute walk to get to Niagara Falls State Park. We spent a few nights at the Casino and enjoyed many walks to the falls to enjoy the sites.
We also walked across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. With a passport and fifty cents, it is an easy round trip. It is very easy to do. The views of the Falls from the Canadian side are spectacular! From the casino location to the Canadian Falls was a two and a half mile walk. There were many things to see and do along the way.
From there we spent a little time in a nearby park in Gas Port, NY. They were a Passport America park and offered a $16 nightly rate plus a minimal electrical usage charge. We stayed there for four nights,
We enjoyed Niagara Falls so much, and because we found we needed more information for our article, we decided to return to the Niagara Falls location and stay for three more nights. We once again ventured into Canada by walking across the bridge. We wanted to check out more free things to do while in the area.
Our business associations have allowed us to make some new Canadian associates. One of them was located about an hour and a half from our location. They wanted to meet with us and discuss some business over a pizza. What a great time! Enjoying the Falls, sharing time with friends, and enjoying New York style pizza. Life is good!!
From there we needed to start heading towards Manheim, Pennsylvania. Over the Labor Day weekend we did not feel like spending $80 a night for an RV spot, so we boondocked in the Cabella’s Parking lot in Hamburg, PA. They have parking for RV’s, a dump station and non-potable water if needed. All you need to do is let them know at the customer service desk that you are staying for the night. When we did, they told us, “enjoy your stay!” Great customer service in that store.
It is a great location to hang out and check out all the retail locations and eateries. The Cabela’s store in Hamburg is huge. It is basically like a Home Depot, but for those that love to shoot and kill things! LOL If you are an out-doors kind of person, this is the place for you!
From there we moved a short distance to Manheim, PA. We stayed a month in the area while attending the Hershey PA RV show. We were working in the Workamper News and NRVIA vendor booths. We also helped out with the RV Tech Course class and then had a group of students for the NRVIA advanced RV inspector training class.
That was a pretty busy month for us! We met lots of folks during these events and made some new friends.
The Hershey PA RV Show is advertised as the largest RV show in the country. After having attended a few of these shows, I would have to say they make that claim based on the number of RV’s that are at the show. There are plenty of RV manufacturers that bring their new models to show to the attending public.
From Pennsylvania, we traveled to Heber Springs, Arkansas for another month of events: the RV Tech Course, Workamper Rendezvous, the NRVIA national conference, and an NRVIA Learn by Doing class that I taught. It was another busy but enjoyable month!
While parked in a small RV Park in Heber Springs, our trailer that we tow behind was hit by what we are sure was a drunk driver. We were parked on our RV site and out with friends. A neighbor two spaces down drove through our site and into our trailer, just missing the RV. He tore the axle off its welds and totaled the trailer. Since the RV was hooked to the trailer, it was also moved a few inches. Fortunately, there were witnesses, no damage was done to the RV, and we were able to file a claim on the drivers’ insurance.
However, there was no match to our trailer within 500 miles of our location. So, we had the manufacturer build us a replacement and deliver it to us. It cost us out of pocket dollars, but we had to have the trailer to move on. The bummer was I had to spend a day modifying it to the way the original trailer was so we could get back on the road. We left the other behind for the salvage yard. The thing is the trailer was only nine months old. Oh well, life on the road!
Come to find out, once we got the new trailer and compared the two, we discovered the reason we were not supposed to leave Arkansas with it. It was not built properly and probably would have caused us some problems later on. So, we trusted all along that there was a reason for our delay in departing the state, and once the new trailer showed up we understood the reason for our trailer dilemma! God is good!!
So, once we hit the road, we were headed back to Florida for an NRVIA class in December. We just finished up with that group of students, and we are just hanging out in the panhandle of Florida before heading to the Tampa area for an early January 2016 NRVIA class.
It has been a fun summer/fall with us logging almost 7,000 miles traveling to the northeast and back. Our newer RV that we purchased in February of 2015 has worked beautifully for us. It proves that you can full time in a smaller RV if you are organized and have the experience of previous travels to guide you in making the right decisions.
Pam and I wish you all a happy and blessed New Year! Perhaps we’ll see you on the road soon!
Barooo!! Lindsey here to update Y’all on my fur-ther RVing adventures. We are now back in the sunshine state. Yea! I got to get some sand in my paws again. (No, not on the beach. Not cool here in Walton County. It’s illegal. No fur-babies on the beach.)
I got to tell you we had quite the adventure in Heber Springs, AR. Besides all the activity of Workamper Rendezvous and Dad’s class, our trailer got hit! (Did I mention I was traumatized?!) Mom and Dad were gone and some toothless drunk guy, HIT OUR TRAILER, parked in the campground! I was so scared I almost wet my “skirt”. Hello! And it’s a dry County no less. And I don’t mean no rain if you get what I’m saying here.
Dad said he totaled it because he hit it so hard. Bent the axle, whatever an axle is. It even moved our moving house a bit. Mom said if he had been a few inches closer he would have hit our sliding room too. I had to have a couple of extra Scooby Snacks to get over that. So listen and learn. Just because they say it’s dry doesn’t mean dry, if ya get my drift. Plenty of stills in them thar hills. (I was wondering if Jed and Granny were selling him hooch? Hmmm. For medicinal purposes only I’m sure.)
We stayed at a couple of Walmarts on the way, which Mom loves to camp when it’s free. When we left this place called Jackson, we hit a bump that sent our new trailer airborne. I think I hit the roof of my crate on that one. We were trying to stay ahead of some scary storms that were stalking us. We hunkered down in a small place mom found on Passport America in AL until the storm passed. It got pretty exciting with all the rain, but we were all snug as a corgi-bug in a rug.
Now I’ve been warming my stub again here in Florida. We are back at this campground Mom and Dad used to work at. I get to meet up with my fur-buds Charlie and Mo for the RV Tech Course, and of course, we’re here for Dad’s class. I got to check out some new pee-mail where Maya and I used to pee all the time. That was when Maya was still with us. She went over the Rainbow Bridge 2 years ago. WOL! (Whimpering out loud.) I got to sit on her picnic table she sat on her before starting her journey without us. Even the sun looked like it was crying for her.
When we first got here, we got to stay closer to the water but had to move after Turkey Day. It was neat listening to the waves, digging in the sand and chasing some seabirds. Those stupid birds are so full of themselves thinking every human is take-out. Oh, and I got to say Hi to the resident turtles. They are still in the big pond. Wow! They lead a sheltered life. (Get it? BOL! I crack me up sometimes.)
Dude! Check out my new spot in the moving house. It’s like a corgi carnival ride. Whenever Mom brings in our sliding room, I get a ride. Nothing too scary. I will get another ride on it when we leave here in January to do Dad’s next training class at Lazy Days in Tampa.
Hear that strange noise?. Oh, wait. That’s my tummy telling me it’s time to eat. Oh Mommy, why isn’t Stella and Chewy in my bowl?
Got to go. Happy Trails and Tails, if you have one.
One of the biggest invisible problems that come with living in an RV full time is moisture in the air! Pam and I measure our interior and outdoor humidity levels, and we have discovered that we can not live without an RV dehumidifier! And since we live in a small RV we use an Eva-Dry Dehumidifier.
When humidity levels are high, nothing dries! When things do not dry the chances for mold to start to form increases.
This past summer we were traveling in the northeast. It was a cold, rainy summer, and humidity levels were high. We were not able to run the air conditioning very much because it was so cool most days. Our closet area is pretty tightly packed, and it is located on a slide out of its own. Because of the tight-packed closet and the cool exterior walls, moisture formed inside of the closet. So much so that at times the interior walls were wet.
When it is hot and humid, the AC unit can help remove that moisture from the air. But, when it is cool out, or it is winter time in the south, there must be another way to get the moisture out of the air!
When moist air condenses on interior walls of the RV and seeps between joints, it can cause severe damage to an RV’s structural integrity. Because of regular showering and cooking in the RV it is possible to get rampant mold fungus to grow without even realizing that this is occurring. That plus living in humid climates makes this situation one of the most damaging conditions to an RV!
Even the ventilation systems that are installed in RV’s are not able to combat the unique circulation issues RV’s have. With all the small nooks and cranny’s that exist to maximize storage space, these areas create particularly difficult challenges when it comes to moisture problems. Air movement is just not able to get to these areas. A more aggressive method is needed to control moisture buildup in these areas!
When humidity levels are at fifty-five percent or more, airborne allergens such as mold spores, bacteria, and dust mites thrive and multiply very quickly. To keep mold and mildew at bay in an RV, humidity levels must be kept below fifty percent. If that can be done, most of these issues can be kept at bay!
It can take only fourteen to sixteen hours of humidity levels above fifty-five percent to allow mold to start to form. As an RV inspector, I would have to say the majority of the RV’s I step into that are at least a few years old have some issue with mold. You can smell it when you walk inside!
As I mentioned earlier, when an RV’s air conditioner is running it is helping to remove excess moisture from the air. But what about the times it is not being used: during seasonal changes and times when it is cooler outside while traveling from state to state or climate to climate, during the evening hours, or any location in the United States other than the warmer southern states?
How About Using an RV Dehumidifier?
What type of options are available given the small space we are talking about. Most dehumidifiers that can be purchased at a home improvement store or online are big, expensive, noisy and put out a lot of heat due to the onboard compressor. We tried using a freestanding compressor style unit in our previous RV, and the main issues we had were the amount of space it took up due to the need for air flow, the amount of heat it produced, and it made so much noise that we could not stand it!
The chemical dehumidifier options sold in bucket containers that are designed to be placed in drawers and closets can be dangerous. If they get knocked over the product inside can be dangerous as it is toxic and corrosive. Handling this material requires care! These type of solutions are also a regular expense as they cannot be reused and must be replaced.
What’s the Best Type of RV Dehumidifier for an RV?
The best dehumidifier system for an RV will be:
Small and fully contained.
Spill-proof.
Non-toxic and non-corrosive.
Renewable, reducing both waste and expense.
We Love Our Eva-Dry Dehumidifier!
Since Pam and I have a smaller RV that we enjoy living the full time RV lifestyle in, we use the Eva-Dry 2200 Electric Dehumidifier. Its ability to remove excess moisture in the air for 2,200 cubic feet of space works perfectly for our RV. There is a larger model that works in areas of 4,000 cubic feet, but this was not needed for our class C RV. It would be more suitable for a larger Class A RV.
We use a wireless remote sensor and an indoor sensor with readout to measure humidity levels both inside and outside the RV. Whenever we are unable to use our roof air conditioner unit, we use an Eva-Dry 2200 dehumidifier to help keep humidity levels down. The only part of the country we have traveled to where we have not had a need for such a device was in the mountainous regions of the west and the desert areas of the southwest.
Fact: if you are not running your air conditioner unit in your RV, then you need to do something else to manage moisture levels in the air. You need to measure those levels and have a method to lower humidity in your RV, or you may create several problems. The two most important would be the health risk caused by the effects of high humidity in the RV and the damage that the humidity can cause to the RV!
Fall 2018 Update:
Since we changed our full time RV living home back in July of 2018 to a larger unit, we needed to make a change of dehumidifier units. As good as the Eva Dry was it is not powerful enough for our new RV, Missy Tiffy, a Tiffin Allegro Open Road Class A RV.
So, after much research into an appropriate unit for a thirty-eight foot RV, it was decided that the Delonghi DDX45E unit would meet our needs based on previous experience with dehumidifiers. I found a good website that helped with our research. It laid out all the types that would be appropriate for an RV. After spending time with all the options the Delonghi was the best choice for us!
Delonghi dehumidifiers are well made by current standards and manufactured in Italy. They are more expensive than others because they are made in Italy and not in China. The unit runs at about 52 decibels on regular fan mode. For the range of the models in the Delonghi lineup, the DDX45E is determined to be the best value.
We have been using the unit for a few weeks and find it to be very adequate. We had some cold temperatures in the thirties prior to receiving the unit and we had moisture-soaked windows that took most of the day to go away, even with wiping them with a towel several times. There was just too much moisture in the inside air.
Last night we were around freezing, and with the Delonghi in use, we were dry as a bone this morning. It removes more moisture from the air than I have seen in any dehumidifier that we have owned so far. I had looked at the Delonghi’s back in 2012 when we had our big 5th wheel but purchased a Frigidaire unit because of the lower price. The DDX45E is quieter and more efficient in removing moisture than the Frigidaire, and certainly more so than the Eva Dry. But that is expected as it uses a different technology.
So, keep your RV dry by purchasing a dehumidifier! Happy RVing!!
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