Preparing your Holiday Home for Winter 2020

Closing down your Holiday Home for the Winter

With the Government rules and travel restrictions changing daily, we thought we would take this opportunity to remind you of a few things to remember when closing down your caravan this Winter.

Follow this step-by-step guide and be safe in the knowledge that your Caravan Holiday Home will be safe and secure this Winter.

Winterising your Caravan Holiday Home.

Most parks will offer a winterisation service or more commonly known as a ‘drain down’ service. This will include;

• Emptying or draining all pipework of water
• Disconnecting water from your caravan and putting anti-freeze down all drains.
• Checking the antifreeze levels in the central heating system.
• Disconnecting the gas
• Turning off all electrical switches and lights.

Safeguard your caravan inside;

• Take the shower bar out of the caravan and store it in a suitable place
• Move all your furniture into the middle of the room, this will allow airflow and prevent mould and mildew building up on your furniture. Also, cover your furniture to ensure that direct sunlight does not fade the fabrics
• Takedown nets and curtains again to prevent mould and mildew build-up
• Place bowls of salt in all the rooms to absorb any moisture
• Ensure that vents are never obstructed – this is a vital safety precaution where gas is used.
• Remove all valuables
• Open all curtains and place a ‘no valuables are left in this caravan’ sign in the window
• Turn off all electrical switches and lights
• Dispose of any foods that are likely to go out of date over the winter
• Switch your fridge/freezer off

Tip: clean fridge/freezer with bicarbonate of soda and wedge the door open, this will allow air circulation. You may want to leave a tea towel at the bottom of the fridge to soak up any excess water.

Safeguard your caravan outside;

• Tie-down all outside furniture, this will ensure that your outside furniture is with your static caravan when you return in the spring and your caravan and furniture are undamaged if there were to be any high winds during the winter months.
• Secure; (if needed)
  Storage boxes
  Skirting
  Decking
  Fences
  Plant Pots
  Gas bottles

Finally;

• Lock the door – as stupid as it seems this can easily be overlooked as people look to get away, they forget the thing that is most important!
• Inform your Holiday Park you have left for the winter