Motorhome Covers- are they worth the effort & will they cause damage to your van??

To cover or not to cover? That is the question. No, it really is. I've had like three emails about it this month. So if you want to know whether or not you need to cover your motorhome, your caravan, your campervan, your RV, whatever, throughout the winter or in periods when you're not using it a lot, this is the video for you. Hi, welcome to the Wondering Bird YouTube channel where we share tips and tricks for motorhoming and van life. If you're new here, welcome. My name is Kat and if you're not new here, hi, welcome back. Sort of at a weird angle, the van is parked on a slope and no matter what I do, I can't quite get this guy. So just sort of tilt your head a bit. It'll be absolutely fine. Now, a question that I've been getting a lot, both in the Wondering Bird Facebook group and also seeing in other forums, is do you cover your vehicle in the winter? What are the pros or what are the cons of using a cover or not covering it? And also, how do you fit the thing, especially if, like me, you are on your own? I'm going to get to all of that. But first, let's talk a little bit about motorhome covers and why they are useful. Now, obviously, if you live in your van full time or you use it a lot, you're probably not going to bother covering it because you're going to be in it throughout the year. But for those of you who shut down your vehicle for the winter and don't use it that much for a period of time, then it's definitely worth considering. The biggest pro about a motorhome cover is it helps protect your investment. We spend a lot of money on these motorhomes and if you want to keep up the resale value, keep the paintwork looking lovely and all of that good stuff, then a cover is absolutely the way to go. A cover also protects against sun damage, UV ray damage and also against other weather and elements and hail and bits of twigs and debris and leaf build up and also dirt build up. So it means when you come to use your van again, whatever that might be, it's a lot less cleaning and a lot less work to do before it's ready to be used again. However, there are a couple of cons that I want you to be aware of before you rush out and buy one of these things. The biggest con of a cover is they are a pain to put on. Trust me, I've tried it, I've tried to do it on my own. It is possible to put a cover on by your own, but you're going to need steps and you're going to need to be quite tall. I don't understand how people shorter than about 5'9 managed to put on a cover. I'm 5'11 and I really struggled. In fact, I gave up and got someone to help me. I'll show you a shot of that shortly, but they are really, really tough to put on. However, if like me, the only storage place that you've been able to find when I go to Antarctica in February is somewhere that insists on you having a cover, something to do with council regulations or whatever. It's the only space that I was able to find. I have to get used to putting on the cover by myself, so you might not get a choice. The other big problem to think about is it blocks out sunlight to the solar panel. So if you rely on the solar panel to trickle charge the batteries when you're not using it, you're not going to be able to do that with a cover on. Which means that you've then got to come down, you've got to do a bit more maintenance, you've got to do things like starting the engine, checking the batteries, making sure they're all good. It's a little bit more intensive throughout the winter if you do have a cover on, but not insurmountable. A cover can actually encourage mould and mildew. It's really important to get a breathable cover so that it doesn't build up a load of condensation, which can then lead to increased damp. But just keeping it in an enclosed space will increase the risk of a little bit of mildew and damp. So there's a lot of things that you can do, like leaving cupboard doors open and removing all your bedding before you put it into shutdown, which you should do anyway. If you want a free checklist on what to do for winter shutdown, I'll leave the link in the notes. You can grab that and help you work through that. So if you decide that you do want a cover, how do you find one? How do you find one that fits? So the first thing to know is the length. You go for the length of your van. So this is a cover that I've got. It's from Maypole and my vehicle is 6.9 metres and I have gone for one that is 6.5 to 7 metres long and it's absolutely fine. It fits brilliantly. One thing to note, if you've got a bike rack or storage box on the back like I have, you do need to take that into account on your overall length. Now luckily, my storage box actually brings the van up to about 7 metres, so it fits fine. But if it will take you up to the next category, then buy the slightly bigger one. You also want to make sure you buy a cover that's, like I say, breathable, but that's got side door access on the same side as your door. I know a lot of people obviously have European side doors or UK side doors. Make sure you get one with the right side door. And if you don't get one without a side door access, it's going to be an absolute nightmare for you to get in to do maintenance and checks throughout the winter. So unless you're using your van on and off a lot, then you're going to make sure you need to get a side door fitted. On that note, you can actually get clear panels fitted over the solar panels. You have to obviously go up on the roof and mark out where you want them to be and then take it to a seamstress. But I think, I'm pretty sure, I haven't done it yet myself, but this is my plan for when I go to Antarctica. You can also, of course, get custom covers made so they will put exactly the panels and the clear panels where you want them to be. Another thing to be aware of when you're choosing your van is make sure you get the height and the width right. And also, if you have an awning like I do, that is an absolute pain to get over, but you want to make sure you've got the width that includes the awning and any extra bits you've got as well. So do you definitely need a motorhome cover? Nope, not at all. Before I lived in my van full time, I stored it for ages outside without any cover on at all. And to be honest, if I could have found a storage unit that didn't require me to have a cover, then I probably wouldn't bother now. But I will say the van wasn't new when I got it. It already had some scratches on it. It's got a few more now as I've got up close and personal with a few hedgerows because I'm in it so much. It's got high mileage. I'm never going to get the retail out of it. People who've spent a lot of money on a much newer van and then look after it much better are going to get. The other thing that I would look for when you're buying a cover is make sure it's got really long straps. You want to be able to go off the down the sides and also you need to go underneath. So how do you fit a motorhome cover? Okay, so the first thing you should do is wash your van so that any dirt or debris that's on the van doesn't cause scratches while it's been poured along by the cover. Okay, next step. Take the cover out of the box. Hopefully there will be a label. The front and then orientate it and if you can, if there's enough space, spread it out in front of the vehicle in the right direction. So you want it facing the same way as your vehicle. So the front bumper of your van will be right next to the back of the cover. Then unzip the two rear panels and pull the front on the cab on. The bit that I then really struggled with was getting the cover up on the roof, especially over the awning. If you've got an over cab hump, this is going to be really, really difficult without steps and I really suggest you have someone to help you. In the end, I did need somebody to help me because it was just really tough to do. Like I say, you can do it. It helps if you can get up onto the roof. Again, be really careful. Not all roofs are that strong, but if you can get up on the roof or certainly get up really high, it's a lot easier to pull it over. Then once you've done that, that's the hardest bit. Once you've done that, you just pull it down the back of the van evenly on each side, get it onto the rear, zip up the rear side and then you pull the straps underneath. Top tip for that, get a broom. This was a tip from Motorhome Matt who also owns that leisure shop and he said get a long handled broom, push it under the van and then you can tie the end of the strap, bring it back and it's so much easier. And it really does. Make sure if you can that the side door is orientated near the side door panel. Tighten the bits on the top, pull it down as far as you can towards the wheels. Bob's your uncle. The hardest bit, like I say, was getting over that initial hump up onto the roof. And if you've got satellite dishes or aerials or anything else up there, you might have a little bit more trouble getting that over the hump. And again, steps are really going to help with this. Thanks very much to that leisure shop who sponsored this video and they provided me with this cover. This is the one that they recommend. If you'd like to save 10% on getting your own cover, this is the code to use. And if you want more questions about how you maintain your cover, cleaning it, any of those other things, then the link to the entire blog post all about motorhome covers is in the notes for you. And don't forget, if you want to get your winter shutdown checklist, you can find that in the notes. Thank you as always for your time and I will see you on the next video. Take care. Bye.