It’s that time of year again………

Once the autumn half term holidays have been and gone and with the season coming to an end, it’s time to start thinking about winterising your caravan.

As we can all imagine a burst pipe can cause a considerable amount of damage and unnecessary expense. Therefore spending the time shutting things down correctly is a worthwhile exercise. It’s also important to check what level of cover is provided by your insurance company should the worst happen.

• First things first, find the stopcock in order to turn off the water supply. Locate the external drainage plugs underneath the caravan and leave them open. Turn on all the taps including your shower and again leave them open. Ensure there is nothing that will cause any obstruction to plugholes etc. It may also be an idea to leave the shower head in the bottom of the shower tray.
• Flush the toilet and ensure all the water is drained from the cistern.
• If you have access to a compressed air system, this makes light work of removing any excess water which maybe left in the pipework.
• It’s also a good idea to add a small amount of non-toxic anti-freeze or salt to any remaining water in the toilet bowl or the traps of the sinks or showers.
• Turn off the gas supply and set the temperature control to “warm.”
• With your water heater allow any remaining water to drain by unscrewing the drain down valve. It’s useful to have a container underneath at this point! Do not replace the valve until you are ready to use the heater again.

When all this has been done you can rest easy.

Winterising