When to drain down for winter

[Dusty]

This is my first winter as a caravan owner and I am starting to think about what I will need to arrange at the end of the season. I know that the water system needs to be drained down but am not sure when. Our park doesn't close until the end of November but is it likely that frost and burst pipes could become a problem before then? We obviously want to carry on enjoying the van for as long as possible but don't want to risk any damage.

Dusty

[Goldixpcx]

Hi Dusty,

We are new to this too and we are in the same boat our park is open all year round and we want to try and use ours up untill Xmas, we would even like to continue using after that but have decided the weather could be too bad and its not worth the risk so are hoping to shut down after New Year. I'm a bit worried about bad weather between now and then but everyone on the park assures me it never gets that bad as its on the coast and was only only freak week last February when it went down to -13 that caused a few problems

We can only get to ours at weekends so unless you are in it all the time how do you keep it going through the colder months?? we do have central heating so in theory however cold it got we could still go! :)

[jodieh12]

I'm in a similiar situation we can use ours until after Xmas so I would like to go all winter doing just weekends, so would need to learn how to drain down on a Sunday and refill on a Friday. We don't have central heating so just some basic instructions I could follow would be great.

THanks

Jo

[littlestar]

I've just had this advice from Keith who runs another forum-
From the beginning of November I do a "mini drain down" every time I leave my van.
1. Turn Off water at stop tap
2. Open all taps inside the caravan (Including shower)
3. Disconnect water fed pipe at stop tap and allow water to drain out of system.
4. Leave all taps inside the caravan turned ON

All my pipes, inside and out, are lagged so it is very unlikely that any water left in the pipes will freeze and even if it did the fact that all the taps are open means that the freezing water would be free to expand along the pipes rather than pushing against the walls of the pipe and causing a burst.

When I return to me van for weekend visits I just reverse the procedure and then repeat when I leave. (It only takes about 5 minutes).

I will usually do my full drain down in January.

Hope this helps (well it helps me!)

Sarah x

[DORRIAN]

Thanks littlestar those tips are handy to know , our site closes at the end of November so we usually pay for a drain down at the end of the season , then they re-connect before you go back in March all this costs me £35 all i saw them do extra was to put anti freeze down the toilet and plug holes , so i may have a go myself this year and save some money

Dorrian :)

[The Simpson's]

I have done similar as littlestar with the exception of removing the stop tap - will do that this time - thanks for the tip. With drain down's Dorrian I have been told that they have to drain down the boiler water reservoir also and if this is not done you risk recking your boiler. Also my engineer says the fee (£35 also) includes insurance so if anything does go wrong you are covered. I have heard the story on our site of when another engineer did not correctly drain someone's central heating boiler he ended up having to put in a new boiler at a cost of £850 on his insurance. I still think £35 is good value for peace of mind especially as it includes re-connecting you.

[DORRIAN]

Yes your probably right when you say it like that £35 is not a lot for peace of mind especially if you have problems and the engineers have to fix it at their cost

[Teakbank12]

Yes your probably right when you say it like that £35 is not a lot for peace of mind especially if you have problems and the engineers have to fix it at their cost

I think our site charge approx £70 for the drain down with a centrally heated van which in my opinion is well worth any hassle if it all goes pear shaped!!

The site rectify any problems which is piece of mind for such a small fee.

I remember reading last year of one owner who saved a few pound by doing it themselves & it cost them a new boiler (what a saving NOT)!!!