Taking your RV out for the winter?

RV season isn’t just spring, summer, and fall. Sure, it used to be. It used to be very common for people to put the RV away for the winter, and in some parts of the country it still is. If you live in the frozen North, you’re probably getting everything ready for a long stretch of time spent indoors. The idea of a 5-ton vehicle on icy roads probably gives you tremors.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people who live in the southern half of the country. For them, the winter is the seasonable time of year, when temperatures are mild and time can be spent outdoors without worries.

All around the South, people are getting those RVs ready to travel. Thanksgiving’s a big RV weekend down there, and you still have a few weeks to go before you need to pile in and head over to your inlaws’ (or your kids’) for the weekend. Let’s take a look at some of the upgrades you can do before then.

Biggest upgrade: Ditch the tube TV

The RV is probably the last place where you still see tube TVs. The RV boom of the mid-2000s meant that a lot of people put TVs in, and back then it was tube or nothing. Flat TVs were just not inexpensive enough. Of course, the problem was that a lot of these TVs were mounted behind fancy moldings that make them very hard to take out.

If it’s possible to unscrew or cut out that molding without making an ugly mess, you really should. Taking that TV out will give you more storage space. You can replace it with a flat one, although the space probably isn’t really right for it. It’s a much better place to mount an indoor antenna for a cell booster so that everyone can get great cell service indoors. You can even mount a cellular router like our gotW3 system to give Wi-Fi to streaming boxes or other devices. Why not bring all the comforts of home?

You should also consider: more power

If you have an older RV, you know it doesn’t have enough outlets. It’s not a matter of having enough amps to run things. Most of the devices you want to run won’t tax your RV’s electrical system. It’s just that there aren’t enough outlets. That means you are running power strips and extension cords everywhere. Not only are these things unsightly but they could become unsafe. Unless properly secured, power strips can work themselves loose. That means the possibility of a spark, and that could ruin your whole day. If it doesn’t take down your electrical system, it’s also a big fire risk.

That’s why you should be putting in outlet adapters like this one. The advantage here is that you can secure this to the outlet so it will stay nice and secure, while providing six outlets.

Combine it with something like this 5-port charger from Plugable, which gives you one place to get all your small electronics charging. Together, you’ll cut down the clutter and make everything safer.

Shop for the best RV accessories at Solid Signal

Do these sound like great ideas? You’ll find even more ideas for modernizing your RV experience when you shop the great selection you’ll find at Solid Signal.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.