advice on a winter cover

Cburg · 11-08-2020, 11:31 AM

Hi folks,
My plans for winter storage have changed and now I have to store my 35ft Ithica outside. I live in western PA so we do get snow.
What brand and or type of cover would you suggest?
What should I know before using it?
My wife says she wants to take a trip a after Xmas so I will need to be able to get it off before spring.

Thanks for your help

cburg

Elkman · 11-15-2020, 01:43 PM

I have not found any cover that was durable and 100% waterproof. I now use a Harpster supery heavy duty 16 mil tarp that is use cord to pull back to front over the RV and then keep in place with numerous bungee cords.

Suggest if you have shorepower to run a whole house dehumidifier to remove as much moisture as possible before closing it up. I then use Damprid to collect moisture while the tarp is in place but the electric dehumidifier is far more effective.

Cburg · 11-15-2020, 06:17 PM

Thanks Elkman for your reply. I have come to that same conclusion that there is no real "Good" cover. What I did decide was to again rework my plans and free up a space inside a building. I would rather store the equipment that is in that space outside and keep the RV inside.

Thanks again for your reply and confirmation of what I have learned.

Wyatt · 11-15-2020, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cburg

Thanks Elkman for your reply. I have come to that same conclusion that there is no real "Good" cover. What I did decide was to again rework my plans and free up a space inside a building. I would rather store the equipment that is in that space outside and keep the RV inside.

Thanks again for your reply and confirmation of what I have learned.

Good call.

Jcmurphy · 11-21-2020, 08:01 PM

If you put a cover on your rv, can you still run the furnace to keep a little heat in during cold weather?
Also when cover is on does the solar just stop working or do you turn it off?

**Eagle5** · 11-21-2020, 11:15 PM

Hi JC,
You cannot run the propane furnace with a cover over your motorhome, but you can run a 120 VAC Davis 1458 Air-Dryr 1000.
A cover will totally block any solar cell generation of electricity.
Eagle5

**creativepart** · 11-22-2020, 08:09 AM

When we lived in Jackson, WY we never covered our Travel Trailer and I’d wager we got 5-times as much snow as the PA snow belt per year. Over a three year period we had the TT there we never had any issues from storing without a cover.

Do a RV Cover search on IRV2.COM, it’s a much larger RV website (sister site to this one) you’ll find a lot more opinions on the topic.

Elkman · 11-22-2020, 02:17 PM

I used the Davis type air dryers in my sailboat to move the air around but they do nothing to remove moisture from the air inside. I bought a whole house dehumidifier and at 60% inside humidity it removed a couple of quarts of water in an hour of operation.

I will be buyng a smaller version for use inside the RV, a Gocheer for up to 480 sq. ft. with a 64 oz water tank. Some dehumidifiers have a provision for using a drain hose instead of the water tank and it could be set up to drain into a sink or the shower drain.

David_Laura · 12-29-2020, 08:23 PM

A slightly different question: We hope to use our RV as a shelter in the event of a prolonged power outage and snowfall. We only have electric heat in the house and the hills are steep.

With the cover on, generator exhaust unobstructed, can we safely use the electric furnace? If not, are there any work-arounds?

**Eagle5** · 12-29-2020, 08:36 PM

I'm thinking that if you really secure the cover away from the generator and its exhaust, it should be fine. Check the function of your Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector beforehand, OK?
Just to be clear, you cannot run the refrigerator as it vents from the side and then out the top, nor can you run any gas appliances.
Eagle5