Storing my new RV

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
A

accordionman

Active member
Joined
Mar 25, 2017
Posts
42
Location
Saint Augustine, Florida
I live in a HOA in Florida, that does not allow on site storage of our RVs. Now I'm in the process of shopping for my first RV, and as luck would have it, I have a friend who has a large building with multiple OH doors. He has offered me a site in the building for my RV when I finally find what I'm looking for. I think this is a great opportunity, since everyone else around here has to store theirs outdoors. I don't need to tell you how hot the summer is down here and keeping anything outside in the sun beats the everloving crap out of it. He has suggested that once I get my RV when I leave it in the building that I plug it in to leave both the A/c on and the fridge on to prevent odors and mold. I would think that the we would elevate the thermostat temps on both items a bit, but still leave them on.

Are there any catches or cons on leaving the unit plugged in for an extended period of time that I'm missing or is this as good an opportunity as i think it is. It could be parked for a couple of months at a time on occasion.

 
  I would NOT leave the AC on,, just open the roof vents about 1/3,, leave the fridge on, it will circulate the oil in the Freon and prevent internal corrosion.>>>Dan
 
I agree with not leaving the AC on, as well as cracking some vents/windows to keep some airflow. It probably wouldn't hurt to leave a small fan on to help with the airflow, but I don't think it's necessary. We live just east of San Diego, where it gets plenty hot, but not very humid. Our motorhomes have been stored indoors for 15 years with no fan, AC or mildew problems.

You didn't mention if the fridge is a residential or LP type. In either case, I would not leave the fridge on, especially if it's an LP fridge and it's going to be unattended for more than several days. Turn it off, leave the fridge and freezer doors slightly adjar and you shouldn't have any mildew problems.

A newer RV will likely have a newer style three stage "smart" charger. If so, you should be able to leave it plugged into shore-power without any trouble, and it'll keep the batteries topped off. Older two stage chargers would often over-charge the batteries and boil their water off, permanently damaging them.

Kev
 
Kudos to your friend on offering you the storage space, but his advice on keeping the ac's and fridge on is off target. Besides, would he pay for the electrical bill that it would cost? Keep it hooked up to maintain the batteries topped off, and just open vents...as well as the fridge doors, that will suffice.
 
I'm not opposed to leaving the a/c on at a fairly high setting, but it's not necessary either.  You could easily run up hundreds of dollars per month in electric costs (f\Florida power isn't cheap!).  Our Florida coach always sat outside (shady yard) and we just kept it well ventilated. And yes, it was plugged in 24/7/365.

Check the height on those overhead doors - motorhomes are tall! They probably need to be 13 ft or more to be safe. Some motorhomes will be around 11.5-12, but many A's are 12'6" or even more.
 
Great advice Guys ! Thank you.

To address a couple of issues - I asked him last week what he was going to charge me for this and his reply was, Whatever the going rate is, is fine and that includes the electric. But I  had suspicions about leaving the air and fridge on.  There was a time in my life when I worked in real estate and in vacant houses ( even in the summer, we would leave the fridge door open and that was it.

Right now, I'm totally confused about what to buy; i.e. make, style, etc. I know I want to be in the 30 ft area, but on information overload.
I'll keep the forum abreast of any moves I make, probably in advance of the move, looking for advice.

E
 
For what it is worth: We have our travel trailer in Key Largo and all our neighbors who have been there for many years  leave theirs closed up tighter than a drum with zero ventilation. There are two  different chemicals that they use to kill any mildew and bugs and both of them say to have no ventilation, since that would defeat their purpose.
One which is sold by the Campground seems more powerful than the one we are  using, but is much more poisonous so we opted for the one that you get at the RV dealers. They are a little packet that you place on the floor. Our trailer is almost 40 feet long and we used four of them.

If it works for all of them we are hoping that it will work for us

jack L
 
accordionman said:
Great advice Guys ! Thank you.

Right now, I'm totally confused about what to buy; i.e. make, style, etc. I know I want to be in the 30 ft area, but on information overload.
I'll keep the forum abreast of any moves I make, probably in advance of the move, looking for advice.

E
Click to expand...
You have a generous friend!  For the overload, take a few deep breaths.  Visit an RV dealer and look at as many different models as the knees allow!  I believe the looking will narrow the field for you.  Some styles / types will feel comfortable, others will not, and will eliminate themselves.  THEN overload on what is left!  ;D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 701 (members: 5, guests: 696)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,929
Posts
1,387,651
Members
137,677
Latest member
automedicmobile
Back
Top Bottom