Showering in an RV is rather like bathing at dwelling — till it isn’t. However a number of suggestions can assist you get clear, preserve your bathe clear, and reduce water utilization so that you simply stay up for showering in an RV. In spite of everything, having a bathe is among the greatest advantages of shopping for an RV. So, in case you’re not having fun with this quintessential RV amenity, listed here are our tricks to do it proper.
Rule #1: Be taught Your Water System
The primary unstated rule of showering in an RV is to know the water programs in your unit. This determines how a lot sizzling water you’ve got out there for showering — or water of any temperature, for that matter.
Listed below are some particular examples of water system specs and the way they may affect your showers:
- Recent Water Tank Capability determines the out there water for showers, dishes, ingesting, and different makes use of when dry tenting.
- Water Heater Tank Capability impacts out there sizzling water and the size of showers in RVs with tank-style fuel/electrical water heaters.
- Water Heater Sort (i.e., tank-style versus tankless) impacts the quantity of sizzling water out there and the way lengthy you’ll want to attend for water to be heated after turning on the heater and earlier than showering.
- Grey Water Tank Capability determines how a lot water you need to use for showers, dishes, flushes, and different makes use of earlier than dumping your camper tanks.
RV house owners ought to know their tank capacities and which kind of water heater their unit makes use of. Have questions on yours? Be taught extra about your RV water system.
Rule #2: Plan Bathe Instances
Households will profit from strategizing bathe instances. It could possibly alleviate sure members struggling chilly showers.
A 6-gallon tank-style water heater will run out of sizzling water in roughly 5-10 minutes. So, the extra folks you camp with, the extra you must area out your showers. The restoration time for a tank-style water heater is usually 30-45 minutes earlier than the tank is refilled and reheated.
Solo vacationers received’t have a difficulty, however {couples} have to area their showers out to get pleasure from their desired quantity of sizzling water. For a household of 4, it might be useful for 2 folks to take morning showers so the opposite two can comfortably bathe within the night. As your tenting occasion grows, the necessity to plan and area out bathe instances will increase.
After all, in case your RV has a tankless water heater, you’ll want much less time between showers. Nonetheless, as a result of extra limitations talked about in Rule #1, you should still have to plan forward.
Rule #3: Apply Moisture Management
Humidity could make your RV uncomfortable and enhance mould and mildew progress. This may result in important well being considerations and costly RV injury. That’s why controlling moisture and RV condensation is so essential usually.
Our third rule is to open your rest room roof vent and activate the fan (if outfitted) earlier than showering to assist management extra moisture. This retains steam from accumulating inside your RV and elevating the relative humidity stage. It’s additionally good apply to keep away from a foggy RV rest room mirror so you need to use it to complete preparing after your bathe.
Rule #4: Reduce Water Utilization
Our fourth rule is to restrict your bathe length. As talked about earlier, you’re probably solely going to have 5-10 minutes of sizzling water with a fuel/electrical water heater, relying on the heater’s tank dimension. However you’ll be able to prolong the size of your showers by minimizing water utilization. Right here’s a really useful method:
- Activate each cold and warm taps and alter to your required temperature.
- Use the shutoff valve on the showerhead to show the water off.
- Hop within the bathe, flip off the shutoff valve, and rinse.
- Activate the shutoff valve whereas soaping/shampooing.
- Flip off the shutoff valve once more to rinse.
Use this system a number of instances in a single bathe for shampoo, physique wash, face cleaning soap, and some other facets of your bathe routine. Relying on the showerhead you’re utilizing, you might also use a unique setting to cut back water consumption. Discover showerheads in case you’re involved in upgrading.
Rule #5: Do a Submit-Bathe Clear
Each time you bathe, take the ultimate 30 seconds to rinse the bathe encompass and basin. Even higher? Maintain a sponge in your RV bathe to rapidly scrub off cleaning soap residue left behind out of your bathe. It solely takes a number of seconds, and it makes your seasonal cleansing process a lot simpler.
What Are the Completely different Forms of RV Showers?
Along with these unstated guidelines, let’s handle a number of extra essential issues about RV showers.
Dry vs Moist Tub
If an RV has a bathe, it’s usually in both a moist bathtub or a dry bathtub.
A dry bathtub is the place the bathe basin and encompass are separate from the bathroom and sink or vainness.
Right here’s a floorplan picture from the Coleman Lantern LT 17R for instance:
Whereas not all RVs have a sink and vainness within the rest room, this basic design is true of all dry baths: The bathroom and bathe are separate, and the bathroom stays dry. After all, a dry bathtub takes up extra space within the RV’s floorplan, doubtlessly limiting area for different dwelling, eating, or sleeping areas.
A moist bathtub is the place the bathe basin, bathroom, sink, and vainness share an area. Right here’s an instance from the Winnebago Travato 59G floorplan:
The first advantage of the moist bathtub is area financial savings. That’s why you’ll usually discover it on smaller teardrop campers and Class B camper vans. To make the area extra practical, many moist baths embody options like a flip-down sink and an enclosed holder to maintain your RV bathroom paper dry.
Some producers have gotten artistic with a swiveling divider that makes the moist bathtub adaptable for its totally different makes use of whereas nonetheless taking on the identical footprint, comparable to within the Winnebago EKKO.
Indoor vs Out of doors Bathe
Many RVs even have two showers. Nonetheless, the out of doors bathe usually has a a lot totally different use than the one inside. It’s nice for cleansing out of doors gear, rinsing after swimming, or washing ft (yours or your furry companions). Solely in Class B RVs is it extra frequent to see out of doors showers as the only, major bathe.
On many towable RVs, the out of doors bathe is positioned in a small exterior compartment. It contains cold and warm taps and a showerhead on a comparatively quick hose. The dearth of a showerhead holder for hands-free use is one purpose why extra RVers probably don’t use their out of doors showers to get clear—that and the dearth of privateness in most RV parks.
Different RV Bathe Storage Concepts
We all know some RVers that may reasonably use campground bathe services. The profit? It frees up their RV bathe for extra storage. In the event you’re involved in an alternate use for this area in your camper, listed here are a number of RV bathe storage concepts:
- Shelf Storage. Many RVs with moist baths include detachable cabinets for changing the bathe into extra storage.
- Hanging Storage. Take away the bathe curtain and use the rod to hold further garments, pocket organizers, or the rest that doesn’t have a house elsewhere. You may as well use an increasing curtain rod to hold gadgets extra centrally within the bathe.
- Massive Gear Storage. No place in your RV for golf golf equipment, coolers, or different bigger gear? Use the bathe—at the least to move them to your subsequent vacation spot.
Beneficial Camper Bathe Equipment
You can also make your RV showers extra snug and pleasing with the appropriate equipment. Add these camper bathe equipment to your RV:
- Cleaning soap Dispenser. I can’t let you know what number of instances I’ve forgotten to place a bar or bottle of cleaning soap away earlier than shifting my RV, resulting in spills and wasted time cleansing up. Eradicate that potential with a secured dispenser.
- Pocket Organizer. Cupboard area is proscribed in most RV bogs. Retailer the necessities you employ most frequently in a dangling organizer on the within or outdoors of your bathe curtain.
- Towel Rack. Towels don’t keep on hooks in an RV in addition to they do at dwelling. Maintain your towels from ending up on the soiled ground when you’re touring.
- Bathe Curtain and Tub Mat. Maintain water within the bathe basin and off the ground whereas including an ornamental private contact to your RV rest room.
Are you curious about upgrading or renovating your RV bathe or rest room? Listed below are some useful assets:
Do you’ve got any suggestions or questions on showering in an RV? Tell us within the feedback beneath.