Winter travel in your RV can be a real treat: The scenery is so different, the crowds are down, and the stillness at night is breathtaking. But on the other hand, keeping warm can present its own set of challenges. What can be done to take the chill off winter’s bite?

Batteries are the heart of your RV electrical system. They keep the lights on, the control boards in many appliances operating, and turn the pump over so you can take a shower. We may not think much about them, particularly when hooked up to shore power, with a converter keeping up with the low-voltage needs. But step away from shore utilities and head out for a session of boondocking, and you’ll soon know if your batteries are staying happy.

If you’re an avid nighttime bookworm, you probably already know that the typical lighting scheme offered by most RV manufacturers is woefully inadequate. Either the lighting is too far away, too dim, or just a pain in the neck to turn off when drowsiness arrives. Solution? Read by flashlight (and get a stiff arm) or install a reading light or two over the bed.

If you’ve got an RV, chances are you’ve got a key to fit your outside compartment door locks. And chances are pretty good that you have a couple of other things—sticky door locks, and a key that will fit the compartment doors of a lot of other RVs. For some reason, RV manufacturers use a small pool of key patterns for the locks, and so if you keep valuable stuff locked up in your basement storage, it’s probably not all that safely locked up. We’ll talk about changing out your locks and maintaining them.

Every season we watch hundreds of RVers roll through a nearby solar panel seller’s work area. Not only do they buy panels and associated parts, they hire the outfit to install the stuff. Mounting solar panels is not rocket science. Any RVer with fair-to-middlin’ skills can probably install solar panels. Rather than present a step-by-step “how to install,” we’ll point out a few of the technicalities.

Most RVers are pretty good about keeping an eye on their rig’s state of health. Many check the tire pressure regularly and peek inside their batteries for a glance at the electrolyte level. Sales of all sorts of “RV wash” compounds probably keep manufacturers grinning with delight. But one area that sometimes is neglected is out of sight: the roof.

One of the most common plumbing complaints among RVers is a badly behaving water pump. Whether the problem is noise, leaks or “no water,” some folks believe pumps just suck.

As summer approaches (or is already here, depending on your whereabouts), keeping your RV or the vehicle that tows your RV road-ready means keeping an eye on the cooling system. With changes in technology and marketing, knowing what liquid to put in your cooling system can be a challenge for a professional technician and a downright nightmare for RV owners.

Do you grow mushrooms in your RV?  An RVer we know recently found out that he did—quite unintentionally. Shutting the door to the rig last December, he figured all was well until he reopened it at the end of March. Underestimating the power of the Pacific Northwest rain system, he was quite surprised—and dismayed—to find a crop of mushrooms growing up in the middle of his living room floor. Another RVer acquaintance, far removed from the Pacific Northwest, was quite astonished when a sudden Southern California rainstorm blew into his RV through a closed living room window.