Top-5 RV accessories

Adding accessories to your RV can be an expensive, if somewhat time consuming task, especially with so many tempting new items emerging each year to make life more pleasant on the road.

But if by adding a few gadgets, you can double the time you spend in your van because it’s more comfortable and user-friendly, even ‘the wife’ will have to agree it was a good investment.

Following the purchase of my ‘new’ Winnebago family motorhome, I have identified five things which I simply could not live without, and you may find some of these items appearing on your ‘must have’ list too… 

Item: 12v Fan

Price: $30-$250

Even well insulated RVs are hot in the summer months and on those sweltering nights with nary a breeze, a 12v fan can mean the difference between getting to sleep in the first place and long hours of no sleep at all.

12v fans typically come in two types. There’s the highly regarded Caframo 360 degree rotating cabin fan, complete with sleep timer and everything else. I made the mistake of buying a cheap 12v fan and found it to be power hungry, loud and ineffectual - perhaps they’re made by politicians?

Enter the Caframo 12v fan which cost about seven times more but offers super quiet operation, a highly directional stream of cooling air and battery sipping efficiencies that come in at under .34 amps at high speed.

I installed three fans - one for every bed - and now everyone gets a great night’s sleep - even on those hot summer nights.

Item: Composting Toilet

Price: $1200-$1500

One has to wonder how many first time motorhome buyers would rescind their contract to buy and stay in hotels if they got to preview an RV chemical toilet at high noon after a heavy morning’s use?

RV chemical toilets can be decidedly whiffy in the summer months and for this reason, there’s been growing interest in composting toilets which tend not to smell at all. Their secret is to separate the solids from liquids to allow bacteria to break down the heavy matter and keep things smelling neutral.  Liquids are dealt with in the usual way but I can assure you that flushing a couple of litres of water waste is far preferable to dealing with mixed matter we know as sewerage.

Item: Big Fridge

Price: $1200-$3300

If you buy a second hand van, there’s always a strong possibility the fridge will be in need of replacement. Our current motorhome came with quite a good size fridge but unfortunately, it was a 240v model and the extension lead trailing behind my van was interfering with traffic.

I was 20 metres from home (the length of my longest extension cord), when I reluctantly faced up to the fact I would need to upgrade the fridge but I am glad I did because the new three-way replacement is a gem.

We had a 150 litre fridge in our old motorhome but this new one is a whopping 185 litres.  Let me say that when it comes to refrigeration, there’s no substitute for cubic litres.

Item: Diesel Heater

Price: About $2500 fitted

When the end of summer draws near, RV owners everywhere head north for the winter. Unfortunately some of us have to stay behind and for my fellow ‘southerners’, I say “buy a diesel heater”. Our motorhome in winter is one of the warmest places in Australia and it’s all because of an incredible little furnace and heat exchange unit by Webasto (Dometic have a very similar unit) which uses the diesel in our fuel tanks to keep us warm.

Far from parking our motorhome for the winter and staying at home, we find we actually use it more in the cooler months than summer and this is why for me at least, the diesel heater is the ultimate motorhome accessory.

Item: Reversing Camera

Price: Starting from $250 DIY

I have to confess that I don’t presently have a reverse camera on our motorhome but my kids say I have eyes in the back of my head so I have been getting by.

The truth… I have been deploying my wife to ‘check’ the coast is clear but if she ever goes on strike, I will need to get busy with the soldering iron…

So what are your ‘must have’ RV accessories?