Thenna AndersenRV Upgrade Ideas – Your RV is just like your home but on wheels. To prevent your RV journey from becoming frustrating, you need to make your RV comfortable. Not only do you need to make it as comfortable as a car, but you also need to make it as complete as a home. That means you need to make it as roomy as possible while keeping all the useful features available in a home.
- Personalizing your RV with some upgrades might be worth considering.
- Upgrading your RV with useful features can increase the value of the RV, not only the physical but also emotional value.
- By giving some personal touches to the RV, you will love your RV even more than before.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of our tips and favorite RV upgrades.
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How do I personalize my RV?
Upgrading your RV usually starts with the look. The look of the RV interior can directly show people your style and character. Moreover, adding some personalization to your RV can make you feel fantastic during your trips. Here are a few steps that you can do to personalize your RV.
Related : RV Makeovers
Colorize your RV
The first common step in personalizing anything, including your RV, is to add colors according to your preference. You can colorize the walls or the furniture to change the atmosphere. Changing duvet covers and drapes with your favorite color is one good example to colorize your RV.
Make the RV more alive
There are plenty of ways to liven up your living space. The most common way to do that is to add some living elements. They can be plants or pets, for example. Doing this can create a positive vibe in the room.
Use top quality bedding
The main idea of using your RV for a road trip is to be able to rest in it while keep moving. Therefore, making the bed as comfortable as possible is crucial. Good sleep at night means a good mood during the day.
Bring the items that you love
Displaying your favorite items in your RV can make you feel at home. It can be photographs, your favorite coffee cup, or even your favorite blanket. However, you need to make sure these items still work perfectly before bringing them to your journeys.
How can I make my RV more energy efficient?
The standard upgrade that people do to their RV is usually about energy efficiency. Conserving energy can reduce the cost that you need to spend during your RV trips. Here are ten ideas on how to make your RV energy-efficient.
Cover the vents
Covering the vents with pillows is an easy way to prevent air from escaping the RV. You can maintain the heat this way and reducing the heater usage. However, vent covers are also available on RV supply stores when you prefer to buy them.
Use propane wisely
Stoves, furnace, and electrical heaters use propane. Turning them off when not needed can save energy. Also, you can use some alternatives to do those tasks to limit the propane use.
Check windows for leaks
Similar to the vents, windows can also leak heat. Reset the faulty windows or place some seals on them to reduce the leak. Even better, you can install double-pane insulated windows on your RV.
Keep the insulation in check
It might be costly to replace the insulation, but a perfectly insulated RV can save costs in the coming years of use. The insulation can reduce the cold air inflow and keep the heat inside. However, you need to use the insulation that is specifically designed for RVs.
Take advantage of sunlight
Adding solar panels to your RV can reduce your electrical cost, hence more efficiency. It might also be costly at the start, but the effect will be significant in the coming years. You only need to choose an area that has more direct sunlight during the day.
Equip the water lines with insulation
Since most water lines are susceptible to cold, wrapping them with pipe wrap or insulation can save your propane and electrical use. That is because you will get hot water faster when the water lines are well insulated and not cold.
Plan where you are going to stay
Where you are going to stay also affects your cost. Typically, the state and the duration will determine the rate and your overall fee. Therefore, you need to plan carefully.
Keep the health of the RV in check
Never skip a service. Doing RV maintenance routinely will benefit you. Not only it will lessen the chance of being stranded in the middle of nowhere, but it also keeps the energy consumption efficient.
Save water
Many activities require water, from cooking to taking a shower. You need to conserve water use when on the road, mainly when you use the water heater often. Also, you might need to have enough water for emergencies.
Choose energy-efficient appliances
The last and the natural thing to do to make the RV energy-efficient is to use energy-efficient appliances. They will use less energy and reduce your electric bill.
Cool RV modification Ideas
To specifically recommend the features available for you to improve your road trip experience, we’ve collected some for you. A specific area of the RV does not limit the RV upgrade list we have here; We look at every part of it. Here are our favorite RV modification ideas.
Related : Pop Up Camper Ideas
New Mattress
Looking back at the reason for doing an upgrade to an RV is to make it more comfortable. Without a doubt, the bedroom is the central part of the RV that offers comfortability. If there is any worn-out mattress, it should be quickly replaced with the new one.
Shower head
The standard shower heads that come with the RVs are nothing special. Invest in a new shower head that gives the right water pressure to improve your shower quality. It will refresh you at the end of a long day on the road.
Vent fan
A vent fan is essential in an RV. It exhausts cooking odor and keeps the RV cool during the hot days. Therefore, make sure to add one with the right size if the RV doesn’t have it yet.
Interior fan
Although it’s noisy, a standard interior fan could come in handy in an RV. It circulates the air inside the RV and makes it more refreshing. Also, it draws less power than an air conditioner and able to provide white noise while sleeping.
LED interior lighting
Most RVs have incandescent bulbs instead of LED lights. The LED lights use less energy and have a longer lifetime than the incandescent bulbs that came with the RV. Hence, changing the interior lightings to the LED ones will conserve energy and save money.
Outdoor lighting
When camping outside the RV is on your bucket list, installing some outdoor lightings is unquestionably essential. It improves visibility during the night and makes the night gatherings cozier.
Digital Thermostat
Knowing the exact temperature while in the RV is very beneficial. One of the benefits is that we can decide when to turn the air conditioner on and off. Therefore, the amount of energy used can be well controlled.
Kill-A-Watt Monitor
Being able to monitor your electricity usage means being able to control your spending. Installing a kill-a-watt monitor is really worth the effort when you know how much energy usage that you can reduce.
Aluminum Toolbox
Who doesn’t want extra storage? Having an aluminum toolbox outside the RV to store important but rarely used items is going to ease your RV-life. Although it’s time-consuming, it’s an easy but convenient upgrade.
Rear Mount
The rear mount is useful to store bikes, kayaks, and any other RV accessories. Therefore, having one installed to your RV can free up the interior space. However, make sure to choose a strong one that can hold up a bunch of items for yourself.
Backup Camera
Safety is crucial in everything, including RV road trips. Compared to a standard car, RV is quite harder to park using mirrors alone. Of course, you can ask someone to guide you when you are about to park, but a backup camera can always come in handy.
LCD TV
Whether to watch movies or watch the news, TV is always welcomed to a living area. A TV will provide some entertainment when the phones are being charged. Moreover, it can provide useful information that you might need during the trip, such as weather forecasts and traffic conditions.
Speakers
A pair of speakers can make the trip more fun. Whether to support the TV or only playing songs that you prepared before the journey, they will be able to keep the atmosphere fresh. Without a doubt, speakers are essential supplements for entertainment.
TV signal booster
We don’t always drive in densely populated areas. Sometimes we will arrive on a quiet road when the signal reception is terrible. Therefore, installing a TV signal booster is essential to ensure the best TV signal reception.
Custom Basement Lock
The RV basement is not exactly secure, because the standard lock that came with the RV doesn’t usually have a unique key. To enhance the security of the basement, replacing the lock is essential to ensure the safety of the luggage.
Chalkboard Door
A chalkboard door will be a big help whenever there’s something that needs to be written right away. It can also be the place to post a daily schedule. It’ a simple but excellent way to utilize the door space, whether it’s the fridge door or another door in the RV.
RV Stabilizer
Uneven terrain might be a frustrating constraint to deal with when parking. However, an RV stabilizer is an easy yet handy feature to have. It will secure and stabilize the RV so that you can rest comfortably in almost anywhere.
Solar Panels
This is one of the killer RV upgrades. Not only that, using solar energy is eco-friendly, but it can also cut down the utility expense of the RV. Moreover, solar energy is free of smoke and noise. With the cost of solar panels installation dropping every year, it becomes an upgrade that you need to consider.
Unlimited Wifi
Nowadays, the internet is slowly becoming a primary need. Therefore, having wifi in the RV is important, whether it’s for entertainment or work. Regardless, you need to do some research to find the right 4G LTE internet provider that offers an unlimited plan. Because data caps often annoy campers.
Liquid Bathing Supplies Holder
Shampoo and soap bottles in the RV bathroom can quickly drop when on bumpy roads. A bathing supplies holder offers a solution for that at low prices. However, make sure to pick the one that has enough number of dispenser needed.
Curtains
Curtains offer privacy and protection from the sunlight. It’s a small detail that makes an RV different from standard vehicles. Also, curtains make the RV feel more like home.
Portable Holding Tank
It can be annoying when you need to dump the holding tank, but there is no sewer hookup near your location. Fortunately, a portable holding tank can come in handy. By having one, there is no need to move the whole camper only to dump the holding tank.
Porcelain Toilet
Upgrading the plastic toilet to a porcelain one can improve your RV experience. It’s more durable, comfortable, and it makes you feel like home. One thing to remember, though, make sure to pick the right size that is suitable for the bathroom and all age groups.
The perfect addition to your home on wheels would be a toilet with a macerating pump made especially for RVs. Saniflo offers efficient macerating toilets that are easy to install and work well even in small spaces. In fact, they even have the tiniest electric toilet in the industry, which only stands at 31 centimeters.
These toilets are equipped with stainless steel blades that run every time you flush. Waste goes down into the macerating area, where the blades liquefy them. They are then efficiently disposed of via PVC piping. This method helps keep your toilet and tank free from clogs and can generally eliminate unwanted smells as a bonus.
Furnace Screens
Critters love the heat coming from the furnace vents. Therefore, you need to protect the furnace vents with the furnace screens. It’s a simple but effective upgrade to your RV.
RV Drip Clips
Homes usually have drip clips installed to help the rainwater run down properly. Since the rain can make black streaks on the side of the RV, the RV also needs some drip clips installed. It’s cheap, easy to put on, and usually stable enough to stay in place at highway speeds.
Related : RV Storage Ideas
Conclusion
Overall, whether to make it more unique or more functional, RV improvements will benefit you. You will feel more comfortable, and your activities during road trips will be more leisurely. However, the cool RV modifications ideas we presented here are not much compared to what you will find in stores. You should carefully plan on what you need to improve or modify from your RV.
Thenna Andersen
