Advice on living in a Static Caravan (AKA Tengu nesting box)

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Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,781
1,518
51
Wiltshire
Just the right size for the traditionaly single Tengu!

However, this is all new to me. Has anyone any advice on such a lifestyle?
 

wicca

Native
Oct 19, 2008
1,065
34
South Coast
Tengu, I have a static caravan which I bought a few months ago, as a change from living afloat on my boat. Mine is double glazed and insulated, if yours isn't you may consider simple secondary double glazing, you can buy it in kits. Check to see if there's decent carpet underlay down, remember when the wind blows unlike a house you get cold air whistling underneath as well as around...So a bit like sleeping out, insulation below as well as above, otherwise heating bills will be unnecessarily high :)
Mine is close to a cliff top so although the views are spectacular, when the wind blows hard, life can be interesting. I've put garden storage boxes along the windward side forming a 'skirt' or barrier and the force 8's no longer sneak underneath.

If you have plastic skylights on the roof and I assume you have, buy yourself an 18x18 inch concrete paving slab from the garden centre and stow it somewhere handy. That's your emergency cover if, like one of my skylights, one of yours leaves bound for France at 02.00 hrs in a gale. ( If your van is more than a couple of years old the sun will have started to kill the plastic skylight cover, it's a common occurrence and they're easily replaced)

There are caravan spares companies on the Internet and an impressive array of spares and replacement parts are available, everything from fitted furniture to window catches.
Hope you enjoy your new home..:)
 

feralpig

Forager
Aug 6, 2013
183
1
Mid Wales
I live in a 30 foot static. I was brought up in one. I've lived in this one for a few years now.
It can get a bit exciting in the wind, but the hitch end is pinned down by a buried sleeper, and the other end has an iron rod hit into the ground at an angle.
The first morning it froze, I woke up, and may as well have slept outside for all the difference to temperature the static made.
Now it has two inches of insulation in the walls, covered over with hardboard, and nicely decorated. I covered over most the windows.
Four inches in the ceiling, and oil powered central heating. All fitted by me. I also have a woodburner, but it's pretty useless. Come home at night, and be the time the place is warm, it's bed time. It won't keep warm overnight. It's not even worth lighting it in the morning. By the time it gets going, I'm off down the road.

Shop around for stuff. Insulation can be had cheaply. My mate has just dropped off another fully functioning central heating boiler, for nothing. They are being scrapped all the time.

Rats have always been a problem, much more so than a house. Strategically place traps are a help.

If you've got running water, get all the pipes inside, they are often run outside, and will freeze in winter. Putting a bit of lagging around them is not a solution.

I fibreglassed straight across the top of my skylights. They are a waste of time, IMO.
 
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Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,781
1,518
51
Wiltshire
Thanks for the advice guys. Its rented so I cant do much. Im sore tempted to see if I can buy one when my finances are a bit more flush.

It does rock a bit in the wind but its chained down; Im sure its safe.
 

bopdude

Full Member
Feb 19, 2013
3,000
215
58
Stockton on Tees
I lived in one for a couple of years on the north east coast, gets very cold in the winter months, even to the point of ice forming on the inside, ouch, I then started leaving the gas hob on low to keep the chill off.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
 

mrcharly

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 25, 2011
3,257
44
North Yorkshire, UK
Eh, gas fires create condensation. Give me a solid-fuel stove anyday, they dry the place out.

feralpig, sounds like you have had a duff woodburner. They vary in quality and usually the cheap ones have far too big a firebox. You can add firebricks reduce the size and keep a good bed of ashes in the stove - that's the key to keeping one in and keeping it warm.
 

didicoy

Full Member
Mar 7, 2013
541
12
fens
I live in a 36 foot static. Its my 7th winter living in it and about the time of year that I have to turn off the water supply and drain down. I have a woodburner and an old tin bath (all mod cons) I do miss hot running water throughout the year.
 

feralpig

Forager
Aug 6, 2013
183
1
Mid Wales
feralpig, sounds like you have had a duff woodburner. They vary in quality and usually the cheap ones have far too big a firebox. You can add firebricks reduce the size and keep a good bed of ashes in the stove - that's the key to keeping one in and keeping it warm.

It wasn't one of the best, for sure. The oil powered will be staying though. Given the choice between fooling about splitting and storing wood, or paying for oil and having the place at 20c when I get up in the morning, I'd rather pay the money.
It would be nice to have a better fire though. The two going together use very little fuel in either. Was going to be a project for last winter, but spring came before I started.........
 

feralpig

Forager
Aug 6, 2013
183
1
Mid Wales
Thanks for the advice guys. Its rented so I cant do much. Im sore tempted to see if I can buy one when my finances are a bit more flush.

It does rock a bit in the wind but its chained down; Im sure its safe.

If the bedroom and shower/bathroom are warm in the morning, it's not so bad, IMO. Nothing quite spoils the week like stepping out of the shower at 6.30 on a monday morning, when it's -2........
Electric heaters can suck a lot of juice, but I guess it's not so bad if you stick them on a time switch to come on an hour before you rise, or whatever time you most feel you need a bit of warmth.
You'll find a way that suits you, anyway.

A mate of mine and his woman are looking to move into a static. They are looking at £10K statics. Some of them are not great at that money. Even at £20K, they are still designed for temporary accommodation, not long term living.
Mine was £300, and built in the 1950s. It's just a long square box with hardboard partitions, when it comes down to it. At that price, I was unconcerned about chopping it about and rebuilding it to my requirements. I wouldn't have been so happy doing it to a £10K caravan mind.
Something to think about.
 

tiger stacker

Native
Dec 30, 2009
1,178
40
Glasgow
Showmen have long trailer caravans, most of them upgraded their boilers/central heating under the Governamnt grant scheme. It did make their winters more comfortable.
 

Scots_Charles_River

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Dec 12, 2006
3,277
41
paddling a loch
www.flickr.com
My parent's grinds live in a fixed bed, hot and cold running water, on board shower, gas and electric blow heating touring caravan. Not a static. It's one you can tow about. They seem to be ok. They stay on a caravan club site all year. They get a long stay cheap rate. They can use the site heated shower rooms and toilets.

My parents touring caravan crazily has the cold water pipes on the outside under the floor. We discovered this in. Braemar one morning at Easter when it was -8. Daft design. Luckily it had an internal storage tank for cold water. Butane failed to gasify from LPG to gas T 4degs. My Dad doesn't want to switch to propane to avoid this. Modern touring caravans are well insulated.
 

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,781
1,518
51
Wiltshire
Its cold but heats up quickly.

I make use of the top skylight in my bathroom when I have a shower to let the steam out.

(Memo; do not shower in the rain)
 

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