Can You Leave TV in Camper Over Winter?

Have you ever wondered if you could leave your TV in camper over winter?

Many people buy a camper because they want to bring those comforts from home out there on the road. One of the major comforts is their TV.

Now, obviously, during the winter months, the inside of your camper is going to be getting quite cold. Seriously cold. This is why we winterize things, after all.

As a result, a lot of people wonder whether they should be leaving their TV inside of the camper or whether it should be removed as part of the winterization process.

Let’s take a look, so can you leave TV in camper over winter? Yes, you can leave your TV in the camper over winter. However, televisions have minimum temperatures that they can be ‘stored’ at. If you look at the instruction manual for the TV, then it should tell you the temperature that the TV should not drop below.

These are pretty low numbers, but they are firm numbers. We promise you, if your TV drops below that number it will break.

Can You Leave TV in Camper Over Winter?

The short answer? It depends on the television.

You may want to pay attention to whether your camper gets humid or lets in snow easily. Both of these are going to be deadly for your TV. So, remove the TV so neither of these is going to be posing that much of a problem for you.

The same applies during the summer months, by the way. The TV will have maximum temperatures that it can be stored at.

Thankfully, those maximum temperatures are going to be a lot higher than most people would ever be able to reach in their RV.

However, if you live in a particularly hot location and your camper tends to do a decent job at trapping in heat, then you will almost certainly want to pay attention to the maximum temperature in the instruction manual.

If you are 100% certain that your camper isn’t going to be getting cold enough for your TV to get broken, then by all means leave it in the camper. It should be fine.

We cannot offer you any promises there, but many people will leave the TV inside their camper for long periods of time without any ill effect.

Read also: Can a TV Run on a 12V Battery? [This Is How]

Should You Leave TV in Camper Over Winter?

In our opinion, for most people, the question isn’t so much whether you can leave a TV in the camper over winter, it is more whether you should leave the TV in the camper over winter.

👉 As we said before, if you leave your TV in the camper, it could potentially break. It could get too cold, or it could get moisture on it.

Chances are that you won’t actually know that it has broken until the next camping season rolls around, which means that you will need to be replacing that TV in a hurry.

👉 Our main concern, however, is that TVs are going to be a target for thieves. It is no secret that thieves ‘break in’ to campers. After all, a lot of people use campers to store all sorts of valuable things.

Chances are that your TV is going to be the most valuable item in that camper that has not been bolted down. If you leave your TV in the camper, then there is a risk somebody will break in and take it. A risk, but a low risk.

👉 Since it requires nearly no effort to bring that TV in from the camper, we recommend that you should do so. Even if the risk of something happening to that TV is minimal, it is still a risk.

TVs will barely take up any space in your home. Plus, for the whole winter season, you will end up with a spare TV!

Read: Are Airstreams Insulated? (Best R Value Insulation)

Should You Turn Your TV on Right Away After Winter?

It depends on how cold it managed to get during the winter months, as well as how cold it is when you plan to turn your TV back on.

A lot of people recommend that you wait around 24-hours of using your camper before you turn the TV back on. Just to be on the safe side.

It allows all of those internal electronics to warm up properly, and this means that it should be safe to turn on. You aren’t going to be putting unnecessary stress on the system.

In our opinion, as long as the outside of the TV is not too hot or cold i.e. it is close to a standard room temperature, then it should be completely fine to turn your television back on.

Read also: Can You Jump Start A Generator Battery?

Should You Unplug Your TV During the Winter Months?

Ideally, you wouldn’t have your camper hooked up to any sort of electrical connection during the winter months. We know that there are some people that do but, generally speaking, it is suggested that you do not.

👉 If you are not inside of the camper, then it seems pretty pointless to have everything hooked up still, right? It is a waste.

That being said, we know that there are some people that do leave their RV hooked up to the electrical system for whatever reason. If you are one of those people, then we wouldn’t recommend leaving your TV plugged in.

👉 If there is a power surge in the system, then your TV is going to be sensitive enough to end up getting damaged by that surge.

Again, we are talking about things that are at an incredibly low risk of happening. So low that the vast majority of camper owners will never experience them.

However, we are still pointing them out to you just so that you know of absolutely every risk inside of that camper. We do not want you to end up with a broken TV, after all.

Do You Need to Test Your TV Throughout Winter?

You can if you want. However, there doesn’t really seem to be any benefit to it outside of knowing whether your TV works or not. 

TVs can be left turned off for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. There is going to be absolutely no problem with the TV if you do this. It is electronics. It isn’t something that is going to need to be regularly tested.

We would actually advise that you do not turn it on regularly during the winter. This is because if the TV is too cold when you switch it on, it could end up breaking.

Remember what we said before? In most cases, you are going to need to let your TV heat up properly before you switch it back on. 

Conclusion

While you can leave your TV in a camper over the winter months, it isn’t really recommended. Other than saving a bit of space in your home, there doesn’t really seem to be any real benefit to leaving the TV in there.

If the TV is left behind, you are running the risk of the TV becoming frozen, wet inside, or even stolen. So, if you can bring it inside of your home, make sure that you do.

At least you will be able to guarantee that you have a working TV next time you head out in your camper when you do this! 

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