Choosing a Caravan2


Check Your Driving Licence
		If you passed your driving test before 1997 you should have category BE on your licence, entitling you to drive a car and caravan with a combined laden weight up to 8,250kg. Your categories are listed at the bottom front of your driving licence and explained on the back.



	If you passed your test since 1 January 1997 your main driving entitlement will be Category B. This entitles you to drive a vehicle up to a Gross Vehicle Weight (or Maximum Authorised Mass) of 3,500kg and tow a trailer up to 750kg. You can tow heavier caravans if the total weight of towcar and caravan combined doesn’t weigh more than 3,500kg and the fully loaded caravan doesn’t weigh more than the unladen towcar.


	A car and caravan combination under 3,500kg.

	To tow with a combined car and caravan Maximum Authorised Mass over 3,500kg you need to take the BE towing test. For full information visit www.direct.gov.uk/motoring

Choosing the Right Layout

Now you know what WEIGHT of caravan you can tow, you can get some idea of what SIZE you can tow because weight and size are, to a large extent, related.

You may think you don’t need a particularly large caravan but, for most people, its a good idea to buy a larger caravan than you think you will need (finances and towing limit permitting) because its so easy to underestimate. This is especially so for families - perhaps less important for couples.

Consider, too, that the more lavishly equipped a caravan is, the heavier it is likely to be. Consequently, going for a more basic specification may mean you can tow a larger caravan (and it’ll cost you less, too!).

Another way of increasing available space is by adding an awning (see separate section), but there’s no substitute for having enough room in the main body of the caravan.

Start by looking through the A-Z Listing of currently available caravans that follows this article. This covers most models available in the UK including all UK-made tourers. You’ll see that, for the most part, equivalent models from different manufacturers are very similar in weight and size, although there are a couple of manufacturers who make it their overriding priority to keep the weight to an absolute minimum. You can identify these from the notes in the listing.

Another factor that may affect your choice of caravan size is storing it - especially if you will be keeping the caravan on your driveway. There are also folding caravans and ‘pop-tops’, all of which might be a consideration if you want to keep your caravan in a garage or under a car port.

How Will You Use Your Caravan?

All caravans tend to be a compromise between keeping the weight down and making the best use of available space. Some have a generously proportioned lounge area and washroom to the detriment of kitchen space. Others have an expansive kitchen area at the expense of washroom and/or lounge space.

So next you need to consider how your caravan will be used. Will you be staying only on full facilities caravan sites with toilets and hot showers or are you more likely to stay on basic sites with no facilities other than a tap in the middle of a field? Will you go caravanning only in the warmer months of the year or all year round? Will you be cooking in the caravan or buying all your food out? You need to bear all these things in mind whilst making your choice.

The washroom

Some caravans have a large washroom at the back end, with a shower, wash basin with mirror above, toilet and, in some cases, wardrobes. There’s plenty of room OUTSIDE of the shower cubicle to dry yourself and get dressed and, if the wardrobes are located in the washroom as well, your clothes are ready to hand.

An end washroom with washbasin plus wardrobes on one side and shower plus toilet on the other. Between the two, there’s plenty of room to dry and dress.

The entire area is separated from the rest of the caravan by a door, so you can shower and get dressed without keeping the blinds drawn in other parts of the caravan. This kind of caravan is ideal for people who will be using basic caravan sites that don’t provide shower or toilet


	facilities because, apart from needing access to a cold water supply and a chemical toilet emptying point, you are completely self-sufficient. Other models have a side washroom with less space and they don’t have direct access to wardrobes. There’s normally a shower, wash basin with mirror and a toilet but, in most cases, you need to stand in the shower tray to dry yourself off.


	Generally-speaking, side washroom are more cramped with no wardrobe access and nowhere to stand other than the shower tray.

	If you are really organised you can sort your clothes out in advance, take them in with you and dress in a rather cramped space. More likely, you’ll come out of the washroom to dress and that may put you to the inconvenience of leaving the blinds drawn in all or part of the caravan. A variant on this theme is caravans which have a washroom on one side of the caravan and a separate toilet compartment on the other side. These layouts do, however, leave more space in other areas of the caravan. Also, they are good compromises for people who will mostly use sites that provide showers and toilets, but who want the flexibility to stay on more basic sites occasionally. Some caravans - just a few - don’t have a washroom/toilet at all, so you really do need to stay on full-facilities sites if you buy one of these. The reality is, though, that you may find it a false economy because the money you save on buying the caravan itself will, over time, be more than outweighed by the higher site fees charged by the full-facilities sites.

	The Kitchen Area Caravan kitchens tend to be either at the back end of the caravan or, more usually these days, along one side. It’s down to personal preference which location you choose. Before choosing your caravan you need to have a good idea how you intend to use its kitchen. Will you be doing a lot of cooking or hardly any at all? Do you need an oven or just a hob and grill? How many burners do you need the hob to provide? Do you need a microwave oven? Of course, you can add the last of these at any time, but caravans that come with one normally have a specific space designed to accommodate it.


	This kitchen area has an oven and fridge underneath the hob/sink. The food preparation area is the other side of the walkway.

	Then you need to consider how much kitchen cupboard space you’ll need, how large a fridge and how much food preparation area. Also bear in mind that, these days, some caravans come with a 230 volt socket outside - normally next to the entrance door. So if you plan on using an awning and staying at sites with electric pitches, this gives you the flexibility to use a plug-in cold box. It is a useful supplement to a small fridge and can be used in the car whilst on the road. What Time of Year? If you plan on using your caravan all-year-round, you’ll need to make sure it has the highest standards of thermal insulation. You’ll also need to ensure it has an efficient heating system that will keep you cosy even in the coldest of weather. Most caravans have a dual-fuel convector heater. This can be used on its own or with an electric fan (working off the caravan battery) which circulates warm air through ducting to other parts of the caravan.



	Top: Trumatic gas/electric room heater. Bottom: Warm air outlet in washroom.

	Some caravans have central heating with a boiler (powered by a choice of propane gas or mains electricity) and a battery-powered pump circulating antifreeze-treated water around a heating circuit of pipes and radiators (much like a domestic central heating system). This can be programmed to switch on and off at times chosen by you and can be used safely overnight. It is silent running (there’s no noisy fan) and avoids the stuffy atmosphere that can occur with blown air systems. A hot water provision can be incorporated, too, so you can wake up to a reserve of hot water ready for an early morning shower.


		Consider, also, that butane gas doesn’t flow properly in very cold weather and, so, for winter caravanning, your choice of gas would be propane. Water freezes, too, so in cold weather a caravan with an on-board water tank is preferably to one that relies exclusively on an external tank such as an Aquaroll.



			Gas or Electric? Caravans built for the British market use three different power sources for the various items of equipment within the caravan. These are:- 12-volt battery power for most lights and for pumping water to taps and a shower. Also for circulating air in warm air heating systems and water/antifreeze in radiator heating systems. Bottled gas (either propane or butane) for cooking, heating, water heating and refrigerator. Mains electricity (as an alternative to gas) for heating, water heating, refrigerator and, to some extent, for cooking. Also to charge the 12-volt battery.

		This arrangement gives you the best of all worlds because, even if you are staying on a site without mains electricity, you can still have lighting, plus hot/cold water systems and heating provided by a combination of bottled gas energy and 12-volt circulation. You can keep the battery topped up using portable solar panels.

		If you are paying for an electric pitch, you will want to make the maximum use of the electricity you are normally paying a flat daily rate for. Caravans nowadays enable you to do this because, unless you are buying an old caravan, they give you dual-fuel flexibility. This means that space and water heating, and the fridge, can be run either off your own supply of bottled gas, or off the mains electricity available on pitches at many caravan sites. (Fridges can also be run off 12-volt electricity, but that’s for whilst the caravan is being towed behind the car).


		Electric and gas water heating controls side-by-side. Space heating and fridge are normally dual-fuel, too (and sometimes the hob)..

		If you will be making extensive use of electric pitches, factor this in to your caravan choice. Check out how many mains electric sockets there are and whether they are conveniently positioned. For example, you may want to plug in an electric kettle, toaster, television set, etc. Consider in advance all the ancillary electrical equipment you will want to use. With the exception of microwave ovens, cooking facilities have lagged behind in the provision of dual-fuel flexibility. This is because the electricity supply available on caravan sites can’t withstand the same level of load as a household supply and kitchen appliances can be particularly demanding in this respect. As caravan sites have up-rated the amperage of their electrical hook-ups, caravan manufacturers have increased the amount of electrical equipment included in caravans and recently dual-fuel kitchen hobs have been introduced with just one burner working off electricity and another two or three working off bottled gas. Ovens and grills still tend to be gas-powered. If you will predominently be using caravan sites without electric hook-ups, then paying extra for lots of mains sockets and a dual-fuel hob would be a waste of money. Also bear in mind that many imported caravans are designed to work off mains electricity only and don’t have a 12-volt electrical system. These are fine if you will always be using electric pitches, but they will leave you without lighting, heat circulation or water circulation if you stay on sites without a mains supply.

		Sleeping Arrangements In the past, the only choices of beds in a caravan were seats that could also be used as single beds, converted into a double bed or converted into bunk beds. All of these are still available, in enhanced form, but nowadays there are also caravans with permanent single or double beds.


			Caravans like this Lunar Lexon have fixed single beds.

		Permanent beds have the advantage that you don’t have to spend time converting a seating area into a sleeping area every night and then reconverting it to seats in the morning. They have the disadvantage, however, of taking up living space that could be used for other things in the daytime. The outcome is that if you want permanent beds in your caravan, you are likely to need a bigger caravan.


		Island double bed in a Lunar Delta.