You love your RV and look forward to the road trips. Everything about it is connected to the comfort of home. You don’t have to spend money on lodging because everything you need is in your RV — so convenient. You just wish you could have a better, less plastic, more real-looking faucet. In this article, we will be taking a look at RV faucets and home faucets. We’ll compare the two and determine which one is better, and show you how to replace your RV faucet with a better option — a home faucet.
What Is the Difference Between an RV Faucet and a Home Faucet?
You are undoubtedly among many who have asked this question. RV faucets and home faucets are not much different on the surface. They look pretty much the same. The major difference between the two is how they connect to their hoses for plumbing.
The tubes that the RV faucet connects to are flexible and standard for RVs. Metal pipes with metallic connectors are used in homes to connect the home faucets. So, it would be difficult to connect a home faucet to an RV for this reason.
Can Residential Kitchen Sink Faucets Be Used in an RV?
Yes, you can replace your RV faucet with a home faucet. You just need to make sure you have an adapter to connect to the connectors. You will likely find the one you need at an RV/camper store.
Once you have the right adapter, it’s a simple matter of adding the adapter to the flexible RV pipe and connecting the home faucet to the adapter. Make sure to fasten the faucet properly to secure it to the sink just as you would with your home faucet in your home.
Reasons for Replacing RV Faucets
- You prefer having a real faucet. Most RVs come equipped with plastic faucets and flexible plumbing fixtures. They do the job they’re supposed to do, so there’s nothing wrong with that. But after a while, you just want a real faucet rather than the plastic brand.
- You don’t like how they look. The real faucets just look better.
- They’re not durable. The plastic faucets serve their purpose, for the most part, but they won’t last forever. Especially if you’re an avid traveler. The more you use them, the more susceptible they are to cracking, and they will eventually begin to leak.
Connecting a Residential Faucet to Your RV
If you’ve ever tried swapping out your RV faucet for a home faucet, you may have thought it wasn’t possible. But we’re here to say, yes it is. To do it, you need to ensure you have purchased the appropriate adapter to fit the input connectors. You also want to ensure you have some silicone sealant, Teflon tape and a couple of wrenches. Once you have all of that, you’re ready to renew your RV sink. Here are the steps to making it work:
- Turn off the water main of the RV. Remember, you’re in an RV. If you mess up the water supply, there will be major repercussions later to tell about. So first things first, turn off the water supply, before loosening anything.
- Remove the flexible pipes under the sink of the RV. Look under the sink to find the tubes that provide the hot and cold water. Using a wrench, loosen the connectors gently. Water may dispense from the tube once disconnected, so be sure to have something handy to catch any loose water.
- Remove the RV faucet from the sink. Use a large wrench to loosen the plastic nut found underneath the faucet. That nut is what is holding the faucet in place. Now, pull out the RV faucet once the nut is removed. You may need to apply a little force depending on how securely this was placed.
- Prep sink for the home faucet. This may mean scraping any residue left from the RV faucet. Then wrap Teflon tape on the treads of the faucet’s connector to provide some additional protection from leaks.
- Connect the home faucet. Insert the home faucet into the holes in the sink. Place some silicone on the faucet to keep water from leaking underneath the sink. Secure the faucet using the nuts. Now you want to connect the straight connectors to the input tubing first. A little Teflon tape here will help to ensure the joint is watertight. With your wrenches, attach the connectors to the hot and cold input hoses. Connect these hoses to the appropriate connection and tighten them to ensure no leakage.
- Turn on the water and check for leaks. Once all the connections have been made, turn the water main back on and turn on the water. Check immediately to ensure no leaks. Apply more Teflon tape if needed.
Conclusion
Most RVers don’t like the look and feel of their RV faucet. Also, it’s not very durable. So to remedy that, replace it with a home faucet, by applying an adapter to the connectors. Your RV faucet and sink will be just like new in no time.