Solar, worth it in my case?
Hope I am posting in the proper forum. DW and I tend to boondock or stay in parks with no electric. Although we have a generator I am reluctant to use it because of the smell and noise. I have a 2010...
Forum Discussion
Do you camp where you get good sun, then solar is probably worth it. A installer will get around any issues and I agree, you just can't have too much. In my case, I have learned a lot by using the panels on the ground too.
To start with, after roughing it for decades, we saw the trailer like a rolling cabin. We could finally have some comfort out in the boonies. We tried the hard sided tent thing one cold week in the fall, that sucked. We also didn't like listening to a generator for a few hours a day. Last year I put a 230w panel out on the ground and all of a sudden it felt like we had a extension cord coming out of the woods. Even on cloudy days we had enough battery to get thru and we didn't conserve at all. We didn't have a big inverter but if it was cold we ran the furnace, hot, the fans. The Leds let us light it up end to end at night and we had DVDs and music on rainy days.
I should have left it at that and mounted that panel but I didn't. You will find that solar is addicting and as long as there is room on the roof, you will wonder what if I added another panel. I found us two 245w panels and a big inverter to play with all of those evil toys Almot speaks of. We got to go up and try it all last week and all I can say is wow. As long as it's sunny out and you feel like nuking a few taters or vacuuming the mess the dogs dragged in, go for it. Honey seems to like the auto drip over the mud I make on the stove and while I wouldn't know the difference if the hair dryer was used, it makes a good test. :)
The only concept of conserving in the rolling cabin is to trim back the big loads in bad weather. I'd rather watch the TV/satellite on a bad day than have a baked potato.
Oh and the generator, we left it at home.
To start with, after roughing it for decades, we saw the trailer like a rolling cabin. We could finally have some comfort out in the boonies. We tried the hard sided tent thing one cold week in the fall, that sucked. We also didn't like listening to a generator for a few hours a day. Last year I put a 230w panel out on the ground and all of a sudden it felt like we had a extension cord coming out of the woods. Even on cloudy days we had enough battery to get thru and we didn't conserve at all. We didn't have a big inverter but if it was cold we ran the furnace, hot, the fans. The Leds let us light it up end to end at night and we had DVDs and music on rainy days.
I should have left it at that and mounted that panel but I didn't. You will find that solar is addicting and as long as there is room on the roof, you will wonder what if I added another panel. I found us two 245w panels and a big inverter to play with all of those evil toys Almot speaks of. We got to go up and try it all last week and all I can say is wow. As long as it's sunny out and you feel like nuking a few taters or vacuuming the mess the dogs dragged in, go for it. Honey seems to like the auto drip over the mud I make on the stove and while I wouldn't know the difference if the hair dryer was used, it makes a good test. :)
The only concept of conserving in the rolling cabin is to trim back the big loads in bad weather. I'd rather watch the TV/satellite on a bad day than have a baked potato.
Oh and the generator, we left it at home.
