Golden_HVAC wrote:
I also think that a well planned out conversion of a fifth wheel would work, except for the part about putting a Jeep inside. Perhaps a "Smart Electric" car would work as well? They can be carried with most toyhaulers.
I was thinking about the Jeep because with a soft top and folding down the windshield it has a nice low profile. (Under 4 feet if I remember correctly.) Since my floor to ceiling in the van is about 10 feet that will allow a bedroom above the garage area.
If you want something custom, New Horizons will build just about anything. Yes they are expensive, but designed to last a really long time. Heavy! Yes. And you would want to tow it with something like a Freightliner or buy a used Volvo and remove the center axle, changing it to a housecar, and it will still have a 40,000+ towing capacity!
My thinking was a regular commercial style tractor. My reasoning for this is that these are very durable, and service is widely available all across the country. Used tractors are very reasonably priced and even if the unit has a half a million miles on it i would probably not wear it out in my lifetime.
Heck a 48 is the short van, they are also made in 53 foot lengths.
If the park won't let me in with the trailer I can just drop the trailer outside and bobtail the tractor or just go elseware. I can back one up easier than I can back up a 20 foot trailer behind a pick-up.
I can boondock for upwards of 3 weeks and have a 100 gallon fresh water tank, 42 grey and 59 black. I do sometimes water the local vegetation with the grey water, and bury the hole at night, so I do not attract flies.
My buddy that converted a MCI bus has a 100 gallon grey tank sitting above his 100 gallon black tank. In this way, he can dump some or all of the grey water, or dump the black, then use the grey water to rinse and dump through the black water tank. Also if dry camping for say 3 weeks, he can dump some of the grey into the black tank - to gain more grey water tank space. I think his fresh water is a stainless 150 gallon tank! He was considering removing the tag axle, and installing a pair of 150 gallon fuel tanks in that space. He only needs the two axles for his GVW. His bus has a 8V92 - that is 92 cubic inches per cylinder! and V8 two stroke diesel. It makes something like 500 HP but can be programmed for more HP if desired.
I was originally considering a bus conversion. The downside as I see it is that the car would have to be towed and bus mechanics are few and far between. The bus also has a difficult to work on engine as access is difficult. Configured as I imagine I should be 60 foot total length as I was thinking about a cab over engine tractor. If I can get a day cab it would be less.
Solar cells? I have a 400 watt system, and it makes 'plenty' of power for me. I don't have a all electric refrigerator. I have heard that the Samsung is a great brand while running from a inverter, as the compressor is most efficient. I would not have a auto ice maker, as I would rather make my own ice from fresh water, not the tank. Also the 300 watt electric heater that is on while harvesting the ice produces a lot of heat inside the freezer, and consumes a lot of energy overall!
You probably will need about 8 golf cart batteries for a all electric coach, not running gas refrigerator, and minimum of 800 watts of solar. You will need to decide between 24 and 12 volts battery system. The inverters work much more efficiently on 24 volts, or even 48 volts. My new home will include a 48 volt 8 KW Outback inverter to support life critical systems (oxygen generator, CPAP, ect). The 8 KW can run any normal appliances, including the ductless A/C you speak of. Normally ductless units are very energy efficient. However the drip pan is not all that deep, so driving, it might start to drip water, until it all reaches the drain line. If parked off-level, it might become a water drip problem, but otherwise will work fine off level. You might consider a axillary drip pan, or a 'cartridge ductless' design, or a ducted design with the same type ductless outside unit that is inverter controlled, and super energy efficient!
So if you plan on being all electric and mostly run on solar, consider a 200 amp hour 48 volt battery bank (8 X 6 volt batteries in series) to store about 9.6 KW of power. You would also need a pair of golf cart batteries for a 12 volt system too, to run the lights, water pump, and accessories.
A solar system for each bank of batteries would be required. If you run the inverter on 24 volts, you can pick only 4 batteries, (67 pounds each) and only 4.8 KW storage, or go with 8 batteries, and much longer battery life. Double the voltage, and for a given wattage, amperage is 1/2. To run a 800 watt load on a 12 volt inverter is 80 amps, 40 amps at 24 volts and only 20 amps at 48 volts. So much smaller wire size is practical with the higher battery voltage. I would see 150 amps going out of my batteries when running my microwave via my Trace 1500 watt 12 volt inverter. IT is a lot of power and required size 000 wire, about the diameter of my thumb.
I was kind of leaning in the direction of either 24 or 48V. On the refrigeration I was leaning to either use 2 chest freezers and augment the insulation and removing the condensers and compressors to eject the heat away from the box. Tecumseh looks like they make small hermetically sealed compressors in either 24 or 48 volts so I might end up with three of them, one for each box and one for the AC. I think I might have to put 2 of the compressors under the floor so the oil will return to the compressor but the one for the AC I think I can put in the nose of the trailer as the evap units would be higher.
Alternativly I am considering making my own boxes and just getting evaporator fan units like you would find in a vending machine or beer box.
I think that with good insulation and the opening at the top I should not draw too many watts, but my plan was to test the actual draw with
the rig under construction before I sized the solar and batteries.
The chest freezer as a refrigerator was not my original idea, I read about a guy doing this living off the grid and he had very good efficiency. I am also going to go with led lighting. I plan on a gen set but I really don't want to use it too much.
Thanks again for your comments.
