General RV (Motorhome) Questions

2gypsies wrote:
Well gee, that was a nice welcome the OP received from a select few.

I worry about the OP, with questions like they ask, how do they even tie their own shoes?

2gypsies wrote:
Well gee, that was a nice welcome the OP received from a select few.

Who selected them? :h

Well gee, that was a nice welcome the OP received from a select few.

Found the second set of questions:


1.) Is it expensive to have an electric hookup?

Hookup is included in the cost of a RV parking place in a campground or RV park. Difference between a tent site and RV site might be $2 to $5, but a lot more is involved than electricity, it is about the space used, parking pads, patios, etc.

In a long-term site, you might pay the power company for electricity used, rather than a flat fee. Rates are usually those for residential service and they vary all over the country.

2.) How much does it typically cost just to stay overnight at a campground? Aren't there more places to park overnight besides parking lots and campgrounds?

In the parts of the U.S. I've traveled, I've averaged about $20 a night, because I tend to choose the least expensive places. I've been in city campgrounds and at fairgrounds with rates from FREE to $30 a night, $5-10 is typical. RV spaces in Federal campgrounds and state park campgrounds I've seen $12-$40 a night, although there are some really special places much higher (on the beach), I plan for about $16-22.

I've been in RV parks and resorts with fees as low as $16 a night and over $100 a night (destination resort) but I look for the places that run about $25-40.

Other than parking lots (not always legal) and campgrounds, there are rest stops, truck stops (sometimes welcome), on the street (seldom legal) and in dispersed camping areas on public lands (not any public land, there are designated places, and sometimes fees for land use).

3.) Can you take showers when you're on the road and not near a campground?

Yes. If your RV is "self contained" you can shower anywhere you can stop. Self contained means you carry your water and power supply with you (whether batteries, generator or combination of both) and you carry your waste away.

6.) Do most motorhome's get good gas mileage? How much on gas do you spend monthly (and how many miles driven)?

Good compared to what? Not as good as a compact car or mid-size sedan, but better than a 80,000 tractor trailer rig or an inter-city bus (unless your RV is a converted inter-city bus. The right motorhome can give better mileage than many people get in their large SUVs.

MPG ranges from 18-22 possible with a small diesel B motorhome (van conversion) to less than 6 MPG in a 50,000 pound 45-footer (bus conversion). 7-10 MPG is pretty typical in between.

I don't measure my fuel use by month, I only use fuel when I travel. When I'm traveling, I like to move 200 to 400 miles a day, $75 to $150 when gas was between $2 and $3 a gallon.

Historically, I've bought 3750 gallons of gas for my motorhome at a cost of $9850, to move it about 32,000 miles over nine years. The MPG calculator says that is 8.2 MPG. The motorhome is a 30-foot type C, that is a big rectangular box on a beefed up van chassis.

Most boxes this size get about the same fuel mileage. Bigger ones do a little worse, smaller ones can do much better. Thus that efficiency definition I gave you earlier, no more RV than you really need.

I would like to buy a used, but quality motorhome (so I don't have to continuously spend money on repairs) to use as I figure out future plans. I have two dogs that would travel with me as well. What about buying a very small piece of land somewhere with a very small annual fee and somehow having a water supply connected? Are the main fees essentially gas, food, and insurance?

The RV sitting on a small piece of land with utility hookups is a seldom realized dream, because of building codes and utility company rules, but there are some places where people get away with this. They usually dig their own wells (or carry in water), make their own power, use rural waste disposal methods. I'm somewhat familiar with the culture, they don't shower every day and use the Internet, it is often more of a "homeless" lifestyle. Some people do this on the street in large cities, it is not always legal, but they move enough to stay ahead of the police. Places where you can do this can be hard to find, and have been disappearing as county governments adopt urban building standards, and cities work harder to get the homeless off their streets.

You talk about "fees." The main costs are not fees, the costs are costs of money, costs of land, costs of services (like insurance) and costs of energy. The less you use of money, land, energy, services, the lower the cost. Take this minimalist lifestyle to its logical end, you would be out there with my late baby brother, sleeping on the sidewalk with his trash bag of spare clothing and other possessions.

1.) What is the most effective system for heating/cooling?

For cooling, you open windows or run a mechanical air conditioner. The air conditioner needs 120V power, which you provide by plugging into the grid or running your own generator.

Most effective heating is fossil-fuel fired, either LPG-fired forced air or diesel-fired hydronic systems. The forced air systems are not particularly efficient by modern standards. Some of the hydronic systems use waste heat from the engine and heat water for you.

Heat pumps provide a more efficient, but less effective, heating alternative. I use my heat pump for much of that part of the year it is not being used for cooling.

2.) If you're in the midst of traveling somewhere, where do you park and sleep until the next day?

I like to stop at campgrounds or RV parks, for which costs might range from free to something more than $50 a night depending on location and amenities provided. I average about $15 but make a lot of stops at low cost public campgrounds, at city or county parks providing this service for transients.

Rest stops, truck stops, and parking lots are an alternative when overnight RV parking is permitted. Even in places where truckers stop, RVs are not always welcome. Walmart is popular because it has a general policy, with local exceptions, of welcoming RVers.

Sometimes I stop at motels for the night. Most have room to park a RV, especially motels catering to truckers and work crews. Motels have facilities I sometimes want, that I don't necessarily have in the motorhome, like unlimited hot water or a sports bar.


3.) Where do you take showers and where does waste go?

I take showers in public showers at campgrounds and RV parks, I take showers in hotel rooms, and I use the shower in my RV. The waste water in my RV travels with my RV until I get to a place where I can legally dump it. Dump stations are found at RV parks, RV campgrounds, truck stops (most OTRs now carry waste from their sleeper cabs) and some gas stations and rest stops. There may or may not be a fee for dumping, seldom more than $5. You also carry fresh water, which you refill at some of the same places.

If you want to shower in your RV, you will learn how to take water-efficient showers. I shower in some of those other places to get a long, luxurious shower from time to time.

4.) How much does it cost for a high-quality RV and what qualities make a highly efficient RV?

I'm not sure what is a high quality RV. I don't know that I've seen one. Motorhome prices (new) range from $50,000 to more than $2,000,000, and while one is bigger, more luxurious, more ostentatious than the other, I'm not so sure that it is made better.

You can save a lot of money buying used. This will also save you one of the biggest ownership costs, which is depreciation and cost of money. It is not unusual to be able to purchase a usable $50,000 motorhome for about $10,000 to $20,000, or a $500,000 motorhome for $100,000 or less.

Not knowing what you mean by "efficient" I will use the general sense, so what makes a RV efficient is a size no larger than you need it to be. Anything more than you need is a waste of materials, energy, and money.

For fuel efficiency, the smaller the better. Most of the fuel is used pushing that box through the air, so the smaller the box the better. Diesel engines in the same size motorhome will give you more miles per gallon of fuel (the fuel is denser) but not always more miles per dollar.

5.) How do you use the internet?

When traveling I use the wireless data plan on my tablet and phone, and I use free WiFi where I find it: restaurants, coffee shops, campgrounds, motels, rest areas, libraries, wired downtowns.

Because my data plan is AT&T, all commercial AT&T hotspots are free for me. I think T-Mobile is another hotspot provider with a similar policy.

I use the Internet for communication. I don't use it for streaming massive amounts of data.

6.) What payments go along with owning an RV, just gas?

Motor fuel is not really an ownership cost, it is a cost for moving the RV. It is the biggest cost of moving the RV, which also includes cost of tire replacement, oil changes, and other chassis maintenance. When gasoline topped $4, cost of moving my motorhome went to about 50 cents per mile.

Ownership costs include insurance, storage, maintenance of the house and house equipment (some types of RV need a lot of attention to structural weakness, notably around openings and along the long seams where the box was assembled). These have run about $1200-2000 a year for me.

The other, potentially bigger, cost is depreciation and cost of money, whether just loss of investment income, or interests costs. My motorhome has lost at least $40,000 in value over 10 years, averaging $4000 a year. The $58,000 I put into it (buying used but nearly new) was earning better than 8%, so the cost of that has been another $4500 or so, and that's forever because the value of the principle has disappeared, to never again be re-invested. Multiply those numbers by 10 for a $500,000 motorhome.

Third cost is cost of using it: camping fees, LPG fuel. The first is per night, the second has to do with how many hours cooking, heating water, heating the house, running the refrigerator. Heating the house uses lots of fuel. You might put the cost of one or two house batteries here, about $100 each every few years, but that could be an ownership cost, because the things seem to die of old age anyway, whether you are charging/discharging them or not.


7.) What are your main concerns and most frequent troubles with your RV?

My main concerns are about maintaining the integrity of the box, so that it does not get destroyed by leaks. That requires frequent inspection and occasional re-sealing, at least twice a year, and it is a fairly expensive job when done professionally, 2-4 hours of labor at rates now around $100 an hour.

Most troublesome part of my RV has been the generator, which I use to run air conditioning on the road when carrying passengers, and to power a few other things when stopped where I have no electrical hookup. This is a problem with all small gasoline engines run infrequently and stored with today's gasoline formulas left in the engine.

My main concern generally is that I don't get enough use of the RV to justify the costs of ownership. $8000 - $10,000 a year just to own it, whether I use it or not, and if I spend 10 nights in it that's $1000 a night. If I spend 100 nights in it, that's still $100 a night.

I second going to an RV show and/or a couple of dealers. You will learn a lot by looking around.

RVing is a blast, but it usually is not that cheap. Also, trying to park on a piece of land will be very regulated by local governments (although I point out that I live in California, home to many, many rules.)

Happy camping!

I was drawn to your question by the term General RV. I have gotten 2 of my motorhomes from General RV and have had great service. I think the closest one to you is Huntley, IL. I would recommend going to an RV show someplace or visiting a large dealer with a big variety of MHs. Leave your checkbook & credit cards home so you can't get pressured. Look at various makes and try to see how thee fit and finish is on the various builders. My Newmar has real wood instead of thin panels on many places. This is good if you want to add something. Ducted AC runs much quieter than non-ducted. Mileage on gas As & Cs runs from 7-9 MPG. The 17mpg someone stated is on either a MB diesel or a Class B. I get 16.5 on my 19' Roadtrek and 8.5 on my Mountain Aire. You may find that running a generator eats up a lot of the money you would save by going to a CG and having water, sewer electric in the rate. I could stay in a parking lot with my 19' but there is not a huge tank for the shower or running the generator. I have both on the little one also. You can visit CGs and talk to campers. KOA will charge to let you in but most others won't charge. Campers are usually friendly. I actually spent a summer as a camp counsellor in Wauwautosa while in college (57-58)

JTP13 - sorry, I didn't mean to start a flame war. I've been stung in a few trolls over the years and it's embarrassing. Your questions are perfectly legit for someone just trying to figure things out, and I personally blasted someone here a few weeks back for asking the same sort of questions after they purchased an expensive motorhome.

But as Spink said, they would also fit into the troll category. Some people with more time on their hands than is reasonable like to roam around various web sites and just make trouble. I apologize for thinking you were one of them.

:o

1.) What is the most effective system for heating/cooling?
Usually the propane furnace, but there is a system called, among other things, Hydro Hot or Aqua Hot that can use engine heat when you are driving, or pre-heat (Diesels like that) when parked, I use electric in a campground IF electricity is included in the flat rate site rental.

2.) If you're in the midst of traveling somewhere, where do you park and sleep until the next day?

Pilot/Flying-J other truck stops, Wal*Mart, Sam's Costco other big parking lot stores, (With permission of course). Campgrounds (most have overnight sites) There are lots of places.. I suggest you NOT stay in freeway rest areas, Some allow it but the truckers may object and bad things can happen.

3.) Where do you take showers and where does waste go?

Most RV's have either 2 or 3 waste storage tanks,, Black Gray and optionally wash, THe shower drains, usually, into one of the latter two, (Wash in my case) and from there I send it into the sewer system when Im in an RV park. Or you can use park, or truck stop showers, Done that too when I was on the road and did not have sewer hookups for the RV.

4.) How much does it cost for a high-quality RV and what qualities make a highly efficient RV?

All over the place, I can not answer

5.) How do you use the internet?

Three systems,
1: Cellular, My Smart phone acts as a Hot Spot for my computers
2: Park Wi-Fi, Flakey at best and of course this is public so you are exposed if there is a hacker in the park,, INCLUDES McDonalds, Libraries, and such
3: Hughesnet (NOT NEXT GEN) 2-way satellite,, Falling out of favor as more and more folks switch to Cellular which is faster and has higher bandwidth limts.

6.) What payments go along with owning an RV, just gas?
Gas, and other maintenance (Same as a car) Insurance and registration (Generally more expensive than a car) Site rental and possibly storage rental. Some state tax it as property some tax it as an automobile.

7.) What are your main concerns and most frequent troubles with your RV?

That is hard to say,, The main problem is not a joke: Many RVers have a few screws loose.. (The kind you tighten with a screwdriver, generally a #2 Square BIt) I'd say thats the major problem.. but there is, of course all the problems of owning a hosue amplified by the fact you bounce it down the road at 55 mph and thus shake it up real good.


Hope this helps.

JTP13 wrote:

Sprink-Fitter wrote:

Sprink-Fitter wrote:

JTP13 wrote:
No... why would anyone troll on here? These are legitimate questions as I think about my future.

Have you ever left your house in the past 20 or so years, you can't figure out the answer to any of your questions by yourself?

But your questions sound like a third grader asked them..

"Where do you shower" have you even seen the inside of a rv on the Internet or on TV?

"Is gas the only expense" is gas the only thing you have to do to your car you drive daily?

You must be one of those people who always finds something to complain about and/or is always trying to criticize someone or "one up" them because you're mad at some aspect of your life and insecure. Anyways.....

Nope, just think you are a troll. The tiniest bit of searching would have given you answers to your questions.

If those questions are serious questions, I wonder how someone like you makes it day to day with a couple more complicated questions thrown into the mix.