Whom Of Us Boondocks 14-days Or More At A Stretch?
I mean on a regular basis? Vacations like...
Trying to get an idea of whom is whom...it helps.
SOLAR or GENERATOR?
Trying to get an idea of whom is whom...it helps.
SOLAR or GENERATOR?
Forum Discussion
94 Replies
Naio wrote:
Yeah, Mex, I think those elec blankets feel like a tarp, too.
Naio .... huuuuuuuuh??
All electric blankets I've used for around 60 years have been way lighter and less constrictive than any other warm covering other than just a basic sheet!
My current modern electric blanket is whisper light with no circuit bubble/bulges and has a continuously variable control than can be feathered to hold any temperature from it's setting of "zero" to it's setting of "ten".pnichols wrote:
X2,3 and 4. I don't even own a tent anymore. :B
I was raised in Michigan in a 100 year old (back then) poor/no insulated house - slept under too-heavy blankes by an upstairs window - and would wake up on winter mornings with snow on the INSIDE of the window sill by my head. My parents bought me an electric blanket in my teens cuz it was cheaper than heating the upstairs and I was getting flattened by the heavy blankets. We moved to California when I was 19 and we never looked back at the cold winters and the humid, mosquito-ridden summers. (However Gun Lake was still beautiful when we camped there during a recent summer trip to Michigan in our motorhome.)
Now ... when drycamping we keep our RV's furnace set to around 62, nights, and the A/C set to around 76 whenever needed, We do not hear either appliance or the built-in generator over the tinnitus in both of our sets of ears. I even use an electric blanket every night inside our California stick-house so as to not feel any blanket load at all winter or summer. We didn't pay for a self-contained RV so we could backpack inside it. :)
Almot wrote:
I like it at 65 when I sleep.. Cool, but not so cold that I am uncomfortable if I need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Plus, when it is really cold, the furnace keeps the tanks from freezing, and the insulation/heat tape (which needs AC) keeps the pipes from freezing.
Running generator all night isn't something that I would want to do (even if it's truly wilderness with no neighbors around). Unless it's so hot and humid that you have to run A/C.
Definitely wouldn't run it all night for furnace. I would have to be very tired after some hard work, to be able to sleep with furnace running. Maybe in a few years hearing loss will make it possible for me, but this time hasn't come yet.
My heating is by catalytic Olympian 6. There are smaller Oly 3 and bigger Oly 8 models. Wall-mounted, copper tubing tapped into black pipe where initially the furnace was connected. Silent and no DC draw. Not vented, but everything else is fine, and very easy on propane.
Battery draw probably wouldn't be a problem with furnace either. 490W solar keeps them full 9 evenings out of 10, without generator.- Yeah, Mex, I think those elec blankets feel like a tarp, too. But the elec pad that goes UNDER you is pretty comfy, IMO.
I like lots of blankets, so I can put some on or off as needed. Down ones just annoy me, really -- always too hot or too cold, and too fluffy to push out of the way. They are good as a top layer when it's 20 degrees out, tho :).
I'm currently sleeping with 3 blankets, and have 3 more on standby. It's possible I don't really need that many extras. We never had enough blankets as kids, so I like to have plenty now.
For the midnight pee, I have a jug by the bed and a big polarfleece sweater. - I was raised in Michigan in a 100 year old (back then) poor/no insulated house - slept under too-heavy blankes by an upstairs window - and would wake up on winter mornings with snow on the INSIDE of the window sill by my head. My parents bought me an electric blanket in my teens cuz it was cheaper than heating the upstairs and I was getting flattened by the heavy blankets. We moved to California when I was 19 and we never looked back at the cold winters and the humid, mosquito-ridden summers. (However Gun Lake was still beautiful when we camped there during a recent summer trip to Michigan in our motorhome.)
Now ... when drycamping we keep our RV's furnace set to around 62, nights, and the A/C set to around 76 whenever needed, We do not hear either appliance or the built-in generator over the tinnitus in both of our sets of ears. I even use an electric blanket every night inside our California stick-house so as to not feel any blanket load at all winter or summer. We didn't pay for a self-contained RV so we could backpack inside it. :) - I purchased a Grade 3 (Maximum) Thinsulate comforter so I could avoid a tarpaulin heavy electric blanket. In 50F weather the Thinsulate 3 cover is not enough warmth. I blame this on my advanced age. If I get a chance, I'm going to invest in a California King size northern goose down comforter. And I'm sort of lost when it comes to finding a really really really warm robe to wear to the night time facilities. Looking like the Grim Reaper or a Warlock is not a problem for me. I need little bunny slippers too. I could never get away with this foolishness 20 years ago but now that I am a frail old buzzard, I run around in the daytime with green pants, orange shirt, and no socks. But I am quite serious about the robe. Thermal underwear irritates my skin to utter distraction. I've already forked over enough dough for a thick mattress, gel memory foam topper, microfiber sheets and king size pillows.
And here 55-years ago I remember waking up in the bunkhouse in Ennis Montana and finding 5" of water in a glass frozen solid. I had kindling set for the pot belly stove. Immersed in candle wax, then split lodge pole pine 12" sticks. I had that bunkhouse at 100F in minutes, coffee boiling on the stove and the dog stretched out, tongue protruding and snoring. Nothing like clipping a lifeline to a rope to get back and forth to the outbuilding. Now the stupid Madison River is 100% catch and release.
When are they going to put escalators for door entry, and spring loaded recliners that when triggered, pitch the occupant right into his dining room seat? They already have gizmos that pitch a brewskie from the fridge to the recliner.
RV'ing today is more luxurious and lazy than a penthouse suite was at the St Francis hotel in SF in the forties. "Connect With Nature" means finding The National Geographic channel on Dish Network. "A View" means looking out your window and into another seeing your neighbor washing dishes. - I sleep with the window open when it's snowing out in my S&B, so I wouldn't think of running a heater while camping. That's why god made piles of blankets ;).
I do turn on the elec mattress pad when I get up to pee, or if I wake up cold in the night. And definitely to preheat the bed in the evening! - Running generator all night isn't something that I would want to do (even if it's truly wilderness with no neighbors around). Unless it's so hot and humid that you have to run A/C.
Definitely wouldn't run it all night for furnace. I would have to be very tired after some hard work, to be able to sleep with furnace running. Maybe in a few years hearing loss will make it possible for me, but this time hasn't come yet.
My heating is by catalytic Olympian 6. There are smaller Oly 3 and bigger Oly 8 models. Wall-mounted, copper tubing tapped into black pipe where initially the furnace was connected. Silent and no DC draw. Not vented, but everything else is fine, and very easy on propane.
Battery draw probably wouldn't be a problem with furnace either. 490W solar keeps them full 9 evenings out of 10, without generator. - (Freezer atop the rear bumper?) Bed-liner finish. Lockable.
Olympian 8K heater plus a 5 watt fan solves interior heating. The $2,500 I paid for the Vestfrost freezer and separate refrigerator freezer keeps me off the road for more than a month at a time.
But if I park in the sun, I'm screwed. Within ten minutes, 90F+ interior temps with 75+ % humidity. Huntindog wrote:
We do it all the time. And in any weather.
I bring 4 extra propane tanks, 16 water jugs, and 55 gallons of gas. I have a 5 cubic ft. freezer on the rear rack of the TT. We have two Honda EU2000s, we only use one at a time (usually) but a backup is a necessity in case one fails on a trip.
We chose our TT specifically because in has two 42 gallon grey tanks and two 42 gallon black tanks.
We can live it up in style in just about any weather from subzero to over 110 degrees ice snow etc. we just ride it out. The freezer gives us many more options for what food we can bring. Pizzas, wings, small turkeys, roasts etc.
We do manage our generator power differently than most here... Rather than run off the batteries at night when the furnace is putting a whupping on the batteries, we run our generator all night. We awake with fully charged batteries that can easily get us thru the day.
Doing this allows us to run a dehumidifier and seal the TT up tight to reduce propane use.
Nice post .... you're set up to do it right night or day, rain or shine! Now .... if only one could achieve what you do in only a 24 to 26 foot total rig length.
I especially like your approach of running your generator in the evening/night when the furnace electrical load might be high during cooler outside temps.
We don't carry a dehumidifier along for maximum flexibility ... but sure wished we had one with us once when camping in the Deep South in August. We managed to accomplish the affect of a dehumidifier then by running both a heater and the air conditioner. Be balanced the temperature settings on each one just right so that we attained both the right temperature at the right humidity.
