Modification ideas for boondocking

[Bluebeard]

I've got some ideas and I thought I'd run it by you guys (gals):

First of all I have an 2002 Arctic Fox 24-5N 5er which I plan on exclusively using for boondocking in the high mountain western states. I bought the trailer for a song, and I am not concerned about losing resale value. No hookups- ever- so here are my thoughts:

1. I will NEVER use the rooftop air conditioner. NEVER. And if I were in a location where I needed cooler "conditioning" I would most likely build a 5 gal bucket swamp cooler. So I was thinking of taking off the AC from the roof and putting a vent in there. However, the AC hole in the roof has remote vent lines taking off from the cut out in the roof. So I was thinking, for heating and cooling, to modify the vent fan such that the actual fan was located BELOW the intakes to the vents. If I wanted to spread conditioned air (hot or cold) through out the trailer, I just need to turn on the fan with the vent top closed, and I would assume the air would be spread around the camper. Yes/No?

2. I plan on putting in a Cat heater as the cycling of the forced air fan on the furnace at night keeps me awake. So I was thinking of replacing the stock furnace with a Wave 6 heater mounted pretty much in the same location as where the furnace was. I was thinking of taking out the furnace, and then putting in a low speed (quiet) muffin type fan at the entrance of the heater ducts where the furnace used to be and to have a switch where I could turn on the muffin fan on the really cold nights to circulate (at a low speed) the cabin heat down to the basement.

Is this plausible? Any suggestions for a decent 4' 12v fan that is quiet and moves air?

3. Has anyone ever considered setting up a mini drainback solar hydronic system on the roof to preheat the water for the hot water heater? I would be pretty simple to set up with some black tubing on the roof, and it would run on sunny days. When you came back from hiking, maybe the water in the hot tank would be 120F, so you wouldn't need to fire up the furnace.

Thanks for any insight.

[qtla9111]

Remove the roof top air, cover with a shaded dome and install a small mini split system that can be run when needed on a generator.

[Naio]

If electric interests you, I got a 300watt heater at Home Depot that fits in my pocket! 3 minutes morning and night warms my van and doesn't use much battery. It doesn't take much to warm a tiny space.

[Naio]

Bluebeard wrote:
Hey Bill, as noted in my signature, I live in Truckee and what is unique here is that most houses do NOT have air conditioning.

Yeah, that's the norm in much of the west. People in the east of midwest don't understand :).

The AC also probably weighs a lot.

I don't have an AC, and have used my heater for a total of maybe 30 minutes in 6 months (fall, winter, spring). I do have window fans for the cat.

[Bluebeard]

Hey Bill, as noted in my signature, I live in Truckee and what is unique here is that most houses do NOT have air conditioning. I am pretty used to dry and hot without AC(90F @10% humidity)- Typically opening the windows in the evening, overnight provides enough cool air to get chores done in the morning and to get out of the house before it gets hot. I don't think I have EVER spent a lot of time in an air conditioned environment, so it wouldn't be a big deal unless it was REALLY hot AND humid- then I would be in a world of hurt.

In my noted situation the added benefit of a small swamp cooler would probably suffice- this being said, I will still keep and store the AC just in case my theory is flawed. I like options.

As an aside, in the summer, if I used the roof vents to extract the heat, I could fashion a simple "in window" swamp cooler which would be more efficient than one in a 5 gallon bucket.

The ProCom vent free 10,000 btu Ice House heater seems to be an ideal size- it is the smallest I could get that has a thermostat and it is small enough not to take up a lot of room. My only concern with the vent free is they state that they don't operate well above 4500 feet. I rarely go BELOW 4500 feet. I did find a blogger who says she has used these heaters up to 9000 feet, but they sometimes have issues with supplying enough oxygen- so I guess that means I may need to have a few more windows open.

I know it sounds like I am trying "too hard" to be efficient, but that is my nature as my home is also "off-grid", so it is how I think. I cannot help it.

[tpi]

I dry camp quite a bit and I'm thrilled to have the AC. There are often inexpensive options en route with electric. State parks, Passport America, etc. Making a special trip to grab some altitude (cooler) can well use more fuel than paying for an electric site.

If you have two or more open roof vents, I'd install Fantastic Fans and set them to extract air. Open windows near you and enjoy a nice breeze. IMO using the existing vent system to provide ventilation is somewhat acting like a heater-vents up near the roof and ducting in enclosed space. As Chris Bryant posted, if using that idea, use them to exhaust. But at least in my case ducted vents would be of minimal benefit. All you really need is roof fans extracting air and opening nearby windows.

[Bill_Satellite]

I am not sure why the naysayers post the most often and as quickly as possible but it sounds like you have a great plan. I wish you get success. We have spend many months in some of the areas I suspect you plan to travel and we never once needed any kind of A/C. However, realistically, the climate is changing, the average temps are rising and the weather we consider to be normal is frequently not normal. I believe you are on the right track and I think you will need, occasionally, some form of A/C. The swamp cooler idea should be all you need but I would not abandon all form of mechanical cooling.
There are a number of catalytic heaters that should take care of your heating needs and some can be recessed into the wall so clearance should not be an issue. You just have to ensure good ventilation to ensure you don't die while seeking Nirvana! I highly encourage you to move forward with what appears to me to be my dream life. If you have questions about specifics I would recommend that you post these as individual questions (i.e. How do I get fresh water while parked on the side of mountain (grin)) and try to filter out those posts that provide no help and seek out those who have actual real life experience.
Please keep us up to date. I don't camp like you plan to camp but I have been traveling full time since 1997 so I might be able to find an answer to some questions you have yet to consider asking.

[n7bsn]

Chris Bryant wrote:
The trouble with the wave type heaters is they do not heat the air, they heat whatever is in front of them, so I believe any heat transfer via fans to the holding tanks is going to be negligible.
I would be tempted to use the ceiling ducting for exhaust using a Fantastic fan. It would be very quiet.

I'd listen to Chris, he has forgotten more about RVs then any 100 other of us on this forum know

As for the Cat heater, Olympian used to make a thermostatically controlled heater, the "ET series", I had an ET-6100 in one rig and an ET-8100 in another. Standby current draw was 0.05 amp, ignition current was about 3 amps for about 3 seconds. I really loved those for boon-docking.
I've looked around and have seen one (recently) on eBay.

[Bluebeard]

I just read about blue flame heaters- an Ah HA moment. Now if I can find one that is narrow enough to let my slide, slide by. Having a thermostat would be cool, but that appears to only be a feature on a heater that would most likely blast me out of there with TOO MUCH heat.

[Chris_Bryant]

The trouble with the wave type heaters is they do not heat the air, they heat whatever is in front of them, so I believe any heat transfer via fans to the holding tanks is going to be negligible.
I would be tempted to use the ceiling ducting for exhaust using a Fantastic fan. It would be very quiet.

[2oldman]

Bluebeard wrote:
3. Has anyone ever considered setting up a mini drainback solar hydronic system on the roof to preheat the water for the hot water heater?

I guess if you're really into projects like this, it would help some. But propane isn't all that expensive.

[Bluebeard]

I NEVER go to humid areas. Never. Where I live the humidity on a "moist day" is 30% and I mostly travel to high elevation mountainous areas. No east coast for me.

[gbopp]

IF, you travel to a humid area, I don't think you will be satisfied with the performance of the swamp cooler.

[Bluebeard]

I am not too concerned about resale value. All the other campers I have bought in the past, I have given to my brother's in law's; they get all my "hand me downs" So resale isn't that important to me and I bought this one for a song and it was in great shape.

As far as personal modification, there really isn't much I can do as there isn't much to this trailer; I am just looking for ways to make it a bit more efficient.

[Bluebeard]

Vulcan- removing the ac isn't that big of a deal. Literally a few screws and disconnect the wires and off it comes.

As far as solar is concerned, I've got that covered with some panels (room for more panels if AC is gone) and 2 6v Rolls Surette AGM batteries (don't have room for any more in battery box).

The solar hot water isn't really NEEDED, but it would be cool to have and it wouldn't cost that much to do.

[n7bsn]

You already have three roof vents, why create another.
Power is available (12V) to at least two, and I think all three.

Solar electric and more batteries makes more sense then hauling all the extra water weight for solar hydro
AGM batteries fit quite nicely in the forward landing-legs/storage area.

Remember that too extensive a "personalization" modification will hurt resale value, and you will be selling it someday. OK that took 10 years for us and our 24-5n, but....