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Thanx guys! I spent the better part of the day reading about PV's and inverters. It looks like an area that could really bog me down if I get too into it (sine waves, efficiency, conversions for watts/amps/voltages, etc..).
Financially, it seems a little out of reach when I actually start prioritizing. Truthfully, as long as I am able to charge a laptop, some rechargable batteries and a light, that is enough for me. My digital entertainment is actually a fairly low priority.
I'm considering the merits of refrigeration, which will consume some power (I guess my options are compressor or propane). If I could find the right solar set-up, I'd rather have a compressor fridge. I plan on being many miles from any stores for weeks to months on end, so refrigeration seems almost like a must since I won't have access to ice for coolers.
Anyone figure a way around that?
How about throwing it in the river to cool? It may not be as ice cold as what you're used to, but you'll get used to the new cold soon enough and it will taste just fine. I know the old timers used to use an evaporation cooler, where they would hang a sheet in a circle and wet it and the evaporation will cool the air inside the sheet quite well. This is also good to do over windows for "A/C." This would not work in a humid climate though--the drier the better.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,164,711 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyVan
Sure, that makes sense. If I'm ever blessed enough to get out of town, I may do the same.
BTW if anyone's interested, I found a forum thread (85 pages long!) about a guy who has lived in his van, mostly in the desert for over 20 years. I'm on page 27 but it's seriously a very cool thread so it's been worth it so far.
Thanx for the cooling tips Stepka! I'm so excited to get out on the road. That'll be the best way to alleviate most of my concerns, confront them head on, as needed. The pragmatist in me says "Wait a little while longer. Prepare more. Spring is a better time to launch. Learn what you can NOW" The anticipation in me says "GO GO GO!!". And finally, the reality of the entire situation is "Life has always and will always turn on you with little notice. So plan for spring, but be ready to go TOMORROW." Having a thread like this is a great way to find the balance between those forces.
I think waiting for spring will give you time to prepare. In my opinion urban vanliving, like I do, doesn't need a whole lot of prep but starting off in warm weather may be better for comfort.
As far all this goes, I always remember people like the pioneers who started out with very little, improvised as they went along and created a nation. I don't want to create a nation but I think the same adventurous and intelligent blood runs through my veins and if I have the confidence, there's a lot I can accomplish.
I'd like to throw up some photos of my van as I'm tearing it apart and getting it ready to become a home. When I click the "insert image" button, it asks for a URL. Is the only way to put pis on here through a third party site? Or can I use the html from the photo? I don't know if I phrased that right about the html. I mean by going into the source code and copy/paste it directly. I like the idea of showing what a newbie is doing step by step, so it can be better critiqued and designed. For people that stumble onto this forum as I did, it could give them something to go on (or something to learn from). If anybody knows, do tell! I'm new to forums.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,164,711 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vandidact
I'd like to throw up some photos of my van as I'm tearing it apart and getting it ready to become a home. When I click the "insert image" button, it asks for a URL. Is the only way to put pis on here through a third party site? Or can I use the html from the photo? I don't know if I phrased that right about the html. I mean by going into the source code and copy/paste it directly. I like the idea of showing what a newbie is doing step by step, so it can be better critiqued and designed. For people that stumble onto this forum as I did, it could give them something to go on (or something to learn from). If anybody knows, do tell! I'm new to forums.
Thanx!
The way I do it is to upload to Photobucket.com , and then copy that url and paste it here using the IMG button.
There are a coupla cheap paperbacks over on Amazon, about living in a camper on cheap (or free) land. I bought one of them, and will order the other. I like the idea of living scott-free, but owning the land and shelter outright. This would be a good way to start out for us, with say, a 30' used RV parked on a couple of cheap acres. Just set up an outhouse, a bath house, and a camp kitchen (our idea of that is a small building to hold cooking gear and a table for eating). That way, it keeps all the mess out of the camper, and eliminates a lot of the hook-ups for the camper. Cheap used campers are a dime a dozen, BUT they often have bad plumbing and/or 12 V systems. This way, we could care less about the camper's systems, as most all of that would be done in another small building.
We are beginning to look at our move as a PROCESS rather than an EVENT. We'd like 2 smaller parcels of land -- one to live on, and another within easy driving distance as a woodlot for heating cordwood. We could have the camper towed up there to the first parcel, later to be the woodlot. We could spend the decent weather (April through late October in northern New England) living in the camper, taking our time looking for the second parcel (for the home and gardens), and not being so rushed. Then, back down home again for the winter, to be with family.
After a couple years, we figure we'd have a decently-cleaned up woodlot with paths and small buildings for tools, with the camper still there if we wanted to sleep over. Meanwhile, we'd have found our better, homestead parcel and could be well on our way to having a real small home built on it, with gardens and orchards started.
Another plus to the 2-parcel system is that if the USDA brings NAIS (Animal ID) to town, we'd just move any livestock over to the woodlot parcel, and not have to worry about our home being GPS'd into their database. That stuff really irks me.
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