Kevin D Pem
RVF 1K Club
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2020
- Messages
- 3,954
- Location
- AZ
- RV Year
- 1984
- RV Make
- Alpinelite
- RV Length
- 26'
- TOW/TOAD
- 2016 Ram 1500
- Fulltimer
- Yes
I am a big fan of the Fox fire books. History museums and such, I just can't pass up a visit. I start this way because I get very frustrated when asked how much solar one needs. How you live is a good part of how much you might need.
Those people that lived the whole hog life that were featured in the books above lived sparse to be sure. I actually know people today that live that life during the summer. To them 250 watts is more than they use. They of course have a rig they call home waiting for them for winter months. Most have at least 500watts on their winter rig.
Others have over 500watts on summer rigs and are connected to the grid in the winter. The first time I realized that modern RVs are very waist full was when I moved from a 1973 bumper pull to a 1995 adventurer MH. Everything about that RV used at least twice the energy of my 73. I was surprised to say the least. I figured the newer the more tech they would become. I figured the Items I had outfitted the old trailer to make it mine could be transferred to the new and all would be fine. I however spent the next year making changes to the MH to bring it to my standards. Everything I did was bigger to handle the energy requirements of the MH.
I still have the MH but I gave up on making it into a small carbon foot print way of living type vehicle. Over the next several years I went to experiment mode and got several RVs looking for something that did my conscience good. The older seemed to be better when thinking carbon footprint. I had to compromise on my desire to make the least disturbance to the environment.
To avoid poisoning the environment I advocate used panels, to get the most out of end of life replacement panels. I chose a 83 Alpinelite 5th because it meets my energy saving requirements, and was in it's day a well built rig. I found that the larger your solar bank the more you could do with electric appliances, reducing carbon fossil fuel requirements. If I had more places for panels I would have more than the 2000 watts that I do have. I would have more than the 600 amp hr of batteries that I do have(24v system).
Modern is good as long as energy use is lower, in my book. I am not interested in glitter, it must function and use less fuel to get my attention. You can follow me if you want but doing so may make for a long day of travel, because less fuel is used to get to my end location by going slow but legal speed.
What I am really saying is that to benefit from my advice on solar you must desire to think more like myself. Or make a list of what you are trying for so we don't go back and forth trying to define a system.
This rant is more based on experiences in my winter neighborhood rather than questions for this forum. I just spent hours for nothing as my time was not considered important. Sorry you all had to hear it, thanks for being a willing ear.
Those people that lived the whole hog life that were featured in the books above lived sparse to be sure. I actually know people today that live that life during the summer. To them 250 watts is more than they use. They of course have a rig they call home waiting for them for winter months. Most have at least 500watts on their winter rig.
Others have over 500watts on summer rigs and are connected to the grid in the winter. The first time I realized that modern RVs are very waist full was when I moved from a 1973 bumper pull to a 1995 adventurer MH. Everything about that RV used at least twice the energy of my 73. I was surprised to say the least. I figured the newer the more tech they would become. I figured the Items I had outfitted the old trailer to make it mine could be transferred to the new and all would be fine. I however spent the next year making changes to the MH to bring it to my standards. Everything I did was bigger to handle the energy requirements of the MH.
I still have the MH but I gave up on making it into a small carbon foot print way of living type vehicle. Over the next several years I went to experiment mode and got several RVs looking for something that did my conscience good. The older seemed to be better when thinking carbon footprint. I had to compromise on my desire to make the least disturbance to the environment.
To avoid poisoning the environment I advocate used panels, to get the most out of end of life replacement panels. I chose a 83 Alpinelite 5th because it meets my energy saving requirements, and was in it's day a well built rig. I found that the larger your solar bank the more you could do with electric appliances, reducing carbon fossil fuel requirements. If I had more places for panels I would have more than the 2000 watts that I do have. I would have more than the 600 amp hr of batteries that I do have(24v system).
Modern is good as long as energy use is lower, in my book. I am not interested in glitter, it must function and use less fuel to get my attention. You can follow me if you want but doing so may make for a long day of travel, because less fuel is used to get to my end location by going slow but legal speed.
What I am really saying is that to benefit from my advice on solar you must desire to think more like myself. Or make a list of what you are trying for so we don't go back and forth trying to define a system.
This rant is more based on experiences in my winter neighborhood rather than questions for this forum. I just spent hours for nothing as my time was not considered important. Sorry you all had to hear it, thanks for being a willing ear.
