Anyone Live in an RV/Tiny House?

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by Insight for life

What will you do with all your cars lol?

The cars in my garage on here are all sold, actually (I just updated their names for clarity). I left them for others to see how they performed. Prius is the only car we currently have and the Sierra will make two.

[order99]

Originally Posted by vskid3

I would like to go propane-less like you (at least when on shore power). The biggest hurdle will probably be the water heater, which I believe is propane only. We'll have to see how much propane it ends up using and see if switching would be worth it. How do you like just using the toaster oven?
.

The toaster oven is easily the same size as the small gas oven below it, and I have an electric hotplate instead of the stovetop-works great. I would definitely recommend a crockpot for lots of 'fire-and-forget' recipes you can ignore while you spend the day at work and play...

I only use my own water heater as needed to save power(remember-can't insulate) and it takes 15 minutes to full temp with about 10 gallons. If your'e replacing yours for electric only I would recommend visiting an RV store to see if there is a Tankless available that won't pull enough watts to trip the breakers.

If some or all of your beds double as storage pods like mine did, I recommend getting rigid styrofoam to line the walls and floor under the bed lid-you can friction-fit them without glue, remove them at will and the difference to your mattress temp will be substantial. Also, check to see if you like the mattress-I like it firm but my Mom spread two sheets of Memory Foam under hers to make up for a lack of box springs...

Hope you're going to be as happy with yours as I am with mine!

[vskid3]

Toyhauler fell through, so we bought a fifth wheel instead. 2003 28' Keystone Cougar. I'm really glad we went with it over the toyhauler, it feels much more home-y and the slide out adds a ton of space. We just got it a couple days ago, so we still have a bit to go before we get everything moved in.


Pardon my crooked phone holding.

[vskid3]

Update time!
We've been living in the trailer since the beginning of March. Not really any complaints so far. Still trying to figure out the best furniture configuration and what we can keep or should get rid of. I've started a thread on EcoRenovator to document mods. Haven't done much yet besides Reflectix in most of the windows and LED lights to replace the most used 12v bulbs. Not sure how long we want to live in this particular trailer, so I don't want to go too crazy with mods at this point.

[IamIan]

What did you do for 'parking'.

Here in RI that alone is like ~$400+ per month.

[vskid3]

Ended up going with the military RV park. Its the closest to work and is the nicest and most secure feeling of all the others I've seen around here. Its kinda pricey, about $450 a month, but electric is included. You can get a one bedroom apartment for $100-200 more around here, but you generally have to pay for gas and electric. The cheapest RV park I found was $250 plus electric and most others were $300-350 plus electric. I think $100+ electric bills would be extremely possible during the summer, so really there's no price difference. That's not even factoring fuel costs. Most of the other parks are at least twice as far away from work.

[slowmover]

$100 at .11/kWh is my summer norm. But I must also run a dehumidifier.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

I currently live in a small apartment, about 270 or 280 sq.ft. (I'm more used to the metric system). Anyway, I've always liked motorhomes, and still consider to get one someday, but would also look at those camper modules meant to be attached to a truck bed. Never really cared about trailers, mostly because it's not legal to pull a camping trailer with a common driver license in my country regardless of its gross weight.

[slowmover]

Why would you want to get away from propane? That is the single system past water that allows for independence. No upside to it as stove, oven, water heater, furnace and refrigerator all run on it. It is the heart of an RV, literally.

And taxing the electrical system is NOT a good idea, IMO. These things are not built like houses when it comes to code. At the least I would replace circuit breakers if not converting to 50A.

The main problem is with the trailer design & construction of that type. The roof fails almost no matter what and moisture delaminates the walls. Just a matter of time. Lucky that you are in a dry climate as this is less apparent. It's happening, and don't believe others that it is not, or that repairs or coatings will prevent it. They do not. They only decrease the rate of disintegration.

What makes one like mine more desirable is that the roof pretty much won't wear out. Slide outs are the same problem as the roof as a hole in the side begins the warping of the structure. I would avoid them like the plague.

And a complete package of awnings makes it a bit more sun-friendly. Maxx Fans are the best recommendation for roof vent replacement, and consider a patio awning with screen room.

Reflectetix works well for me. Windows and interior side of roof vents. Buy the tall roll and plenty of the tape.

I'd spend more time on denying entrance to rats and mice over other concerns. Pack rats are among the worst. Mice need quarter inch openings and rats 1/2 inch. Bronze or stainless steel wool anywhere an opening can be found on underside. Hardware cloth epoxied in place, etc. Be sure to replace grey and black tank vent gaskets pronto.

I like having a travel trailer as my home, but maintenance per square foot is far higher than a fixed abode. Same for utilities. Which is why propane power is important. One can spend quite a lot of time off grid in non Texas summer weather. I find a two week goal more "practical" as it is in line with mobility. This is where solar electric starts to make sense. With a big enough system and inverter generator one could even run A/C to a degree. But I couldn't say I'd want to spend that money on that 5er of yours as it is closer to being timed out.

Look forward to more. Plenty of great threads for you on RV Campgrounds, RV Camping, RV Rentals, RV Parks, RV Resorts - Woodalls on any subject.

If you really want to "save" then get a 2003-early 2004 CTD truck like mine. A really sweet example for sale in AZ right now. 2WD, manual and looks like new at 100k miles. Already has right hitch for yours. Note my fuel costs in signature at $2.70/gl.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Why would you want to get away from propane? That is the single system past water that allows for independence. No upside to it as stove, oven, water heater, furnace and refrigerator all run on it. It is the heart of an RV, literally.

Some sort of propane-powered co-generation setup for heating and electric power might be a good feature to optimize the energy-efficiency of the trailer. Heat recovered from a genset can be used to heat water for the shower and eventually also to power the fridge instead of using propane directly for that, considering that many fridges used in trailers operate thru a heat absorption principle instead of the compression of a gas like a home fridge.