On 9/6/2012 7:05 AM, Anne Pearse Hocker wrote:
> Hi Mitch,
> I am doing some writing and photography (or trying) and use of a computer or iPad and cell phone (chargers) will be important, although I can scale back. I guess the generators will have to pick up the slack, but when moving around and not setting up base camp for an extended time, lifting and hauling those things, risk of theft, and adhering to specific daytime hours if necessary, is a big pain ( for me). Otherwise the expense would not be worth it. Besides, I like the notion of solar power.
> I have friends who have a motorhome with solar and they use their slow cooker to prepare dinner as they are driving down the road. By the time I've taken care of all the critters, and set up camp I often can barely open a can.
>
> Anne
>
A cell phone will charge on 12V and so will a laptop with a special
adapter. Using AC current from a DC source is like pouring water with
shaky hands. Everytime you make a conversion you lose a lot of juice.
A slow cooker uses only a trickle of electricity. My dinky one is only
80 watts, and their motor home is charging as it goes down the road.
You can actually use a dinky inverter, set the pot in the sink and head
out. But the power is coming from the MH engine, not so much from the
solar. I sometimes set the crock pot on the floor of the truck with a
dinky inverter and drool my way down the road as it smells better and
better.
Another hint: I have only the one Fantastic vent, in the living area.
If I open the back windows and close the front ones, and run the fan, it
cools a lot faster than with all the windows and vents open.
The fun of solar is partly learning how to use electricity, but a lot of
it is finding ways to avoid using it. Also, the banks of batteries are
heavy if they are really going to deliver amp hours, and your trailer
may not be able to carry that extra and substantial weight. The
sunlight is free, but the engineering to collect and store it is
expensive. One of my fantasies is to have a truck with a solar battery
bank on it and a permanent mount for the generator.
I have seen 12v fridges installed in boats that have huge amounts of
insulation. Partly they are customized to the odd interior shapes of
boats, but I wonder if your freezer would be improved by a jacket of
foam. It would have to leave the cooling tubes vented. So, to continue
the fantasy, your truck would have the freezer built in too, with
serious insulation added.
Happy Trails,
Daisy
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