Shortly after beginning this blog I'd put together a list of items needed to get my trailer Boondock ready in work in progress. At that time I didn't have the funds to get the big ticket items and went for the essentials instead. That was over a year ago and I've since saved/earmarked the funds for those items. Last September I was about to purchase them to begin upgrading the trailer until someone had stolen the propane tank off my rig (well this sucks). I decided then to postpone those purchases until at which time I hit the road. No sense giving thieves more to steal. This had the unintended consequence of learning what I really needed, and saving me a little money too.
I replaced the stolen tank with one of those cool new see-thru ones. It's about $70 more than your std steel tanks, but the payoff is I can see when I'm running out. I realize a gauge costs less and tells me the same thing, but this weighs much less than a steel one. Less weight means less gas used to haul my trailer. I got to break in the tank last year and learned how much propane I'll actually use. I used a little over a half gallon in 6 days, and that was with me purposely wasting it too. I didn't need the 2nd tank or new holder any longer which saved me $120.
I purchased the Vortex fan last year, but haven't installed it yet. I'm waiting to get the Fan-tastic Vent fan and have them both professionally put in. I could do it, but won't. I had a very bad experience working with electricity when I was younger and now avoid it. Although in retrospect I think I wasted the $50 on it because I don't like how it doesn't let in as much light as the Fan-tastic Vent does. I think I'll give it away later.
Here's a list of what I still need to buy, and what it would cost me today versus a year ago. What isn't on the list but still may be needed is a power inverter. I do have money set aside to cover it but am waiting until I get everything else installed. I'll find out if I really need it then since it's not a hard thing to install.
Assorted Items
$132. Fantastic Vent 4000R (down from $140)$199. 10x LED Light Bulbs (up from $180)
Solar Power
$210. 2x Trojan T-105 6v Batteries
$398. 2x AM OM100 Solar Panels (down from $850)
$319. Blue Sky Solar Boost 3024iL Charge Control System (down from $340)
$168. Blue Sky IPNPRO-S Battery Monitoring System (down from $240)
$1000. Honda EU2000i Portable Generator (down from $1300)
Steve, that vortex fan - is it that little 6" circular fan? If so and you really are going to give it away - hang on to it. I was looking at those as an option to exhaust the kitty litter space under my dinette seat. I was going to cut a hole in the side of the van and run a switch I can turn on and off when the cats poot.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of bad times with electricity - I'll tell you. Electric current is the only thing in life I fear. I had a VCR toss me 6 feet when I was a kid. The other day I went to plug the van in and the cord zapped the crap out of me. The cord is still laying in the yard - that was two days ago, that's how solid my fear is.
I labeled the post "vortex" so you can search the blog for it now. Something I knew I should've done before. Looks like I've got me a new weekend project. Anyways, there's a picture of it there. This is actually a ceiling vent fan, meant to replace the lower half of an RV vent.
DeleteFunny about that huh. I understand it so much better now and probably could work with it safely. I just won't any longer because of one bad experience.
Is the generator for A/C usage? Otherwise, it looks like you're set up for most everything else with 200 watts of solar panels (did I interpret that correctly?).
ReplyDeleteNot exclusively. I'm kind of a technophile and there'll be times when solar isn't enough. It's a case of better to have and not need than the other way around. 200 watts is correct, but I forgot how that translates into usable power.
DeleteThat's alotta techno and alotta philia!
ReplyDeleteYou really think so? I always thought it wasn't enough power based on the amount of daylight hours during the winters.
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