Comments on: Resource Conservation

By: Darris

Darris — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 03:23:40 +0000

Excellent tips! Couldn’t have laid it out any better than that!

By: Charlie Bello

Charlie Bello — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:38:53 +0000

good post - I am living in my 30-footer for almost two months now and am very conscious of all things conservation - helps to have the view of other full-timers. http://chinesebuffalo.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/a-busmans-holiday/ Charlie

By: Riveted

Riveted — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:24:15 +0000

@Amanda: Thanks so much for your feedback! I’ve bookmarked your blog now too and will follow along!

Okay so to be clear “a few weeks with dumping” is optimistic. I think our extreme has been 12 days at Contorta Flat on Crescent Lake (photos here: http://www.riveted-blog.com/2010/08/contorta-flat.html) in Oregon. We were parked on the side of a lake, the “campground” had no amenities at all. Not even water. We brought extra water, and we added maybe 12 gallons of fresh water to our tank. We were sailing (very wet sailing in the Hobie) on the lake every day (lake showers) so we only took a few very minimal showers during those 12 days (TMI). I think if we’d had campground showers to use we could have a bit longer for sure. 🙂

By: Riveted

Riveted — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:15:48 +0000

@Michael Blakely: In our Airstream we have the front bedroom layout. Our batteries (fully sealed AGM batteries, okay to have inside) are under our bed. Four of them are along the outside side of the wall that divides the outside storage from the under-the-bed storage, and the other two are on the inside side of that divider wall. -Laura

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 13:19:11 +0000

Thanks so much for this informative post! My husband & I are only a few weeks into living in our 25ft. airstream and are still learning about our tank capacity, electric consumption and all that stuff. We have the exact same size tanks as you so now I have something to aim for (a few weeks without dumping- wow!). I really appreciate the dish washing tips as I have been struggling to figure out the best way to get them clean with minimal water. Tried the bowl method this morning and it worked great. I would have never thought to dump the dish water in the toilet but since the grey always fills up before the black it makes sense every once in a while. I’ve been following your blog for over a year now and am in love with your photos and all the handy links to cool products you post. We’re (slowly) making our way west right now and can’t wait to visit some of the places you have been. Thanks again for the tips as well as the inspiration.

By: Michaelpblakely

Michaelpblakely — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 01:43:07 +0000

We’re renovating our 34 ft Classic Limited and we’re looking at installing Solar Panels, just wondering where your batteries are located?

By: Riveted

Riveted — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:35:08 +0000

@Nina: My mistake. We were at Sea & Sand RV Park and I thought those front row spots were dry camping spots, but I just looked it up and I don’t think they are. We weren’t using the hookups this trip because we were in “test” mode with some of our new low power appliances (and Kevin’s handy volt meter). 🙂

By: Nina

Nina — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:19:25 +0000

We use alot of those techniques too. Also recently installed the Oxygenetics showerhead and love it. Wrote a bit about our water conservation here: http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/going-water-green-conserving-water-on-the-road/ By the way where did you boondock in Depoe Bay? I didn't know there were any spots there! Nina

By: Riveted

Riveted — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 18:02:17 +0000

@Fogmonkey: Thanks! We had our solar installed by AM Solar in Springfield, OR. They did a fantastic job. Feel free to email us if you have any more specific questions.

@Cyrus: Yes that’s a great way to conserve power as well. We used to have a stovetop espresso maker (vintage from Italy) that we used all the time…but then we got spoiled by the Nespresso at home and since our system can handle the power it uses, we now use that all the time in the Airstream (with a french press as backup). But the hand cranked burr grinder!? That’s some serious “in the momentness” isn’t it? Awesome.

-Laura

By: Cyrus

Cyrus — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:52:53 +0000

Good stuff! For our required dose of coffee we rely on an AeroPress and hand-cranked burr grinder. Makes fantastic coffee and doesn’t use an ounce of electricity. Does require patience and use of fine motor skills though.. but is good excuse to get in the moment.

It doesn’t save you a ton of energy.. but electric coffee makers typically need 1000+ watts of immediate power.. and so you either need a serious inverter or generator to rely on those.