Staying Cool & Using Less Electricity

[Doggie]

I just set up camp in a National Forest (dispersed camping) and had a hard time finding a fairly level spot. As luck would have it, I was able to position my RV and level up in such a way that I have the sun hitting my solar panels in the morning and late afternoon, and my RV is mostly shaded during mid day heat.
This makes a big difference.
Also, I use a 75 Watt Rayovac Mini Power Inverter (About $5 on eBay if you can find one) to power my laptop, TV, cell phone charger and a small fan. This tiny inverter is far more efficient than my 1400 watt inverter.

[Doggie]

I just set up camp in a National Forest (dispersed camping) and had a hard time finding a fairly level spot. As luck would have it, I was able to position my RV and level up in such a way that I have the sun hitting my solar panels in the morning and late afternoon, and my RV is mostly shaded during mid day heat.
This makes a big difference.
Also, I use a 75 Watt Rayovac Mini Power Inverter (About $5 on eBay if you can find one) to power my laptop, TV, cell phone charger and a small fan. This tiny inverter is far more efficient than my 1400 watt inverter.

[zetron]

Hi doggie: I would suggest you go directly from 12 volts dc to 19.5 volts dc (or whatever it takes) for your computer. This is far more efficent than going from dc to ac to dc again.

I agree that the smaller inverters are much better than the large central one in many situations. I have many small inverters and one 1200 watt Heart inverter.

My dedicated small inverters: low pressure sodium vapor security lights, ultrasonic nebulizer, hepa air filter (for emergency wildfire smoke situations), printer, scanner,copier, ac to 5 volt dc PCMCIA card, external hard drive.

I try to run evrything I can off of 12 volt dc. With 6 solar panels and a wind generator I ended up with a $5.00/month electricity bill for the last 4 months in the Phoenix area. The swamp cooler makes air conditioning obsolete in low humidity areas.

I am up in the kaibab National Forest right now.

David/zetron

[Doggie]

Hi David. I use so little electricity it isn't funny, now that I do most of my computer work on my laptop. I have a surge protector plugged into the 75 Watt Mini Rayovac Inverter and can run my laptop, phone charger, fan and Canon printer all at once if I need to.
I have thought about getting a swamp cooler, and I'm still thinking of adding some kind of freezer capacity if I can afford it. I'm by Wells NV right now, slowly making my way up to SD for some hunting and fishing.

[WaveMaker]

Have Eather of yous seen this model SwampCooler
http://www.swamp-cooler.com/12vcombo.html
im thinking about one of them, and wondering how good they work on the Camper, and how long the battery will last {for real} hes says like 55hrs hehe i run 3 - 12volt batteries, and have a generator just in case... i do want to get a few solar panels, but just cant right now...

[Doggie]

Hi Dean. I haven't had any experience with swamp coolers but I would be interested to know. I see quite a few advertised on eBay and will probably end up buying one.

[TXiceman]

Swamp coolers or evaporative coolers work very well in a dry climate. I grew up in west Texas and the house was only cooled by swamp coolers. All you run is a blower and a small water pump to circulate the water over the pads.

Ken

[Doggie]

Thanks Ken. There is a big difference in price between the small portable coolers I see on eBay and the TurboKool or even the "Swampy" which Dean provided a link to.
It appears that the Fujitronic FH776 WhirlWind - Swamp Cooler, Fan, Humidifier, and Ionic Air Purifier shown at http://www.air-n-water.com/product/FH776.html would be more than adequate for a 35' RV in an area with low humidity.
Any other comments?

[WaveMaker]

I like the idea that i can pick it up the guy lives here, so i can atleast look at it before i buy it

[Doggie]

That's a big advantage Dave. I'm full timing it, mostly in remote areas, and have gotten used to buying things online and having them shipped.
I spoke with the people at Adobe Air in Phoenix and although they just stopped making the WisperCool P300, they say they are still available and they do work. The big thing as far as I'm concerned is they only draw .4 amps. I think that's what I'm going to get.
I highly recommend solar panels to anyone. I have a 100 watt panel and a 75 watt panel, mounted flat on the roof, and they provide me with more juice than I can usually use. That's why a swamp cooler that will work off a Rayovac mini power inverter makes good sense for me.

[Ray,IN]

Doggie, That cooler has a capacity of 350 ft, it says. Assuming your RV is 8' wide inside,and 8' tall inside, that means the length of the cooling area(cubic) must be 5.5'. If I'm wrong and it really means 350 linear ft. then it should cool a RV 43' long. That is an awfuly low price to cool/humify what would then be 2,752 cubic ft. If I'm approaching this wrong please enlighten me.

[Cubey]

Wal-Mart currently is selling a small 12v swamp cooler (with 120v adapter) for $50. At the local one here it's near the window air conditioners in that section of the store. I'm tempted to get one myself for boondocking since the AC I have for my Shasta is a normal 120v window AC. A swamp cooler wouldn't do much around here as there's high humidity (48% right now according to weather.com) but in other places it would be more useful.