I'd like to take a poll of sorts

[Lindan n Jim]

Your informal poll is very interesting to us. We are negotiating right now on a replacement for our '92 Pace Arrow. We definitely want to go solar on the replacement rig and are debating capacities, sizes, brands and all of the other details we will have to resolve before we pick up a screwdriver. Plus, cheap bastard that I am, we also have to discuss finances.

We will continue to keep an eye on further postings to help us decide. Thanks for doing this. Great timing!

[Unicorn Driver]

Originally Posted by ByeTheWay

I run my fridge on LP. My Freezer (which is separate) runs either on AC or DC. I use lights and TV several hours per day. If needed I run my furnace in the morning to warm the coach. If I need air conditioning I run the 7500 watt Generator. When it comes to water be thrifty. Never flush with Fresh Water, it such a waste.
I have solar: 900 watts on the roof, and 672ah battery bank. We shower daily, flush the toilet after every use, just like we were in a park. I belong to a group that shares boondocking spots in the US & Canada. The spots are updated continually and available for download (only) 4-5 times per year. Days End is the name of the group which is part of the Escapees RV Club.

Boondocking is why I choose to drive an older rig. I don't need or want an Electric Fridge or two toilets with a Macerator Pump on 1 or both. (which I'm told takes about a gallon of water for each flush). I dump, fill, & do laundry at a full hook-up park, then I'm ready for up to 2 more weeks of boondocking.

Hi,

You say never to flush with fresh water, do you keep your grey water in a jug or something for this?

[Unicorn Driver]

I finally have time to post properly.

Along with my 200w portable solar I have 232mah of 6 volt batteries to which I added a Trimetric battery monitor, to me this is the key along with LED lights.

I have reflectix shades I made up for each window, this helps keeping the coach cooler during the day and warmer at night.

For running the Tv/blu ray and inflating air bed (if I have guests) I have a 400w pure sine wave inverter which I can connect to a 12volt socket connected to the house batteries or connect directly to them.

I have a 65gallon water tank (plus 6gallon hot water) and 50 gallon black and grey each. I have 15 gallons of portable tanks which I can add water to the system via the winterizing system. I put a basin in the kitchen sink which I can either dump down the toilet or outside. We have gone 6 days without dumping and could of gone for a few more days.

Also I have two 10,000mah USB power bricks for charging phones and kindles. Also have 2 usb fans which can be powered from the power bricks, these help a lot.

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by 1stMH

Hi,

You say never to flush with fresh water, do you keep your grey water in a jug or something for this?

Yep. Gray water is my Achilles also. I'm only good for 4-5 days. I carry a 25 gal Tote with wheels in the bed of the F150. It has a handle that drops over the trailer hitch on the F150 and tows (slowly) to the dump station. I use this a lot, even when camping in state parks that have only partial hookups. Saves having to pack up and move the whole rig to go dump gray water. I made two trips with it the last time we boondocked at Navajo Lake SP. Took about 30 min.

I'm not sure how long I can go on the black tank. I have two toilets, one gravity and one macerator. When we are boon docking, we just use the gravity, because I've been told the macerator uses a lot more water. I could, but really don't want to dump the black tank in the tote.

I carry 110 Gal water. I have looked into buying a collapsible water tank and 12V pump to transport water in the F150, if we were going to stay somewhere for a longer period. It would be feasible, just haven't had the need yet.

[Unicorn Driver]

Originally Posted by Scottybdivin

Yep. Gray water is my Achilles also. I'm only good for 4-5 days. I carry a 25 gal Tote with wheels in the bed of the F150. It has a handle that drops over the trailer hitch on the F150 and tows (slowly) to the dump station. I use this a lot, even when camping in state parks that have only partial hookups. Saves having to pack up and move the whole rig to go dump gray water. I made two trips with it the last time we boondocked at Navajo Lake SP. Took about 30 min.

I'm not sure how long I can go on the black tank. I have two toilets, one gravity and one macerator. When we are boon docking, we just use the gravity, because I've been told the macerator uses a lot more water. I could, but really don't want to dump the black tank in the tote.

I carry 110 Gal water. I have looked into buying a collapsible water tank and 12V pump to transport water in the F150, if we were going to stay somewhere for a longer period. It would be feasible, just haven't had the need yet.

110gallon of water is a really nice amount.

What size are your grey and black tank.

[6x16inside]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

I boondock in the tulies -----no solar just a 4kw gen to recharge dual batteries and run microwave.

Use propane to run fridge, water heater, furnace and cook with plus a Weber Smokey Joe BBQ

Typically gone for a week


So OP........you started this 'poll' but didn't provide 'How you do it' ?????

Because as you should well know, I haven't gotten to "do it".
Unless my fully furnished bedroom usage IN my driveway plugged in to this little rental hole counts as boondocking and we all know it doesn't.

[6x16inside]

Originally Posted by Lindan n Jim

Your informal poll is very interesting to us. We are negotiating right now on a replacement for our '92 Pace Arrow. We definitely want to go solar on the replacement rig and are debating capacities, sizes, brands and all of the other details we will have to resolve before we pick up a screwdriver. Plus, cheap bastard that I am, we also have to discuss finances.

We will continue to keep an eye on further postings to help us decide. Thanks for doing this. Great timing!

LOL, you're welcome. I kinda had to now that I have found out I bought a MH 9 months ago and barring normal things to do to a rig having kept me from cutting the umbilical cord, have found out I am a complete moron for not knowing what runs on what and how and for how long, etc. I personally wouldn't die but my two "boys" (17 and 24) might complain here and there with no puter or ability to mic his chili frito pie, LOL

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by 1stMH

110gallon of water is a really nice amount.

What size are your grey and black tank.

65/45. Probably should be 75/35, but I think they err on the side of the black tank capacity

[Reed Cundiff]

Always read all posts before posting ourselves.

Have been boondocking primarily for nine years:

Have sufficient solar (1400 W) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (9+kW-hrs) that we have not plugged in or used our 1 kW generator except once in several years with 5th. We did plug in at beach in Yucatan with 19’
Roadtrek during heatwave (415 W solar and 4.5 kW if LFP). Grey and black water are primary limitations on stay (80 gallons fresh and 40 gallons each grey/Black). Outdoor showers help. We do carry 2 to 4 six gallon water cans so we can go to a water point and refill.

We generally spend summers above 7000’ in mountain west. Also purchased Aluminet sail shades which seem to make a very large difference in heat mitigation. A lot of manufacturers sell rigs with LED lights. It is simple to retrofit older rigs.

Use of 12 V fans (about 20 W) helps mitigate heat quite nicely
Reed and Elaine

[Reed Cundiff]

Two days of snow, 15 F outside. OK, we finally plugged in with our 5th wheel. With luck and end of bronchitis we hope to be on way to Yucatan this following week in Roadtrek.
Reed and Elaine

[Reed Cundiff]

Have to be a bit more OCD on battery monitor. At 16 F the furnace was running, had 129 W of lamps keeping boot and battery enclosure warm, using two heating pads etc and snow on panels (fun to scrape at 77 year) and getting under 809 W- hrs with an output of 3000 leads to deficit

[ByeTheWay]

Originally Posted by 1stMH

Hi,

You say never to flush with fresh water, do you keep your grey water in a jug or something for this?

Sorry for the delay, been w/o internet.

Yes. I use "Purex" bottles from the laundry area of Walmart. They have a spout with a plastic insert (so that the cap drains back into the bottle when the lid is on) I remove the insert, (it comes right out with a little force) which gives a larger opening. Then we pour the dishwater into the jug and use it for flushing. We do not use old coffee or tea as it looks like someone did not flush if left in the toilet bowl.

I also use the Purex bottles as a urinal. And dispose of it down the toilet with one flush instead of several. I catch the warm up water in the shower and use it just like fresh. When plugged in at a camp, we do our shopping and wash all veggies. Also do the laundry.
We use Fresh water for rinsing dishes, which become our dish water, then becomes our flush water. When in this mode, we can go 2 weeks, with a quick daily shower.

[Unicorn Driver]

Originally Posted by ByeTheWay

Sorry for the delay, been w/o internet.

Yes. I use "Purex" bottles from the laundry area of Walmart. They have a spout with a plastic insert (so that the cap drains back into the bottle when the lid is on) I remove the insert, (it comes right out with a little force) which gives a larger opening. Then we pour the dishwater into the jug and use it for flushing. We do not use old coffee or tea as it looks like someone did not flush if left in the toilet bowl.

I also use the Purex bottles as a urinal. And dispose of it down the toilet with one flush instead of several. I catch the warm up water in the shower and use it just like fresh. When plugged in at a camp, we do our shopping and wash all veggies. Also do the laundry.
We use Fresh water for rinsing dishes, which become our dish water, then becomes our flush water. When in this mode, we can go 2 weeks, with a quick daily shower.

That's a great idea.

I will keep a couple of laundry detergent bottles for this purpose.

Thanks for the tip.

[RV-Writer]

Have been boondocking about 45 days now. 2 adults.
Dump every six or seven days.
90 gal fresh + 10 in hot water heater
45/45 black/grey tanks
Shower every 3 days and clean up with wet wipes in between and washing with washcloths

When we shower we save warm up / excess water in a bucket for flushing.

No solar so we run generator 2 hours twice a day to charge batteries, run microwave and toaster and electric hot water heater, and charge our electronics. Very little television use.

We seem to fill up black tank before anything and have to dump.

We buy gallon jugs of water for drinking and cooking though I have no aversion to drinking from fresh water tank.

We converted our most used lights to led and bought a couple of battery powered stick up lights for bathroom and over kitchen sink.

Use our car sometimes to listen to satellite radio and charge my devices and keep warm/out of wind.

Usually dont have light on while sitting outside. Use the fire logs in the firepit for some light or warmth. Last about 2-3 hours.

Fridge on propane. I turn it off at night before bed to sleep better without a fire worry with these norcolds. it also keeps my food cold and keeps fins from icing up.

Put trash in walmart grocery sacks and throw them out whenever we go to the store or gas station etc... one or two sacks at each store or attraction we go to.

I love the smell of bacon so all cooking is done inside on our propane stove except sometimes we grill outside for fun. We do run a roof fan to keep moisture down or prevent smoke alarms going off.

We took out our icemaker and buy bags of ice for drinks.

We set our propane furnace at 68 degrees over night and it kicks in 2 or 3 times currently.

So far this is working out well except finding places to dump and get fresh water at a reasonable price. $15.00 at state park here in lake havasu. Heading to Yuma soon as wife is starting a nursing contract. Probably try to get into an RV park there or try to use BLM LTVA if close enough to yuma or the military base if we can get a spot while she is working.

Jim
Having a great time.