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Fridgerkators
No camping trip is completely satisfying without Cold Beer (Or Dr Pepper, in my case) and a good burnt steak. This requires refrigeration. (well, at least pre burn, in the case of the steak)
The simplest and most obvious non energy consuming way to do this is with an old fashioned Coleman style cooler.
But, I LOVE my fridge. It doesn't require being replenished with ice, constant cleaning out and carrying back and forth.
I have a 3 way fridge, meaning it can be powered by 110v AC, 12v DC or Eric Clapton's friend, Propane, again. If I have 110v, you bet your sweet bippy it gets set on 110 and run that way. It NEVER is run on 12v when just sitting for regular use.
On the rare occasion I am making a long drive, it is set on 12v and is essentially run of my car battery charging system. When doing this though, the power that would normally be happily charging your house system is sucked into the refrigerator.
When boon docking, it is run strictly from propane. Now, the concept of getting things cool by setting the vessel on fire is still a strange one to me. I still don't exactly understand how this works. And it is not important. I know it does, and frankly, of all three setting available, the propane option works the best.
Some of the newer fridges have an electric pre heater and ignition. They do consume power whether you want them to or not. I am fortunate that I have an older one, and this "feature" never interferes with my battery usage. This will one day change though. My fridge is 26 years old, and will eventually give up the ghost. When this happens, I will try to find another older one, but most likely, will just install an Ice Box or additional Aux. battery set up strictly for the fridge pre heaters. This will be done with MORE solar.
Wet Stuff. I do have a traditional 15 gallon fresh water holding tank, a kitchen sink and drain and an electric pump to get the stuff out of the faucet. I also have a standard manual lever type pump that uses NO power at all, only what my arm can produce. This gets used when I am in conservation mode. The electric pump is small and consumes very little juice, so I prefer to use it, and most times do.
I have no city water hook up, so getting water into the tank requires either a hose bib close by, and I pour water in via standard fresh water hose, that's easy!
OR, if I HAVE to use the tank, I have a battery powered Shower that does double duty as a water pump to fill the tank. I fill a large container (5 gal.) with water and pump out of it. It takes 3 loads to do this and is often un needed when only staying a couple days. It also consumes D batteries.
Water and, er, .... Elimination of such
Water Storage and Delivery
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Electrical Power Consumption = 0v! |
Alternative Water Tank (Fresh) For those quick trips, as mentioned earlier, it is just a pain to fill my holding tank. I couldn't use 15 gallons of water in a weekend if I tried. I also have a small rig and do NOT tow with full tanks, so filling elsewhere where it is easier is just not an option. If there is no hose bib nearby, this is what I do. This is a 2 gallon Water Cooler style bottle. I can fill and carry it easily. Anything bigger would be beyond my lifting abilities. On top of it is a clever device found in most 99 cent stores (Even though they cost about 5 bucks.. go figure) It's a low tech hand pump that delivers a standard glass of water in one throw. My sink is fortunately set up so that it can just hang over the edge. This work very well for ME, you may have to rig an extension if needed. 2 gallons will last me most of the day with normal use for hand washing and dish clean up. Bigger folks could use a 5 gallon model. This would not be a good alternative for: Fish Cleaning, Deer Gutting, or those with small children that require constant washing up. |
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Alternative Water Tank (Gray Holding) I have no waste water holding tanks installed permanently on my trailer. They require pumping out and extensive cleaning. More power and water consumption, and bigger chemical replenishing. Also, once I am hitched up, I am on the road for the duration. I don't want to stop at a dump station to clean up. To ME, that defeats the point of having a camping trailer for quick set up and strike. I use a "Blue Tote" style portable tank. The one you see here is 5 gallons, is actually a kerosene can (Never had kerosene in it! I bought it for this purpose only!) and with the use of a luggage cart, I can move it easily if it is full. I dump in my fire pit frequently, so it is rarely ever full. In the cases where it IS full, it can get dumped down the campground toilet or into a sewer drain if the site has full hook ups. No, I don't dump my gray water all over the campsite. I do no more damage than what the tenters do. By using the fire pit in small quantities, I am dumping in already damaged soil and any fire will actually help burn out the foody bits and conservative soap usage in the waste. |
Even with all the filling and dumping these portable tanks require to be useful, it still takes less time overall than going to the dump station. I also know that I won't be bring back anyone else's germs, other than my own.
There is a drawback when in a full hook up site. Since I have no traditional bathroom, I also have no sewer hook up, so I can not just attach to a sewer hose to the drain and forget about it.
Religious "Elimination"
I'll spare you any photos. I use a Thetford brand Porta Potti. My personal aversion is public johns. I WILL use them, if absolutely needed, but I sure prefer not to. Especially if the supplied bathhouse is referred to as a 2 or 4 holer. Pit toilets are filthy even under the best of conditions.
I have also found most campgrounds frown on you using the method the bears do.
They are not what one would think. The Porta Potti, that is. Not the bears. PPs are just a smaller version of what is in a fully equipped RV john. They have a seat, a bowl and a place where all your hard work gets flushed away to.
They use no power, the flush is a hand pump bellows arrangement. Water comes from the upper clean water holding tank. The "product" drops into the black tank, which contains chemicals to break it down and to eliminate odor. The tank is sealed with a manually sliding valve. Battery powered ones are available. Why? I just don't know......
After you have finished your shift, it simply slides back into it's storage location. Mine fits under the bed.. and there is NO SMELL!!!! If you use the chems correctly, you would never know the pot was there.
Dumping is simple. Take it to a toilet, lift the top off (Remember, the black tank is sealed, you won't get an eye full of stuff) remove the cap from the pour spout and pour out. You can close you eyes when doing this, and there is no need to plug your nose. *if you close your eyes, just be aware of where your shoes are.
Rinse and put back together. Easy. I buy the chems in packets designed specifically for porta potties of this size, also Thetford brand, but there are a myriad of choices for this. Follow the instructions, you'll be fine.
Getting YOU clean is an age old problem for campers. Not having a separate room and all the trappings of one makes this a bit harder. I do not stink, however, and usually have a shower INSIDE my trailer every day.
Two words for staying fresh between showers in a normally dirty environment. Baby Wipes. Use them generously. They require no water, they do a good job and they leave you fresh as a spring day... They also burn great if you do fires.
Bathing
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These are great, but don't forget the old fashioned way. You can still always spit bathe from your sink and get just as clean. |
Battery Power Showers A variety of these can be had from any camping store for around 20 bucks. I use the Coleman Brand seen over there. I went thru a Zodi one. It worked poorly and died a quick death. In 3 years, I have not been able to kill this one, have only gone through one set of batteries and it has a REAL shower head. Use is simple. You drop the pump into hot water and push the button. Walla, water comes out in a reasonable stream. I have to Rig a stall in the trailer. This is done simply by attaching sticky hooks, like you find in any sundry store, on the ceiling, attaching a large shower curtain to them, and placing the bottom of the curtain in a big Tupperware tote tub that gets used as the catch basin. Stand in the basin, hand hold the shower. Get as clean as you would at home. Admittedly, this is some work, but only a few minutes to set up. The water in the catch basin can be dumped in the sink, or taken outside and dumped. I Have a 5 gallon pot that I use as the water source, but rarely ever use that much. The same pot stores the shower pump and the curtain when not in use. Hang curtain outside to air dry. Walla. Done. Being that my trailer has a fiberglass interior, any "oops" or overspray causes no damage what so ever. Be careful if you have a wood interior and carpet (My floor is peel and stick) |
