| When I bought my first RV (trailer) I had visions of | | | | quickly realized that we would not be able to use RV |
| freedom, traveling, and being able to stay in the middle | | | | parks since we had two Rottweilers which are not |
| of the woods or parked next to a lake for days or | | | | welcome at most RV parks due to insurance reasons. |
| even weeks at a time. The whole purpose of an RV | | | | That sat fine with us because we hated RV parks |
| was to get away from other people and enjoy some | | | | anyway; however, it presented a huge challenge. How |
| solitude. I still remember my first trip. The day after we | | | | were we going to keep our batteries charged if we |
| got our first trailer we headed to the woods and | | | | could not plug in each evening? Additionally, my wife |
| planned to stay there for three days. The first day | | | | was teaching online and we had planned to get an |
| was excellent. We found a quiet spot in the woods, | | | | internet satellite dish which would also require power, |
| setup camp, and began to enjoy the amenities of our | | | | not to mention her laptop and the other amenities we |
| new trailer. No more sleeping on the floor of a damp | | | | wanted while traveling for a year. |
| tent. We had a real bed, bathroom, and even a small | | | | Thus began my year long research project on exactly |
| refrigerator. That night we stayed up late playing cards | | | | how we were going to be able to accomplish our lofty |
| while listening to our favorite CD's on our new CD | | | | goals of being able to travel without being able to plug |
| player. | | | | in. The fifth wheel that we planned to purchase did |
| By morning, our whole world had come crashing down. | | | | come with a generator; however, we were not fans |
| The refrigerator stopped working, none of the lights | | | | of a loud smelly generator running all the time. My first |
| were functional, the CO2 detector was off. Basically | | | | thought was that maybe we could use solar panels. I |
| everything that ran off the battery was dead. So we | | | | knew others were doing it, however, I did not know |
| packed up our campsite and headed home in disgust | | | | much about solar. I could have paid someone else to |
| wondering what we had done wrong. | | | | install them; however, that was not my style. I am a |
| The next day I headed to the RV dealer with the | | | | geek at heart and love to work on my own projects. |
| trailer to try and figure out what had happened. Surely | | | | After almost a year of research, planning, and |
| we must have done something wrong, right? The | | | | educating myself, the end result was better than either |
| mechanic came out, ran a few tests, and promptly | | | | of us could have dreamed. We purchased the new |
| determined that we had completely drained our | | | | RV (fifth wheel) and I spent a month retrofitting it with |
| battery. Confounded about how this could have | | | | all our new equipment and toys including Internet |
| happened, I protested that the battery must be faulty. | | | | satellite dish, DirecTV, 34" flat screen TV, 15" flat |
| The dealer explained how easily it is to drain a single | | | | screen TV in the bedroom, a cell phone repeater and |
| battery. Everything runs off the battery he explained, | | | | antenna, and wireless access point for the internet |
| the lights, radio, CO2 detector, refrigerator (even | | | | connection. All of this was powered by solar panels, |
| though it used propane it requires 12 Volts to run the | | | | batteries and an inverter. |
| brains). The dealer immediately offered to install | | | | A lot of research went into this project. I needed to |
| another battery and I accepted since I did not want to | | | | figure out how much power all of my toys were going |
| run out of battery power again. Little did I know that | | | | to use as well as determine how long I might use them |
| even two batteries were not enough. Our next | | | | each day. Using this information, I had to size my |
| camping trip, the batteries died again, although it took | | | | battery bank, inverter, and solar panels properly. I had |
| slightly longer to happen this time. | | | | to learn how to wire all of this equipment together |
| I was shocked at how quickly the batteries ran out. | | | | safely and properly as well as integrate it into my new |
| The next few times we went camping we began to | | | | RV. Additionally, deciding what batteries to purchase |
| resort to extreme power deprivation. We would use a | | | | and how to install and mount them all was vitally |
| battery powered radio and flashlights instead of the | | | | important. The biggest challenge was finding all of the |
| built in lights and radio. This helped a little bit; however, | | | | information that I needed to complete the project. |
| the batteries would still run out quickly. Soon we found | | | | Although scattered around the web, none of it was |
| ourselves resorting to staying at RV parks where we | | | | located in a single place, therefore, I vowed that I |
| could plug in. This did not sit well with us since it | | | | would document my installation on a website for |
| seemed to defeat the whole purpose of having an | | | | others to learn from. |
| RV. Once again we were crammed into an RV park, | | | | In the end, we ended up with an amazing RV. As long |
| 5 feet away from our neighbors. Where was the | | | | as there is sunlight we can stay out in the woods |
| freedom in this scenario, I thought. Looking for a better | | | | indefinitely, our batteries are always charged and we |
| way, I resorted to purchasing a small generator that I | | | | have more than enough power for everything. The |
| could use to plug in the RV and charge my batteries. | | | | only things that bring us back to civilization are the |
| This was a little better, at least I could stay in the | | | | need to dump out waste and get fresh water. |
| woods, however, Now I had to listen to the hum of a | | | | Everything in our RV can run off of our battery bank |
| generator all day instead of the quiet and solitude of | | | | except the air conditioner and microwave. Now we |
| the forest and forest creatures. | | | | can enjoy the freedom of camping or stopping |
| A few years later my wife and I decided to quit our | | | | anywhere for an extended period of time. This is |
| jobs and travel across country for a year. The plan | | | | exactly what we had dreamed of when we |
| was to buy a larger 5th wheel, take our dogs and go | | | | purchased our first RV. This is the life! |
| wherever we wanted. As we began to plan we | | | | |