What 500w of solar will get you...

[JDOnTheGo]

Thanks for the documentation Kat. Some of your numbers confused me until I saw the clarifications. I suspect your refrigerator number is reasonable based on what my big residential refrigerator consumes. Your laptop number is probably high but it impossible to know without actually measuring (get a Kill-A-Watt meter). I wrote this post a long time ago (almost ten years!!! ) about laptop power.

I agree about cooking from propane (as well as refrigeration) if electrical power is limited. There are always pros and cons to try and balance. It is rarely an easy choice.

Many good comments by everyone!

[Doktari]

Timing is important also when using limited energy from a solar energy system. I used to turn on my bread maker and my little 4 gallon water heater for a shower in the afternoon when my batteries were full and the solar would be wasted. A lot of folks are running A/C then. But often there’s not enough power for everything on the wish list. Choices need to be made. Cloudy days really put a dent in the options available. So that’s where conservation and energy backup to solar plays in to it....generator, alternator, wind, hydro. There’s no one size fits all solution. Insulating the fridge can help a lot. My shower water heater could be smaller. I was only using about half, 2 gallons, of the water I was heating with solar. It’s outside so I only want to shower on warm sunny solar days anyway. There’s a lot of factors. Some people know what they want and design it and live with it. Some are great planners. Others try out something and figure it out as they go.
I have a induction plate, instapot, and propane stove. Ive been making coffee on the propane stove for while but when I drank tea for a while I had a great little countertop electric hot water maker. It would heat a couple cups of water in seconds. These days there’s a lot of options.
I lugged around a small generator but have only used it a handful of times. I’m considering not carrying it and perhaps increasing my solar capacity a little.
Some folks enjoy messing around with their energy system. Like a hobby. That’s me. I seem to always upgrade my systems after a year or two. And I have three solar energy systems while working on a fourth. But I still have no running water lol. Hmmm...maybe I should put more energy into other comforts.

[KatTravels]

Thanks for all the great feedback y’all! Some of the things I’ve been thinking about have been echoed here while other suggestions were completely new to me. I have thought about propane stove, but tbh propane freaks me out. 1. just another added cost while on the road. 2. Adds more weight 3. Got a find a place for the damn thing. 4. Doesn’t it have to be outside the bus for safety reasons? 5. it just stresses me out. 🤷*♀️

Also, I should have made it clear that the list I made with all of our energy needs was more of a worst-case scenario. I don’t plan on running everything all the time, or every day, or every week. I want to go as simply as possible, but I also want to have that peace of mind that if I just need a day of chilling in the bus, cooking, watching stuff on my laptop, I can do that too.

I have 2 years before Sam and I take our big trip, so we have plenty of time to test out what works, what doesn’t for us before that. I plan on taking many small trips as soon as Gypsy is able.

If any of the solar nerds were wondering, we bought Newpowa solar panels (500w worth), a renogy rover 40a mppt charge controller, 2000w kinverch pure sine wave inverter, and $300 worth of lithium ion modem batteries that my nephew will reconfigure to give us a 12v 300ah lithium ion battery. If anyone is curious how he is doing this. Let me know and Sam will give you step by step instructions.

[ermracing]

We were a little apprehensive about propane at first, but it works well now that we've spent some time with it. We have two 20lb tanks, one we own and one of the swap and go (blue ox I think). That way we can either refill or swap out tanks, depending on what we find on the road.

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by ermracing

We were a little apprehensive about propane at first, but it works well now that we've spent some time with it. We have two 20lb tanks, one we own and one of the swap and go (blue ox I think). That way we can either refill or swap out tanks, depending on what we find on the road.

A refill place won’t refill a swap tank? Have you tried? I never thought of that. I have swapped refill tanks, even rusty ones and one that looked like it was painted with house paint. I was happy to go swap. I didn’t consider not finding a swap tank place. I suppose that could happen out in the sticks.

[banman]

Originally Posted by Danjo

A refill place won’t refill a swap tank? Have you tried? I never thought of that. I have swapped refill tanks, even rusty ones and one that looked like it was painted with house paint. I was happy to go swap. I didn’t consider not finding a swap tank place. I suppose that could happen out in the sticks.

The only tank someone won't fill is one with an expired test date -- or it physically appears so rusted or damaged as to be refused for safety...

Likewise, I've taken any tank I have to a swap-location (like HD) and swapped if I "need gas now" -- they don't seem to care what brand tank it is...
That's also what I do with any tank I have (I own 4 20lb tanks) nearing it's retest date. Way easier than getting a tank tested by a local gas dealer...

[farok]

Originally Posted by banman

Likewise, I've taken any tank I have to a swap-location (like HD) and swapped if I "need gas now" -- they don't seem to care what brand tank it is...

A couple years ago we "found" a blue 20 lb. propane bottle with a 1959 date stamp on it (and the old style fittings). HD swapped it without missing a beat.

Chris

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by KatTravels

Thanks for all the great feedback y’all! Some of the things I’ve been thinking about have been echoed here while other suggestions were completely new to me. I have thought about propane stove, but tbh propane freaks me out. 1. just another added cost while on the road. 2. Adds more weight 3. Got a find a place for the damn thing. 4. Doesn’t it have to be outside the bus for safety reasons? 5. it just stresses me out. 🤷*♀️

Also, I should have made it clear that the list I made with all of our energy needs was more of a worst-case scenario. I don’t plan on running everything all the time, or every day, or every week. I want to go as simply as possible, but I also want to have that peace of mind that if I just need a day of chilling in the bus, cooking, watching stuff on my laptop, I can do that too.

I have 2 years before Sam and I take our big trip, so we have plenty of time to test out what works, what doesn’t for us before that. I plan on taking many small trips as soon as Gypsy is able.

If any of the solar nerds were wondering, we bought Newpowa solar panels (500w worth), a renogy rover 40a mppt charge controller, 2000w kinverch pure sine wave inverter, and $300 worth of lithium ion modem batteries that my nephew will reconfigure to give us a 12v 300ah lithium ion battery. If anyone is curious how he is doing this. Let me know and Sam will give you step by step instructions.

1. Yes an added cost but a rather low one.
2.adds weight, yes but only 35lbs per bottle, so in the grand scheme of things not much.
3 and 4. make an under bus storage locker, or put it inside in it own cabinet vented to the outside. This is where mine are, under the kitchen sink in its own space vented outside, and also secured so they can not move

My bus is gasoline powered, so 60 gallons of gas, what is a few more of propane. Please if it really freaks you out by all means do all electric. This is just what we have done as it works out well for us.

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

2.adds weight, yes but only 35lbs per bottle, so in the grand scheme of things not much.

Not to mention that with current battery tech, the amount of energy you get out of 35lbs of propane far, far exceeds what 35lbs of any battery type on the market can store. In that regard, it is saving you weight.

Also, there is an enormous cost to replacing gas heat with electric on the road. Solar setup requirements go up by an order of magnitude.

Again I wish anyone who wants to go this route luck.

[KatTravels]

Hmm y’all have given me a lot to think about, as always.

I’m going to have to do a little more research into how efficient a propane stove would be before I make my final decision. I’m only in the ‘prep phase’ of my build right now (you can follow the ‘Welcome to the world, Gypsy’ thread under short bus conversions) so I have time.
I would love to be solely solar from on environmental aspect if I could, but I understand that might not be doable when I’m living in the bus full time. Our solar power system is already sorted: 500w solar/ 300ah li ion battery. If anything needs to be added to compensate for our power consumption, it would be logical to do a propane stove. In other words, my heart says hell no! and my head says perhaps. Let’s see who wins in the end.