Introducing Dazzling Blue

[MacC-SKO]

Hey thanks fellas, you all are pretty swell too. We're happily surprised at how well suited we feel to live in this cozy place with amazing backyards that change with the weather. The layout of the bus is perfect for us, but there's always tweaks to be made. We keep making small improvements to the bus, this week it was a diesel air heater, which is nice since we're in a below-freezing cold snap lately. We've found that for everything we bring in, there's always something that can be ditched because we never use it. We get pretty lazy about our blog but it's a collaborative, if infrequent, effort. We're probably due for a 6-months-in/Lessons-learned post!

How are the bus windows working out in the cold when you get the inside temps up where you are comfortable?

 

[Drew Bru]

How are the bus windows working out in the cold when you get the inside temps up where you are comfortable?

They're working beautifully, as long as we put up the insulated shades (they're vinyl on the outside, polar fleece in the middle, cotton on the inside). We put them up when the sun goes down and they retain the heat 10-15 degrees above the outside temperature without heating at night (or put them up if it's too hot outside and they keep the bus from heating up). With additional heating we're very toasty. It's 14 outside right now, been in the teens all night. With the diesel heater on medium it stayed 55 overnight. When we got up this morning we turned off the diesel heater and lit the wood stove and propane little buddy, less than an hour with them it's 67 in here.



Once the sun has been out for awhile, we're able to put the shades back down and get a ton of warmth from solar gain/greenhouse effect. Yesterday the outside high was 33, inside it was 71 with just the sun for heat. Nice thing about keeping the windows is that we're able to regulate the temps pretty well, and of course it makes the whole space feel more open and larger than it is.

 

[MacC-SKO]

They're working beautifully, as long as we put up the insulated shades (they're vinyl on the outside, polar fleece in the middle, cotton on the inside). We put them up when the sun goes down and they retain the heat 10-15 degrees above the outside temperature without heating at night (or put them up if it's too hot outside and they keep the bus from heating up). With additional heating we're very toasty. It's 14 outside right now, been in the teens all night. With the diesel heater on medium it stayed 55 overnight. When we got up this morning we turned off the diesel heater and lit the wood stove and propane little buddy, less than an hour with them it's 67 in here.



Once the sun has been out for awhile, we're able to put the shades back down and get a ton of warmth from solar gain/greenhouse effect. Yesterday the outside high was 33, inside it was 71 with just the sun for heat. Nice thing about keeping the windows is that we're able to regulate the temps pretty well, and of course it makes the whole space feel more open and larger than it is.

Sweet! No condensation problems?

 

[Drew Bru]

Sweet! No condensation problems?

No condensation problems. We've been mostly in the mountain west, and now desert though...so that may play into it. We only really get condensation when we run our propane heater for too long, and even that's not too bad.

 

[MacC-SKO]

No condensation problems. We've been mostly in the mountain west, and now desert though...so that may play into it. We only really get condensation when we run our propane heater for too long, and even that's not too bad.

Appreciate the comments. I am looking for the correct bus as I type. Weighing options. Filling in my pro and con lists. All that neat stuff.

 

[plfking]

We're happily surprised at how well suited we feel to live in this cozy place with amazing backyards that change with the weather.

The deck and the porch look great.

Folks.....if you haven't checked out Drew and Kristen's blog, do yourself the favor. The pics are calendar-worthy.

 

[Drew Bru]

The deck and the porch look great.

Folks.....if you haven't checked out Drew and Kristen's blog, do yourself the favor. The pics are calendar-worthy.

Aww thanks man. Kristen's the photographer and writer, I mostly just do the bus related junk LOL. I like your deck too, really like the finish on it! Your woodworking skills are aces. Wish we could travel with a trail bike on our deck...but I don't think it'll support the weight. I had to sell our bikes and I really miss riding.