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Appreciation & Can I Do It Too?
We received permission from the people
asking us questions. If you have a question, please send us
an email:
Email@Laura-n-Sasha.com
May 2008: More of an appreciation than a
question, I still felt it should go here:
Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to put together your website.
Fulltiming in a truck camper looks very cool. I did it
in a small fifth wheel for a couple of years and always
wished I could fit in normal parking spots.
I am looking at a Bigfoot with slide out to do some
Fulltiming in. Also, I am reading YMOYL which is great.
For years now I have told my colleagues that when I want
to buy something I take the price of the item and divide
it by my hourly take home wage and then figure out if I
want to work those hours to pay for it. I call it the
formula. They all look at me like I am crazy when I tell
them that so the book is right in line with how I think.
Thanks,
Tom
Our Response:
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the email and the appreciation.
Is it OK with you if I put this comment on the
guestbook? Thanks
June 2008: Serious Questions about a
bunch of things:
Hi -
This may sound like a really stupid
question, and I didn't have it until Saturday after
arguing with my father. I travel for work, moving every
three to six months, and I'm saving up for an RV so I
can full-time (better than packing every three months
and loading the car and dragging tubs up stairs to a new
apartment or hotel room). I had my mind made up to get
a Sportsmobile - a Sprinter LB with a penthouse (they
should have the penthouse again by the time I can afford
the down payment - they're doing a stress test today, in
fact), but my parents threw a fit about it Saturday when
I saw them. It only has 8 gal propane tanks for the
generator (if you choose propane), and they started
going on and on about how I would be buying new tanks
every other day (but they wouldn't be as heavy as 30
gallon tanks!) and it wouldn't keep it warm, and even if
I got an electric ceramic heater, my electric bill would
be horrible (the Sportsmobiles are very well insulated,
but they've never read anything about them to know
that)...
Anyway, my question is how you guys deal with winters in
something even smaller. What kind of heat do you use,
what kind of generator if you have one, etc.
My parents also couldn't make up their minds on whether
the Sportsmobile was horrible because it was too small
for me or it was way too huge and long (24') for me to
be driving. So I told them they were right about the
tanks and generator, etc., being too small, and the van
itself being too small for me to live in, and I'm going
to buy a bus conversion. :-) And actually, we had a
bus conversion when I was in grade school -> high school
and I loved it (school bus). That's what made me start
dreaming of converting my own bus someday and living in
it full time, way back then. When I started thinking
about it now, though, I figured a van would be easier to
drive, and the Sprinters get such good gas mileage...
My parents ARE being good to me in one way - they are
letting me live in their old camper (they had it for
sale - a 25 ft bumper-pull) this summer since my work
assignment is only an hour from their house. They think
it's going to make me change my mind. :-)
Hope you are doing well!
Laura W-A
Our Response:
Hi Laura,
There are no stupid questions especially when you are
trying to figure things out. I want to answer your
questions but I want you to realize, I do not know
anything about Sportsmobiles except that they are like
Class B types of RVs. That said, most Class Bs are
expensive, but if you do not have a truck to begin with,
then it might be a moot point.
Let me tell you what we have and don’t have so that I
can answer your questions better. We have:
-
Two 20 gallon propane tanks. It usually takes us
almost a year before we have to refill. That is
because we have:
-
An
AC unit that has a heater installed in it (so the
heat is at the top and blows throughout the camper.)
This runs with electricity from the campground where
we stay.
-
A
ceramic floor heater, just in case the AC unit
heater is too much, the ceramic one does it. Neither
of these heaters runs when we are not in the camper.
-
A
second mattress on the bed and a feather mattress
cover, plus a down comforter to keep us warm when we
sleep.
-
The camper has double pane windows, and was built in
British Columbia for snowmobilers. So we know that
it is well insulated.
Also too, we tend to NOT take showers in the camper –
our thinking is why waste propane when the campground
heats the water for us? Less mess and less propane used.
We use the propane for making breakfast, boiling water
for tea and coffee, and heating the water tank for
washing dishes.
What we don’t have is a generator. We do not need it as
of yet, and if you are staying in a campground where
there is electricity, there is no point. So far we have
not found a need for it, but probably will once Sasha
retires. But we shall see on that.
Now, most campgrounds do not charge for electricity,
although that might change with everything else going up
in price. But as of right now, most do not charge. So
using their electricity for heat would be the way to go.
We also set the propane on very low temps when there is
the possibility of a serious cold snap, because the
pipes are insulated as well, but propane has to be used
to keep the pipes from freezing.
So to answer your question in a round-about way, we use
both: propane and electric. But we do not use a
generator.
Onto your next question about size – If you are a
single person, I would not suggest a truck camper, as it
is nice to have someone else to spot you especially if
you want to take the camper off of the truck to use. I
have thought about Winnie Minnie – they seem like such
neat RVs, but very expensive. But a van is only small if
you believe it will be small. The TC is not small to us,
because we are not in it all the time. I can drive the
truck and the camper on top, and have driven with the
trailer, but it isn’t easy, especially when I go from a
car to the truck.
I have heard of people converting the buses to used
veggie oil, but then a bus would need serious
renovations as there are so many windows, and it is
definitely not well insulated. It would be better to
have that van conversion. You might consider renting a
van for a while, to see how well you can drive it.
You might also want to find out at work if there is a
way that you could “travel with the sun” meaning winter
in southern states and summer in northern states. This
way you would seriously cut down on propane use.
I think that being in a RV for a season is a good idea,
to understand how everything works. That way you are
prepared when you get your own.
Hope these answers help you. Also, I plan on posting
some of this on the website. I hope that is OK with you.
She wrote back again with more questions:
Thank you so much for your answer!
I already do try to be kind of a
snowbird - this last winter I was down close to Houston,
then in March came back to KS near my family. Last
summer and winter I was in KS, but the summer before I
was in NH, which was gorgeous. I'm already used to
living with only what will fit in my PT Cruiser (and the
company I work for either puts me up in a furnished apt
or a hotel), but I'm really liking the camper so far -
less space means I'm forced to clean more often. :-)
I'm using the showers at the campground here for the
most part, but the other day it stormed and I didn't
want to go up there. No lightning, so I was going to
take my shower here in the camper, but the wind was
blowing so hard it kept blowing out the pilot light on
the hot water heater, so I had to wait until at least
the wind died down to be able to take one... I ended up
getting to bed later than I wanted.
I'm more convinced than ever that Sportsmobile is the
best choice. They're the most reasonable, price-wise,
of all the class Bs, and they have experience building
for people with pets - I have a parrot and have a large
cage planned for the van, and they have a temperature
sensing system with a remote pager, and even have a
remote starter for the engine so you can turn on the
heat or air if the temp gets out of range while your pet
is in the van. I've had Jerry (my parrot) since 95 - my
husband passed away in 97, before we were able to have
kids, so I'm probably a little too overprotective of
Jerry... I won't be able to do like you do and use the
down covers and keep the heat off while I'm away (I wish
I could!). If I could figure out a way to just heat his
cage, that would be great. I've thought about getting
the heat rocks like they use for reptile cages, but I'm
afraid he'd burn himself. But I definitely want solar
panels, and I could hook his stuff up to solar, and not
have to worry about the rest of the van being turned on
while I was gone... I'm going to have to come up with
something...
Also, everything you said about size and price and me
being single helped reinforce the idea that the
Sportsmobile is the best choice. I looked at a lot of
stuff (online) before I decided on it, and I'm more
convinced now that I'm right. :-)
What's the name of the A/C with heat that is on your
truck camper? Sportsmobile uses Starcool A/C, but maybe
I could ask them for a switch, so I could have electric
heat. This campground has free electricity, too - my
parents tried to tell me that few do, but I'm glad to
hear that it's not like that, at least not right now.
Then again, I had told them that the website for
Sportsmobile says that a lot of people get a small
ceramic heater (like what you said) and use it instead
of propane.
And that is fine for you to use my question on your
website. :-) I'm sure there have to be other people
out there who have the same kinds of questions I do!
Thanks again!
I forgot to respond for the AC question
so here is the answer: Well, I do not know! Oops. When
Sasha gets back, I'll ask him and put the response up here.
More Questions and
Answers: Part 2
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