Our plan to self-install solar was a good one. We planned to mail the solar supplies to a friend’s house, then courtesy park for the install using his garage and tools. As it turns out, our awesome friends Ben and Emily live on an Army Base, with plentiful restrictions that foiled our plans. Our Plan B was…
A few weeks ago I posted about how we set up our budget. This week I’m going to share how I keep track of everything once it has been budgeted! Software like Quicken & Mint are GREAT if your brain can handle a whole month of lots of categories at a time. Turns out I…
I’ve put off this post for months. I think every time I post a “How Much Does It Cost to Live in an Airstream” I mention that the numbers don’t include EVERYTHING, just what is unique to our particular lifestyle. There really is another side to that coin, however, that includes long term planning like…
Very interesting stuff. I treat mine in a similar way. We have a fixed and flexible. But we always pay ourselves first and save a portion of our income. I treat our savings as a fixed monthly cost.
We’ve used a 40/35/25 formula I came up with. We save 40% of our income. 35% is fixed costs and 25% is flexible spending from month to month. We roll over our flexible if we don’t spend it all. And adhere to a strict policy of don’t spend more than we earn.
We’re excited to see how this will adjust when we are on the road as our fixed costs should reduce greatly.ReplyCancel
After evaluating our needs, and figuring out what I don’t know about installing solar, we sought for recommendations for a professional installer. We began conversations that started good, and gradually got worse and worse. This happened while I was camping just next door to Dave Zimmerman in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Dave happens…
[…] My Plan for Self Installing Solar Panels Drop-in Multi-State Converter Upgrade Solar Power Install Part I – Panel Mounting Solar Install Part II – Self-Install Combiner Box Solar Power Install Part III – Self Install Running Wire Solar Install Part IV – The Wire Panel Adding Bigger Batteries Installing a 2000 Watt Pure-sine Inverter Automatic Transfer Switches Cost Breakdown […]ReplyCancel
For some insane reason, our Airstream came from the factory with a single-stage charger. When connected to shore power (or a generator), the converter provides both 12V DC power to the Airstream, and also charges the house batteries. As a single-stage converter, it has only one mode: charge. This single charge mode is neither fast…
Replacing the converter is a great idea. I replaced our 7355 with a Powermax Boondocker so our AGM batteries would not get fried by the stock converter.
You may want to look into a Trimetric battery monitor (http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/TriMetric) if you don’t have anything already. It is a great way to watch your battery usage.
Hi Folks,
I also swapped out the converter and the series 24 batteries with 2 Full River series 27 6volt 220 Amp ADM batteries. They fit in same compartment. You do have to remove the series 24 plastic base holder and the cover to slide them in. Once in re-rivet cover back on. The batteries are great for us, can run furnace all night (lowest 17° outside) and still have 75 to 80% capacity in AM. We use a generator to charge them back up.
….. With Great Envy, I so want the same!….. I have asked the pros, well companies selling panels, what do I actually need, forget a bout it, lol… I have a vintage 31′ Land Yacht, trying to convert it over somewhat, for off grid…. If you have any ideas what a full kit purchase would be, for any wattage, I’d sure appreciate any and all input…. Looks like you really know what you’re doing here….continue to Enjoy your Adventures…. ( :
[…] Plan for Self Installing Solar Panels Drop-in Multi-State Converter Upgrade Solar Power Install Part I – Panel Mounting Solar Install Part II – Self-Install Combiner Box Solar Power Install Part III – Self […]