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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:58 pm
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pcg wrote: | I don't run the furnace at night so most of my draw is from lights and ventilation fan. |
Do you have LED lights?
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Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
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DIYSteve wrote: | 1+ mpg bump for highway driving, although the bigger plus is the elimination of bucking in windy conditions |
What is your mileage?
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pcg Member
Joined: 09 Jun 2012 Posts: 334 | TRs | Pics
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pcg
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Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:04 am
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DIYSteve wrote: | Do you have LED lights? |
No, I built out my camper 20 years ago so I have fluorescent. i may upgrade to LED in the future when I can find a better and more economical selection of warmer colors (<3500K). Lighting is my largest overall draw - I have a lot of it.
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joker seeker
Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 7953 | TRs | Pics Location: state of confusion |
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joker
seeker
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Sat Apr 14, 2018 11:07 am
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DIYSteve wrote: | Don't get me wrong re 3-way reverse osmosis units. They work fine, although IME temp control is not nearly as reliable as 2-way compressor units. |
Yes, that's been the one issue I've had with mine (other than the one case of losing the battle to keep things cold while driving across the Mojave Desert on a hot June day). It can go from a decent temperature to freezing things that are too close to the metal fins in the back if I don't check on it periodically and adjust the temperature knob as needed. I do love not worrying over battery status while outon many-day boondocking ventures though!!
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Sat Apr 14, 2018 4:20 pm
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Do you have a generator? Per my rough calculation, our EU1000i takes about one quart of gasoline to keep our 2-way refrigerator cold for a week. LED lighting vs. fluorescent more than makes up for our small 2-way frig draw. I'd never go back to a reverse osmosis frig.
Riverside Laker wrote: | What is your mileage? |
Depends on time of year, conditions and lightness of right foot. Ranges from 16+mpg summer highway down to 13mpg winter with use of 4WD over mountain passes. Not great when compared to all vehicles, but not bad when compared to 4WD camping vehicles.
We pondered getting 1-1.5 better mpg with an Al alloy body F-150, but there were too many red flags re mechanical problems and reliability. Tundra doesn't get the best mpg but reliability history kicks butt, the reason it's the only full size PU recommended by CR.
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Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
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I wonder if it's possible to get a gas-powered pickup with camper that gets 25 mpg. Probably wishful thinking. In the mean time, sleep in the back of the Prius I s'pose...
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Sun Apr 15, 2018 6:09 pm
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Riverside Laker wrote: | I wonder if it's possible to get a gas-powered pickup with camper that gets 25 mpg. |
Not yet. Maybe someday a 2WD hybrid PU with a lightweight pop-up camper and wind fairings w/driving 50mph max might get you there. Slide-in campers have lots of wind drag, pop-ups a bit less so. Wind drag at driving speed is proportional to the square of speed, so driving slower really helps.
If you want a camping vehicle with higher MPG, aerodynamic class B is the way to go. Some of the lighter Sprinter-based (diesel fuel) vans are reputed to get up to 22-24 MPG. That's likely highway driving someone with a light foot and staying under the speed limit. Reliable real world reports are 17-20 MPG. A starting place is fuelly figures for 2500 (3/4-ton) Sprinter vans (most non-RV).
I'll be watching the development of higher MPG RVs in the next few years. There are market pressures for it to happen, although cheap fuel has stalled development the past decade or so.
Also note that many people park their camping vehicles for many days at a time, sometimes for weeks or months, making it a temporary home, rendering MPG less of a factor.
Riverside Laker wrote: | In the mean time, sleep in the back of the Prius I s'pose... |
Sleeping in the back of a car is fine, although that doesn't make it a camping vehicle. IMV, one can stand up, sit comfortably, change clothes, cook, sit, hang out, play cards and dine inside a camping vehicle. And a camping vehicle should have a furnace (or at least a wick heater, although that produces condensation), a stove and a sink. We cook and hang out outside when weather is good, but often it's not. And it's nice to have the morning cup of coffee and breakfast when it's chilly outside.
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9495 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:17 pm
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I've been road tripping for the last 3 weeks in a 2008 2500 frieghtliner/sprinter with the 3 liter 6 cylinder engine. Mostly been getting 20 mpg , was fighting 40+ mph headwinds one day and got 17.5 mph that day. The 3 liter engine is quite powerful-- driving it is not at all like driving my old bay window VW bus. Able to pass semis on hills at 80mph without flooring it.
Electric fridge works great with a solar panel doing a great job keeping the auxiliary battery topped up at least here in the American Southwest.
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Im going to get a light weight trailer. I should be able to get close to 30mpg pulling it on the highway with my diesel Liberty. Park it in a camp ground and drive to the trail head.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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wakerobin Member
Joined: 13 Feb 2012 Posts: 346 | TRs | Pics Location: burien |
IF anyone is "van-curious" I highly recommend checking out Escape Campervans (there's one in Des Moines, and also many other spots around the country.
We just got back from spending 10 days in the southwest, picking up at the Phoenix depot.
I had been wanting a van for ages but we had no place to park one.
Within in an hour of pick up (not even getting out of Phoenix traffic) my husband was totally wanting a van.
Escapes come with a queen size bed (roof tent available) two burner stove, Dometic drawer fridge, fresh water tank with hand pump faucet and a gray water tank.
We had such a great time!
Oh, and we came home an bought a Metris! It's the only one that fits in our garage.
#vanlife
Between the silence of the mountains and the crashing of the sea...
Between the silence of the mountains and the crashing of the sea...
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Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
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DIYSteve wrote: | I made this wind fairing for our rig |
Have you considered making fairings in the upper corners? The camper makes a nice barn door. A variable camber krueger flap would be perfect (overkill). Get one off an old 747.
What size fridge do you use? I see they have 65L and 80L versions nowadays.
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Mon Apr 23, 2018 7:46 am
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Riverside Laker wrote: | Have you considered making fairings in the upper corners? |
Yes, I've pondered it but it would be difficult to pull off for several reasons, e.g., opening rear double cab doors.
Riverside Laker wrote: | What size fridge do you use? I see they have 65L and 80L versions nowadays. |
65L 2-way (compressor). We supplement with roto mold cooler for longer summer trips.
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Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
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DIYSteve wrote: | I made this wind fairing for our rig:
FWC fairing |
I think you could fill in the upper right corner in your picture and get some benefit. The door could swing past it. Be kinda fun to run some CFD on a truck/camper combo and see if there's goodness.
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DIYSteve seeking hygge
Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 12655 | TRs | Pics Location: here now |
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DIYSteve
seeking hygge
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Mon Apr 23, 2018 3:39 pm
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Riverside Laker wrote: | I think you could fill in the upper right corner in your picture and get some benefit. |
You are the Master of the Obvious. Have you considered becoming a detective or forensic engineer?
FTR, the widest part my fairing is the full width of HDPE sheet stock available to me.
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Riverside Laker Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2004 Posts: 2818 | TRs | Pics
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I wasn’t clear, and meant the inside corner. Bottom of overhang to wall behind cab.
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