Electricity generation

[Zephod]

My question is,,do you actually USE the bus,,? for anything,? for any continuous period of camping time.? And obviously NO ONE would be with you.>>>D

I'm planning to live in it, solo. That's my whole reason for buying it.



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[Beluga Bus]

And my question is, what advantages does your set up have over a 1/2 ton pickup and a tent? A good tent will have the ventilation you are looking for and an even smaller 100W generator will power all of your electrical needs. All the bus conversions I have seen include all the amenities of home, while yours is set up with none of the amenities of a home.

Matt

[Zephod]

And my question is, what advantages does your set up have over a 1/2 ton pickup and a tent? A good tent will have the ventilation you are looking for and an even smaller 100W generator will power all of your electrical needs. All the bus conversions I have seen include all the amenities of home, while yours is set up with none of the amenities of a home.

Matt

My bus is a bit more secure than a tent and will hold all I need. My time where I am is finite. The bus gives me mobility.

I don't need a lot of the electrical junk. My ventilation and phone/tablet charging are solar. The tablet connected via WiFi to the phone or available WiFi provides communications and entertainment. Other than that, I have a crate of books.

I think what a lot of you can't grasp is that while I'd like to use a microwave, electric water heater etc, I don't really care too much whether they're there or not.

Like I said, I grew up with irregular electricity supply. Blackouts were frequent and fir a period electricity was only available during certain hours. I grew up with no AC, no fridge, no freezer, no phone, no car and no TV. Dad had a Radio but that was it.


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[richard5933]

Back in the 70s there were some really great books out about being self-sufficient living on a small boat. They included making drinking water, growing greenery, and ways to cook food. There was also a lot of information in these books on providing electrical power on a limited scale. I followed the instructions in one of these books to create a solar water desalinization panel. It worked and was pretty cool.

While many years have passed since then, many of the concepts from these old books would probably hold true and still provide lots of information. We've got some new technology as far as electronics goes, but I bet you'd find lots of helpful information in books from the 'back to earth' movements from the 70s. They can probably be picked up for pennies at a used book store or thrift store, and I'm sure much of their information is online somewhere. Same goes for Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines from the 50s and 60s. Sounds like these things would be right up your alley and might give you some launching points you can adapt to use with some of the more modern equipment and tools on the market today.

Not sure if you have explored the Maker Movement, but if there is a Maker Space near you it might also provide some great ideas for creating some of the things you want to make.

One stray thought I had while reading this thread (and your others) with the talk about the heat from above, have you thought of lining the top center of your roof with black painted pipes to provide hot water for you? Would not be noticeable from the ground, and I bet you could easily heat 20 or more gallons on your roof. A simple low-amp pump could easily cycle the water from an insulated holding tank to the roof unit. Similar devices are found on the roof of nearly all home in parts of the mid-east and provide most of the domestic hot water. This could even be done either with a hand pump or a simple gravity circulation setup.

Just some food for thought.

Richard

[Zephod]

Richard, back where I come from, the local council installed a free solar shower at the beach. It was very popular.

Speaking of the Mid East, their AC methods haven't caught on yet the running costs are zero. Only good for buildings but even so...

There is a wealth of good information in older books that's totally missing from more modern versions. Probably my favorite place for secondhand books is a abebooks.com. My fav book from there so far is the 1983 handbook of chemistry and physics that cost $12 and change, shipped from Canada. The current edition at the time was $180.

An alternative to the solar arrangement is what a buddy of mine does on his farm in the south of France. He has a black plastic bucket that he fills with water. He puts a sheet of glass over the top and leaves it in the sun for a few hours. Free hit water!


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[oltrunt]

Z,  Like you, I have found the Handbook of chemistry and Physics to be a fascinating publication.  Mine is the forty fourth edition published in 1962.  I've compared it to the 97th edition (98th now available) and found it to be quite similar.  Despite having a dual major of biology and chemistry in college I often find I can't quite understand all of the entries -- not enough math background I suppose.  For me, the most interesting and useful section is the conversion tables which I use with some regularity  Jack

[Zephod]

Z,  Like you, I have found the Handbook of chemistry and Physics to be a fascinating publication.  Mine is the forty fourth edition published in 1962.  I've compared it to the 97th edition (98th now available) and found it to be quite similar.  Despite having a dual major of biology and chemistry in college I often find I can't quite understand all of the entries -- not enough math background I suppose.  For me, the most interesting and useful section is the conversion tables which I use with some regularity  Jack

I used mine as a reference work fir a book I wrote on high speed photography. I found high speed photography and photonics by ray skipped about a bit. He went into detail on subject areas he was unfamiliar with and it showed so I bought this to fill in the gaps.


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