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Wow, this really should be updated to 2023. Here's what my list would be: (full time for 7 years, now building a house so I don't need full time RVing ever aga

Wow, this really should be updated to 2023. Here's what my list would be: (full time for 7 years, now building a house so I don't need full time RVing ever again). 1. RV parks are full, they converted almost all the nightly sites to monthlys to guarantee revenue. RV Parks are the new mobile home park but with monthly RVers who got wind of the "Gone with the Wynns" blog and cheaper cost of living. 2. RV Park nightly rates have literally gone from $35 a night to $70 a night during the 2020s -> 2023s. A lot of the time you're the one that showed up paying $70 per day and all the loud blubs next door are paying $10 per night at the monthly rate. 3. Free camping areas are getting shut down after sites like "campendium" have advertised them to everyone. Most of the problems are related to illegal gray and black tank dumping on public lands. 4. Quartzsite is an absolute shit-show now, it's still probably worth going, but it's crowded. I wouldn't be surprised if they shut down the free areas in the next few years over the same gray/black tank issues. 5. Internet problems are 1000% solved with Starlink now. 6. Solar does not power the A/C. To power the A/C you need 10+ residential solar panels and a $2000 inverter on a 48 volt system. There are ways to have a 48 volt battery and down-regulate to 12v for the rest of your RV. People that run A/C off solar have "special ways" to have that many residential panels, typically involving fold outs and trailers. 7. Gas prices have skyrocketed in CA so it's not worth going anywhere near the state - let alone find a park that's cheap. RV Progression Cedar Creek 5th Wheel (2 years) -> Arctic Fox TC 1150 (5 years) -> Alliance Paradigm (1 year) -> building house

iancmceachern 3y ago
We live in California, have an RV, and use it regularly. #7 is weird as California has some of thr most amazing things and places to see with your rv.
poorman 3y ago
> 6. Solar does not power the A/C. To power the A/C you need 10+ residential solar panels and a $2000 inverter on a 48 volt system. There are ways to have a 48 volt battery and down-regulate to 12v for the rest of your RV. People that run A/C off solar have "special ways" to have that many residential panels, typically involving fold outs and trailers. I have not found this to be true. I run a Cruise N Comfort 12v AC and it works great (most it uses is about 60amps at 12v which I run off my solar panels). See my post here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36408382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36408382
93po 3y ago
As the other commenter said, there are very low wattage AC units that work fine for very small spaces. I saw a guy on YT convert a tiny window unit into a mini split and that thing only used 800 watts I think. Which is only one or two solar panels you can fit on a van roof easily. He had to drain the refrigerant and resolder the copper tubing to place the radiator directly below the van, but it honestly didn’t look that difficult. Most challenging part is having someone drain the refrigerant who’s certified to do so
yencabulator 3y ago
> 6. Solar does not power the A/C. To power the A/C you need 10+ residential solar panels and a $2000 inverter on a 48 volt system. You can easily run standard old-school RV rooftop A/C for hours with good 12 V LiFePOs and a pretty bog-standard 3 kW inverter. Trying to charge those batteries up with ~1000 W solar is gonna take a looong time though.

iancmceachern 3y ago

We live in California, have an RV, and use it regularly. #7 is weird as California has some of thr most amazing things and places to see with your rv.

poorman 3y ago

> 6. Solar does not power the A/C. To power the A/C you need 10+ residential solar panels and a $2000 inverter on a 48 volt system. There are ways to have a 48 volt battery and down-regulate to 12v for the rest of your RV. People that run A/C off solar have "special ways" to have that many residential panels, typically involving fold outs and trailers. I have not found this to be true. I run a Cruise N Comfort 12v AC and it works great (most it uses is about 60amps at 12v which I run off my solar panels). See my post here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36408382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36408382

93po 3y ago

As the other commenter said, there are very low wattage AC units that work fine for very small spaces. I saw a guy on YT convert a tiny window unit into a mini split and that thing only used 800 watts I think. Which is only one or two solar panels you can fit on a van roof easily. He had to drain the refrigerant and resolder the copper tubing to place the radiator directly below the van, but it honestly didn’t look that difficult. Most challenging part is having someone drain the refrigerant who’s certified to do so

yencabulator 3y ago

> 6. Solar does not power the A/C. To power the A/C you need 10+ residential solar panels and a $2000 inverter on a 48 volt system. You can easily run standard old-school RV rooftop A/C for hours with good 12 V LiFePOs and a pretty bog-standard 3 kW inverter. Trying to charge those batteries up with ~1000 W solar is gonna take a looong time though.