I always camp where I have electricity

[happier]

Anytime I go camping, I always go to a location with hookups. Even with my prior camper I never went anywhere I couldn't hook up to electricity. I don't travel with it. I only use it to go to the lake for a week or two at a time. Otherwise, it will be in my backyard where I hope to use it as a guest house also. I live in the country on 40 acres and have relatives visit all the time. It would be nice to have a separate place for them to stay. Kind of like a small cottage. Of course, when I do have the camper ready, they will probably never leave. I will be redoing my interior including changing the appliances because of their age. Since I will be connected to power anytime I use the camper, what appliances do you suggest I install. I have a newer air conditioner with heat and a new water heater. What do you suggest for the fridge? Can I take out the univolt? What about the lighting? Can I change to regular house type fixtures? Do you think I need to replace the wiring in the trailer since it is a 1971? I will be gutting the interior to replace insulation and add another tank. Any advice would be appreciated.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by happier

Anytime I go camping, I always go to a location with hookups. Even with my prior camper I never went anywhere I couldn't hook up to electricity. I don't travel with it. I only use it to go to the lake for a week or two at a time. Otherwise, it will be in my backyard where I hope to use it as a guest house also. I live in the country on 40 acres and have relatives visit all the time. It would be nice to have a separate place for them to stay. Kind of like a small cottage. Of course, when I do have the camper ready, they will probably never leave. I will be redoing my interior including changing the appliances because of their age. Since I will be connected to power anytime I use the camper, what appliances do you suggest I install. I have a newer air conditioner with heat and a new water heater. What do you suggest for the fridge? Can I take out the univolt? What about the lighting? Can I change to regular house type fixtures? Do you think I need to replace the wiring in the trailer since it is a 1971? I will be gutting the interior to replace insulation and add another tank. Any advice would be appreciated.

Happier,
I have seen many units with electric only refridgerators. You will need to leave the univolt in to power the lights and vent fans (they are 12volt) You could covert the wiring to all 120v but I suspect it would cost several times more than a replacement to the univolt. The wiring may be fine. At some point they were using aluminum wiring...if your unit is one of those I would defintely consider and upgrade to copper.

Aaron

[Chuck]

why burn your bridges? if you have the capability of being self-contained, why throw it away? you never know when you may need it. power failures happen. even though you don't travel much with it, it might be nice to be able to have a working fridge while you're enroute. There are times when, even at a full-hookup campsite, you may want to run your fridge on gas, to relieve the power load some. (30 amps might not be enough to run the a/c full-blast, keep your food cold, and use a microwave.).
What if you decide you need to divest yourself of the trailer someday? most people in the market for a travel trailer are going to want one with which they can travel.

JMO, of course.

[Janets Husband]

Im with Chuck on this subject. You should consider that you may want to use the trailer differently, i.e. boondocking.

I would also think about the resale value, I would consider it worth less not being in its original configuration.

[desi arnaz]

why dosen't airstream provide generators????this is a $70,000 machine.

[mello mike]

it would take up too much space and because they are heavy. It's best to just use a portable generator like the Honda 2000i or the Honda 3000i.

Originally Posted by desi arnaz

why dosen't airstream provide generators????this is a $70,000 machine.

[jzelle]

Last time I boondocked I went for 16 days on solar power before the generator had to be hauled out to top up the batteries.

Restricting yourself to electric-only sites means you'll miss some really nice spots!

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by mello mike

it would take up too much space and because they are heavy. It's best to just use a portable generator like the Honda 2000i or the Honda 3000i.

And let me get this straight. You magically beamed your Honda 2000i there rather than carry it, right? If it’s too heave to put in the trailer, it’s too heave for the TV.

Vaughan

[vswingfield]

Wow, not sure what happened with "heave" for "heavy," but you all get the idea.

Vaughan

[jzelle]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

And let me get this straight. You magically beamed your Honda 2000i there rather than carry it, right? If it’s too heave to put in the trailer, it’s too heave for the TV.

Vaughan

46 lbs is heavy? It's all relative I suppose. For just battery charging though a Honda EU1000 is fine.

[mello mike]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

And let me get this straight. You magically beamed your Honda 2000i there rather than carry it, right? If it’s too heave to put in the trailer, it’s too heave for the TV.

Vaughan

You obviously didn't understand my post, so I'll explain myself. A permanently mounted generator will take up lots of space on the inside of an Airstream. If you look at most permanent mounts in the box shaped brands, they are mounted in the basement. Airstreams don't have basements, so they would have to intrude into the interior space of the Airstream. Since Airstreams don't have lots of space to begin with, this is not seen as a viable option. The generators found in the permanent mounts are heavy, too. The new Airstreams are heavy enough without having to add additional weight.

So, those with portable generators like the Honda 2000i can simply store them in their tow vehicle (like I do) and break them out when you need to charge the batteries or run the microwave.

[vswingfield]

OK,

I will admit that space is at a premium. I would definitely want a gen-set that would run the AC, though.

Vaughan

[klattu]

Using your Airstream as a guest house is a great idea.
As long as they are short term guests.
Your question about fixtures is a good way to think.
As long as your willing to give up all boondocking.

The fridge would be first thing to swap out.
Hard to beat a compressor vs amonia.
So much cheaper too.
Heat, water heater and stove I would keep the same..propane.
You can't really loose total 12v with the fans in heating system plus you ignighter in WH may be 12v.

I sure like running my fridge as we travel down the road.

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by klattu

I sure like running my fridge as we travel down the road.

In a pinch last year I placed a 1/2 size fridge inside the AS and ran it with an inverter. The TV kept the battery charged and the stuff cool until I got to the campground. You do need an above average inverter, a stepped sine wave version has a tough time starting the compressor.