Saving a bunch of energy with ducted evap RV cooling

[RAAM]

Our full time 42 ft, 430 sq ft, 5th wheel remodel just got the Evap relocated to the front end and custom, a lot of work, blowing into the original roof mount AC ducts. I removed 14 items from the roof late last fall, early winter, added 2" of high grade foam insulation, peal and stick underlayment and then a metal roof with just three 1.5" plumbing vents. Our winter heating costs went down considerably and our summer cooling will be practically free. We used the small evap unit two summers in a row temp mounted and our energy use went down from 24 amps to 2 amps at 120 volts. That is set on high speed on the fan which we do not even need to use, more like 1.5 to 1.75 amps on medium or low even less. And the unit is about 1/4th the noise of the AC units.

This is part of the grand plan to reduce energy use to as little as possible which included high end wood frame clad low e windows and 3 times the insulation, everywhere. Our entire utility bill last summer was around $40 per month after I got the on demand LPG water heater up and running, another huge job with very tight space and a ton of plumbing, wiring, ducting, etc....and 11 water valves for cleanout, inlet, outlet, area isolation, etc....Before the on demand our RV LPG/electric water heater cost alone was around $80 per month, now hot water is probably $20 at the most in LPG.

I plan to install a rather simple solar system as it will be all we need and right now would cost more than worth is since I have a small back up generator, only used it once in 5 years, and our electrical cost is so low.

Evap is not good in high humidity but we live at 5,000 ft in the desert below the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Full time RV for going on 10 years, been building and modding things for around 65 years, started around 7 years old unless you count when I was 3 or 4 and bent the middle tangs of a fork back and plugged it into the wall outlet to see what would happen

That said, I know a great deal many ways to save a ton of money on great things to enjoy, save money, evironmentally sound....been into it for at least 50 years....questions? please ask

Rick

 

[RAAM]

I forgot to mention, over $120k in materials, windows, blinds, appliances, furniture, etc and the majority bought off craigslist for a fraction of the normal price and most was new but wrong orders, changed plans, left overs from projects, etc, it took years to gather but probably less than $20k spent on it.

Our RV, picked because it had the best chassis design ever built, bought for 20% of the original price, no taxes, no permits, can do whatever we want to it, will only have around $60k invested, maybe 2,000 hours of labor and research, planning, etc....looks like a very high end tiny house but only two steps up to the bathroom and bedroom, no lofts....All euro styling, high end appliances, furniture, fixtures, flooring, lighting, 2cm brazilian soapstone counter tops, using a whole slab, super clean burning wood stove with oven and cooktop I am going to have to design and build to get what we want...

I have looked at all the top quality RV, few sold at a dealer as nearly all fully custom built and none are going to be a nice as this one, it would cost approx $350-400k to have one built and furnished like this.

We are staying for the long term in the same spot, fully metal and insulated skirting, raised bed organic garden, etc....it would take a week to get ready to move if we ever do so though there is no place we would rather live as wonderful here.

I like to mention this as it is a way to live very well at very low cost, use very low amounts of energy and new materials, clean living as best we can do.

Only about 1,000 more hours to go until finished, glad I love doing this stuff

Rick