Fire and Water (Tech Specs Part 1)

I have a lot of blog catching up to do - but today is a good day to resurrect it, as an ode to electricity, since I am for the first time in six weeks back on the mainstream power grid.  Yes, I will fill in the gaps between still being stuck in Philadelphia in May, where I last left off, to watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean as I just did, in the end of July.... Anyway... Part of the Airstream Adventure challenge is becoming more conscious of my consumption of resources.  This is admittedly in a highly privileged context not available to the vast majority of people on the planet, since I have many alternative options including just going home. 

I’ve been promising some tech specs posts, by special request (I’m talking to you, Steve Levy!), so let’s start with “Fire and Water”.  My friends from Star Island will recognize this as the annual safety lecture upon arrival on island - key points like “don’t drink from the toilet” and “if you plug in anything beyond a cell phone charger the whole place will go up in flames.”   Airstream Cadenza’s Fire and Water chapter is less exciting, and may be of interest to only Steve Levy but a promise is a promise. 

ATTENTION!  LIKE ALL SELF-RESPECTING UNEMPLOYED BLOGGERS I WILL ATTEMPT TO MONETIZE MY EXISTENCE AND MY RELATIONSHIPS BY POSTING SOME AMAZON LINKS IN HERE AND IF YOU BUY THE THING FROM MY LINK, MY DOG’S TREAT FUND WILL BE ENRICHED.  MY GOAL IS TO ACCUMULATE ENOUGH SALES TO FUND A WHOLE BOX OF MILK BONES, WHICH WILL REQUIRE MORE THAN STEVE LEVY TO PURCHASE SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE.  (Seriously, I’m only including links to things that have been game changers for me, and that you might not know about otherwise, but they are also all available elsewhere as well and Aiden will never know that you were disloyal)

Let’s begin with water - the essence of life, and access to sufficient clean water a major challenge for much of the world.  Cadenza has a 39 gallon fresh water tank and four water outlets - 1) kitchen sink. 2) bathroom sink 3) indoor shower 4) outdoor shower (yes, glamping).   Note I did not say “toilet” and that is for good reason, explained shortly.  There is a water heater that runs off either electricity or propane, but I  turn that on only when hot water is really necessary (mainly a big sink full of dishes, or a shower).  There are essentially four ways to access water when camping:  1) From the tank, filled by a hose sometime in the past, often at the same time as dumping waste water, or a garden hose of a generous person whose driveway you are mooching in.  Many people do not drink from their tank water without some kind of additional treatment.  When I first started out, mine also contained enough residue of nontoxic antifreeze (the same chemical as Miralax BTW) that my dog refused to go near it, and I took his cue;   2). From a “city water” connection - I have yet to do this - in fact tonight is the first opportunity I have had since starting the adventure - this is where you hook your water system up directly to a hose and use the pressure from that (bypassing the tank and its pump altogether) to run your plumbing - in fact you need a pressure regulator to not blow out your plumbing and/or blow up your hose if doing this;  3) Filling smaller water jugs from campground spigots - this is what I do for drinking water, since I can know exactly the source and age of it, and I also treat it further  4) Nature - i.e. lakes, streams, springs - this is not a way to get water into the Airstream but it is a way to avoid using it if in serious conservation mode.

I purchased a Lifestraw with a gravity bag plus carbon filters after seeing the thru hikers on the Appalachian Trail relying on this cool filter device to drink right from streams - eliminates virtually all infectious disease AND chemicals.  However, it was a pain to use long term and I created several small floods by getting distracted and having water bottles overflow all over the floor while the bag was hanging (like an IV, sort of) from a high cabinet handle not designed to hold a few gallons of water weight.  The real game changer for me has been this UV light sterilization water bottle.  It’s a standard size stainless steel water bottle but the cap is a USB-rechargeable UV light sterilization device.  It turns on a UV light for a minute inside the bottle, killing essentially all infectious agents in there (but not chemicals).  If the water is cloudy, it can still work but on a 2.5 minute cycle.  One charge of the battery lasts for many many cycles.   I really cannot overstate how great this device is.  I happened to have another stainless steel bottle  picked up long ago as swag at a conference, and the cap will fit it too - so that is my dog’s bottle and I just switch the caps. (Note, I have no idea why I bother sterilizing his water.  He eats multi species poop and drinks from puddles.)  My husband was so jealous of this device that he got his own.  I am pretty sure my kids will have stopped reading this blog after the first sentence so I’m not spoiling anything by saying everyone will get one of these for Christmas.   I have used this to treat 100% of my drinking water regardless of source, everything from campground spigots to mountain streams while hiking and needing to refill water (and not having to carry multiple heavy bottles on a day long hot hike).  However, unlike the Life Straw the UV device will not remove chemicals, but that is less a short term concern for me especially in remote wilderness areas and campground well water.

The trailer (as is the case for most larger RVs) has two waste tanks - one for “gray water” (non-sewage, i.e. drainage from sinks and shower) and “black water” for sewage.   After a lot of research, and knowing that I was going to be off the grid a great deal and needed maximal conservation, I opted to install a composting toilet which has a cult following and also a whole lot of uneducated haters.  This incredible device (there are few brands and designs, but all the same idea) allows one to forego using large quantities  of precious clean water for the sole purpose of flushing the toilet.  It also eliminates the need for a black tank, and with a really simple hack using this blade valve (not available on Amazon) on the dump drains, one can turn an unused black tank into a second gray tank, thus doubling the length of time needed before needing to “dump” waste water at a dump station.  [Note, while not a good routine practice, and I HAVE NOT YET HAD TO DO THIS AND WOULD ONLY IN A REAL BIND, if really out in the middle of nowhere - not a campsite and not near a water body - it is not a horrific sin to just drain gray water onto the ground.  It’s just shower and dish water, especially if you use biodegradable soap].  The principle design of a composting toilet is that it is separates the liquid from the solid waste (important point - gender neutral anatomic design - everyone must SIT to use it for BOTH functions, it will not work if peed into from a standing person).   The urine goes into a few gallon tank with a handle that can be manually emptied into any suitable location (toilet, sewer, remote woods) when full, and just saying, this was pretty horrifying evidence to me that I am chronically severely dehydrated, to the point if my kidneys behaved like this as a hospital patient they would start an IV stat.   The poop goes does down a little trap door into a bucket containing a mulching medium like peat moss or coconut coir, and gets aerated with a turning device, and within hours it disintegrates.  A key feature is a very tiny fan which dries out the contents of this bucket as well as venting it.  After a really shockingly long time (like a month, for a solo user), the bucket is removed, turned over into a garbage bag, and that goes into the trash.  NO SMELL.  Even when emptying it, it smells faintly of dirt and nothing else.  Regular RV and boat toilets are notorious for always have a noxious odor, let alone the ugly task of draining the sewage tank frequently.  For people offended by the idea of putting (composted) poop into the trash, or dumping pee into the woods,  I would like to point out:  a) dirty diapers and wipes b) all the guys that pee in the freaking woods all the time,  c) my dog’s poop which gets picked up and put in the trash and his pee which is, well, every 2 feet of every walk.

Next up - FIRE, or energy.  The Airstream has two large propane tanks (same kind as a big gas grill) which fuel the stove, furnace (if not using electric heat pump), water heater and refrigerator (if not using electricity for either).  There is  also a connection to hook up a gas grill to the line, which I have not yet done, but likely to at some point.  My rig does not have a propane oven, which I have mixed feelings about missing - but instead I have an electric convection oven / microwave, which serves as a storage space most of the time since I am rarely connected to shore power (a plug) and these cannot run off the batteries under any circumstances.  Neither can the two air conditioners / heat pumps - so a generator would be a requirement if serious climate control were needed without shore power.  I really, really wanted to avoid having to carry a heavy, noisy, smelly generator plus the fuel to run it.  So far I have succeeded, despite being in temperatures from the 30’s (at night, cuddled up with an old fashioned hot water bottle) to mid 90’s (this was uncomfortable, but bearable for short periods using shades, battery operated fans etc).  I can stop and buy a generator anywhere if it turns out I can’t live without it, but having lived without it for more than two months I am determined to continue - unless my dog is suffering from the climate, but in that case I would prefer to move to a different latitude or altitude to fix that problem.

 Being exclusively solar-reliant for  for the past six weeks was actually not as difficult as I thought it would be ... nonetheless tonight when I plugged in I was ridiculously excited.  All the lights on!  FRIGGING MICROWAVE!  UNLIMITED HOTSPOT USE!  RECHARGE ALL THE THINGS! The downside of this is the need to haul out the huge 50 amp electrical cord which is about the size, weight, and maneuverability of a 30 foot Burmese python, plus the major but important investment fancy surge protector /electrical management system plus it’s own cable lock to prevent theft. 

The rig has two 12 volt “glass mat” (AGM) sealed batteries which are a step up from old fashioned lead acid which need water top offs, but not at the much more sophisticated (and expensive) level of lithium batteries which is what the true solar diehards invest in.  I have two solar panels on the roof, totaling 180 Watts. The thing most people don’t understand about solar power is that it does not RUN your electrical system - it charges the batteries which run the system when not plugged in - so often the limiting factor is not the solar itself but the charge capacity and speed of the battery set up.  Managing one’s batteries is a whole separate topic, and suffice it to say that an AGM battery that falls below 50% of charge is in danger of being mortally wounded (and they cost about $300 apiece), so it is really critical to monitor use very carefully, especially at night or when solar charging conditions are poor (shaded parking, prolonged cloudy weather).   A game changer for me (again, lots of research)  was investment in an additional portable solar panel suitcase (I got 140W currently unavailable so link is to 120 W otherwise identical) which can substitute for (actually, compete with) the roof panels when parked in a shaded site.  This has repeatedly allowed me to stay in heavily forested campsites that would be otherwise impossible, by placing these panels into areas of sun and moving them throughout the day as needed.  I need to also purchase a cable extension to be able to place the panels into sun that is farther away. My Airstream is prewired with a port for these panels - Zamp is expensive, but with solar you totally get what you pay for.  The controller (i.e. the device which controls the charge from the panels into the battery) seems to work better for the portable panels than the factory installed one for the roof panels (cheaper brand) even though those are higher wattage.  [Side note, ironically for the past month I have been camping and traveling along various bodies of water in Montana which provide hydroelectric power to the majority of the PNW - thus my “plugging into the grid” tonight is mostly courtesy of the renewable energy from those rivers and reservoirs!]

While relying on solar battery recharging, conserving electricity (especially at night) is important, so knowing where it goes is key.  I have three small electricity draws at baseline - 1) the propane leak detector, which cannot be turned off,  2) the composting toilet fan,  3) the refrigerator fan, even when running on propane for cooling.  Together those draw roughly 1 amp of power.  I can replenish that daily even in clouds or dappled shade.  For reference, when in full sun,  my roof or portable panels routinely pull in 7-8 amps (though not for 24 hours, obviously).  The water pump draws some power, but runs only when the water is running.  The Airstream’s lights are mostly LED which draw little power but it can add up if reading into the wee hours - so I use this game changer little solar lightbulb which I leave out in the wide sun somewhere during the day and it provides a few hours of really bright light without depleting my batteries one iota.  I can also recharge my phone and Apple Watch overnight and get down to about 80% of house battery charge by morning.  The biggest discretionary power draw turns out to be my WiFi hotspot especially if being used extensively.  If you think about it, it’s not surprising, given you’re basically powering a small radio station if you’re on a Zoom video call.  So an additional benefit to having no cell signal (additional to improved mental health) is that unplugging the hot spot conserves a ton of power.  By the way, I also have two TVs, a blue ray DVD player, and kick ass stereo system that came with my rig, and I’ve used all that a total of twice.  Not just because of power concerns (those electronics eat electricity like no tomorrow) but because I am out in nature and just not interested at the moment.  When I want music I have a USB rechargeable Bose Bluetooth speaker that sounds great and will play for many hours on a single charge, which I can do from the truck or when solar is plentiful (which reminds me, I make sure to charge as many things as possible in the truck when driving).  FAQ:  Can you just plug the trailer umbilical cord into the truck (the one that connects the brakes and blinkers) and use the truck in lieu of a generator?  Answer:  No - the truck alternator will charge the batteries only when driving for many hours - various design limitations including the gauge of the wire on the umbilical cord. 

Two other devices worth mentioning here, though they really belong primarily in the kitchen section.  First, something I had never heard of before, but incredible (and apparently much more common in parts of Asia) - the thermal cooker (link is to smaller one which I got, there are many sizes and other brands but Thermos is reputedly best).  It’s a thin stainless steel pot in which you begin cooking your food (e.g. rice, stew) then take it off the stove (gas or induction or whatever) and insert it into essentially a Thermos. Close it up and it keeps cooking without any additional fuel source. FOR HOURS. It’s incredible.  I have the smallest one, which holds heat the least, and after four hours it was still way too hot to touch.  It will also keep things like ice cream cold for hours.  Amazing gizmo for camping, picnics, lunch boxes, small kitchens during big meals.  Kind of expensive online but I am betting these can be found in any big Asian food market next to the rice cookers.   Second, while on shore power, an induction burner is a game changer as it stays cool and can also be used outside (cookware much hold a magnet) and saves propane.

Searing lamb chops on my induction burner atop F250 outdoor kitchen counter in Badlands National Park

Note - tech challenges with unwanted rotation of other photos - stay tuned 😡.