Boondocking (camping without sewer, water, or electrical hookups) is a skill you learn more about the more times you do it. If trash disposal (dumpsters), a drinking water tap, and a dump station are nearby, handling these boondocking limitations is just an inconvenience–having to pack up, hitch up, and drive, even if only a few hundred yards, then return and make camp again. This, for experienced boondockers, is just part of the experience and is handled in short order and with little fuss and difficulty. And every boondocker learns to conserve supplies and resources and limit waste in order to extend time between such moves.
With regard to power. Beginning boondockers invariably run their generator to recharge their batteries, as well as time the usage of electricity-hungry appliances to when they are running the generator, and to use less total power through conservation. They soon find out that even with these measures, running a generator to recharge depleted batteries takes a long time–hours–during which you and your neighbors–if you have any close by–must listen to the noise of a running generator, an alien sound in nature and not what most of us who go boondocking want to have to listen to. It’s fine for a few days (ask your neighbor when the best time would be to run your generator), but if you boondock often, you begin looking for alternate sources of energy.
That’s where solar and wind power come in. I have four solar panels on my motorhome roof and am able to supply all the power I need, lights, water pump, TV (which I have since stopped watching, though I did have enough power to run it), two laptop computers, etc. What my panels will not run, are the air-conditioner (which I seldom use anyway, preferring open windows), microwave (I’ll live without it), and my wife’s espresso machine (the real problem). Those appliances use too much electricity. I could however, add more panels to run these appliances but have opted not to. My wife has learned to make her afternoon latte on a stove top unit.
I have camped for weeks, even with some cloudy days thrown in (solar panels will still charge, though at a lower rate, when the sun is not out) without running the generator. In fact, several years ago my Onan 4.0 kw genset died after only 1069 hours, and was out of warranty, and would have cost almost as much to fix it as to buy a new one. At that time I decided to see what living without a generator would be like (I had no great love for it, anyway), added two more panels to my roof, and haven’t felt the need for a generator since. If I did, however, I would choose one of the small, quiet, portable Hondas or Kawasakis (NOTE: corrected to Yamaha, not Kawasaki, BD), that I could place well away from my motorhome).
Boondocking, however, can be a very personal experience, and one’s success at and enjoyment of it is dependent on how easily you can change wasteful habits, adapt to new procedures, and conserve resources. Those that are successful, tend to be those that value the freedom of camping choices in the great outdoors, yards, if not miles, from their nearest neighbor, dead silent nights (except for howling coyotes or scuffling armadillos), dark skies not dimmed by artificial lights filled with the bright stars of constellations, an absence of traffic roar from streets or highways, encounters with wildlife, birds, and strange plants, etc. For those, the minor inconveniences are well worth it. And think of all the campground charges you will save.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Mike Steffen has an excellent blog that delves further into the technical side of boondocking with his Solar Power for Your RV post and his Thoughts on Boondocking Part I post. You can also check out Greg Holder’s Web site at AM Solar. Greg’s company specializes in sizing solar systems for RVs.
Next Week: Snowbird Roosts on the Colorado River