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The first benefit of a plug in hybrid for van living is the climate control. The heating and AC are built-in and run off the batteries. A full battery should last quite a while, and the engine will kick on to recharge as necessary. You can add house batteries and solar just like any other build...

The climate control system in a Prius will work in what some call "camper mode" to maintain heat or cold overnight while parked. It does consume gasoline when charging up the batteries, but at least it uses an efficient Atkinson Cycle engine that is designed to generate electricity better than...

A slow cooker, especially on low setting, draws a relatively small amount of electricity (watts or whatever) but it does so for a loooooooong time, resulting in a high total energy usage. I'm guessing it is among the least efficient ways to cook per kilowatt-hour. But it doesn't have to be. If...

Most considerations about electric cooking in vehicles focus on the wattage available from the power bank, but that is mainly a matter of the inverter and maximum discharge rate of the batteries, not power usage. I'm interested in knowing the most efficient way to cook so that your battery...

My hypothetical unlimited-budget road-life vehicle would be a cargo van like a Sprinter built up as a plug-in hybrid. 4-wheel electric, possibly hub motors. Battery-banks sufficient for 200+ mile range. Flex fuel Atkinson cycle engine/generator. Flex Fuel lets you burn any combination of...

Lithium is going to be replaced by sodium-ion chemistry batteries - cheaper, safer, longer lasting, less rare metals. https://electrek.co/2022/07/14/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough/

Yes, if your alternator is sufficient for the cause, no need to upgrade. Personally I wouldn't know, so I'd check with an expert. Some good info in this article ... probably. https://www.trbowlin.com/2022/04/01/using-your-vehicles-alternator-to-charge-your-rvs-batteries/

If your truck is diesel it probably uses very little fuel while idling (but who can afford diesel?). Gas motors - not so much, unless they are Atkinson cycle engines like in a Prius. Personally, I'd upgrade my alternator and match it to a good charging system to top off the house batteries...

Seems a bit pricy for an inverter, but the larger versions with the house connect option seems like a good backup power solution for home blackouts. In RV use I'd definitely pay the price to upgrade the alternator, regardless of whether you use this system or a custom version to charge your...

I just got the 7Keys retro mechanical keyboard - it connects via bluetooth to just about any Win/Apple/Android device. It has replaceable keyswitches and provides a nice old-timey clickety clack typewriter feel - but you can swap out to softer switches for the feel you like. It costs about...

This is not correct. SS collected more money than it has spent up to 2021. We are only just into the second year of SS drawing down the $2.9 trillion dollar surplus that was accumulated. Less than 2 years, NOT "at least 30". And this is completely as intended. It is why there is a trust...

Because SS is insurance, not an individual investment account. Social Security is also called OASDI which stands for Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.

SSA does NOT say Social Security is going "broke", it says the Trust Fund will be drawn down. That is NOT the same thing. If that is "broke" then every single other government program that is funded year by year is also "broke". Calling it broke is just fear mongering promoted by Wall Street...

Some CPAP machines have the polarity reversed in their DC power connections. Who knows why. You may need a special power cord or even a specific DC to DC converter to make yours work. Check the faqs and forums for your particular machine to find the right combo. . Many (most?) CPAPs cannot run...

I would call it insurance with a retirement benefit. Its actual name is: Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI). It works exactly the same way that private insurance works, except more soundly funded.

2035 sounds about right, subject to the vicissitudes of inflation and recession. That is actually a lot better than was originally expected. The trust fund surplus was always intended to run out. After that date the program would return to pay-as-you-go as in the first 40 decades, requiring a...

SS is not going broke. It existed for 50 years on a pay as you go basis, in the 80s they doubled the revenue to bring in more than they were paying out in order to create a trust fund big enough to get it over the "baby boomer bulge". The trust fund built up to over $1.7 trillion. That makes SS...

Visible is only "kind of" an MVNO since it is actually owned by Verizon. I've heard that they do not throttle or limit data on their unlimited data plans for using too much data (but will temporarily throttle due to congestion like everyone else). Hope that is true as I am probably switching...

You can't beat the price of Amazon Fire tablets - especially if you get the refurbished and ad-supported versions (they display ads on the "off" screens). But, they are slow-ish, and you are locked into the Amazon eco-system - not a problem if you are already an Amazon Prime member. You can get...

The Freedom to roam exists in many European states besides Sweden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam In the US the government has the power to mandate access corridors to public land via easements or eminent domain - and will do so when the rights of average people are found to be...