Northern Colorado references

[DebraOak]

I hope this is the right place to post this question.

   My Hyundai died recently (how poetic) and I replaced it with a wonderful (or wanderful) 2011 limited Rav4. I am fixing to prep it for long-term camping and eventually (this time next year) full-time living. Most immediately, I want enough insulation, which I'm doing, and electrical to attend the 2019 RTR self-sufficiently.

     I'm making the reflectix window coverings this weekend, and I intend to hire out the electrical. I want safe juice for my laptop, phone, heater and food cooler. Any suggestions on how to find that type of help in northern Colorado is much welcome because the whole discussion on hooking and then using inverters and batteries and solar make my head spin. I know when I need help. Appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Moxadox]

Is there a reason you can't use an inverter like this https://www.tripplite.com/400w-powe...erter-2-outlets-2-usb-charging-ports~PV400USB
which would plug into any of the cigarette lighter-like things in your car? I had one that ran all kinds of stuff. What you need to do is decide which things are absolutely essential to have running all the time, like your cooler, and find out what the wattage is. (Remember that when your car is running, you can access all that power if you run off the 12 volt (cigarette lighter). I even had a 12v hairdryer at one time! Truck stops are a gold mine for 12v stuff, because truckers live on the road.) Anyway, add up the wattage of what you want to run off the inverter--that will be ONLY stuff that runs on 110. The 12v appliances don't count, because they will plug into a cigarette lighter and not the inverter. Then go online and find an inverter, like the one here, that matches your needs. If you want too much, that's a sign that you need to reconsider what your wants are, and go through and prioritize.

I know what you mean about the electronics making your head spin. It does mine too. It's a fact of mobile life, though, and we must firmly screw our heads back on and make an effort, because it's guaranteed that some dark night on some deserted back road, something is bound to malfunction, and if we don't have at least a rudimentary understanding of how our stuff works, we're going to be SOL in some way or another. It's not like living in a S&B where you can put in a call to the power company if your lights go out!

The Dire Wolfess

 

[DebraOak]

That sounds like an excellent place to start my studies, Maxadox! Well done and thank you. I don't want much but I do want my laptop and phone, we'll see how much wattage I need. Homework time. Oh, got my reflectix and felt and butcher paper for tracing. Going to make my insultated and black out window coverings soon.

 

[Moxadox]

The 400 will be plenty. Some older laptops are energy hogs, especially if you have a DVD drive and a mechanical (not FLASH) hard drive. Newer ones, not so much. You might also consider one of these, that you can charge while you're driving and store lots of energy for later:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDK2G2C/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_0d2GBbM3H725Z

The Dire Wolfess