I thought I would jot down some comments about living in an RV. These comments are aimed toward the life footprint side of RV living while boondocking. Boondocking is when you are without hookups, usually in a remote location. I am a single person living in a 27' travel trailer with limited onboard resources. Some motor homes and larger fifth wheel trailers have greater resources onboard. Those larger resources cost money so the more money one spends on and RV, the greater onboard resources one can expect. More people would use resources faster while more resources would last longer. Frugal living conserving as much as possible would decrease resource .

Here is a list of the resources I have in my trailer. The trailer has two 30# propane bottles, two group 24 batteries, a single 120 Watt solar panel, 40 gallons of fresh water and 40 gallon gray and black water tanks. A separate 2000 Watt gasoline powered generator is carried in a storage compartment. Some RVs have a built-in generator known as a gen set, often fueled from the vehicle fuel tank.

The resource consumers are propane for the space heater, water heater, cook stove, and refrigerator. There is a kitchen sink and a full bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower. Lighting and water pump are off 12VDC with additional loads of a CD player and a 175 Watt inverter for the laptop and TV. The refrigerator can be powered with 120 VAC but while boondocking it is powered by propane. Some three way refrigerators can also be powered directly with 12 VDC.

The trailer living space is 26 feet long by 5 feet wide with a 3 ½ by 6 ½ foot dinette slide. Storage space is under the dinette seats, under the front sofa, across the back and under the bed plus additional cabinets. The pickup has a 6 by 5 by 3 shell for additional storage.

My consumption is based on observations from almost two months of camping without hookups. As I gain more experience I will update this article. Without extraordinary measures my fresh water lasts just over a week, gray water tank takes about a week and a half to fill and the black water takes closer to three weeks. My water usage is washing dishes once a day, a shower every other day, and washing and rinsing as needed. If I were more careful I think I stretch out the fresh water to almost two weeks. So far that has not been necessary because water has been available at least once a week. Water can also be brought to the RV in plastic containers. Five gallon and smaller water carriers are available at any RV or camping outlet.

Emptying the holding tanks is a restriction on how long one may boondock. Gray water from the sinks and shower can often be dumped out to water the bushes as long as there is no standing water nearby. Black water on the other hand is a problem; it must be dumped into a functioning sewer system. Waste water containers are available at RV outlets so it is not necessary to move the RV to a dump station. These containers have the same fittings as the waste water drains on an RV. Float valves prevent over filling and wheels make the container easier to move. Do be aware that at about 8.3 pounds per gallon, a 10 gallon container is over 80 pounds when full. The Blue Boy is a brand name used by one manufacture but there are others. Expect to spend $75 to $100 for a 10 gallon container.

It is difficult to move a fully loaded waste water container even if it has wheels. Hitch racks or ramps into the back of a pickup should be used to move the container any distance. The wheels make the unit easier to move but are not designed to be towed behind a vehicle. The outlet fitting is the same as that on the RV so connection to a drain is the same as the RV with the same precautions needed.

When not using heat a propane bottle lasts almost three weeks and with nightly heat it is empty is about a week. I try to use the heater only in the morning but there have been a few nights where I had to turn the heat on all night, usually set to 60. Other uses of propane are the refrigerator, hot water heater, and cook stove. I usually cook only one meal but sometimes make toast in the mornings. I usually turn off the hot water heater until a half or so before needed.

If the days are clear I can go a week or longer without having to recharge the batteries. My night usage is lighting, water pump, and a small inverter to power the laptop battery charger. The heater fan is a heavy user of electricity but a night of the heater on still does not drain the battery to below 50% State of Charge. I would like to add at least one more 120 W panel before winter's shorter days.

Recently I had a battery go bad so had to run the generator every evening. The generator uses less than a gallon of fuel for three evenings of use. The big luxury with the generator is being able to run the microwave. An evenings worth of generator will charge the batteries completely. The generator is a Honda EU2000i and is quiet to the point to almost be unnoticeable.

I am slowly working on more conservation measures. Years of living in a stick house with essentially unlimited resources has ingrained many bad habits. I am working on identifying those habits and making changes.