We finally did it!

[Henry W]

Lots have happened since last week.
We purchased and moved into a 8x25 travel trailer. We've looked at many 25 footers and fell in love with the one I will be writing about. The best thing is its paid for. We made up our mind that we want to stay out of debt and start living a simpler life.
Much more to follow.

Henry

[mobile_bob]

good job Henry!

i know small living isn't for everyone, even though "Og and his old lady" probably lived in a much smaller cave
and apparently were very happy! otherwise we wouldn't be here!



bob g

[LowGear]

The private dream of so many of us out here in possessionland. 

What Benefits, Advantages and Features put you over the edge on your new home?  Got photos or links?  It looks like ag zoned land in Hawaii may be coming into a tiny house arena so I'm looking for ideas.

Congratulations!

Casey

[Thob]

So... do you have plans to travel a lot, or are you staying in a "permanent" location?

What about the shop/engines/etc?  Another trailer?  Shipping container?

[vdubnut62]

Henry you're a better man than I.  After a week at the lake, my 32 footer gets too small
Ron.

[mobile_bob]

when you go "small" you go through several adjustments to get there

first it seems like a good idea...

then it comes down to "what the hell was i thinking"

then comes the giving in stage,  " oh well i guess i am stuck here now"

then comes "hey this isn't as bad as i thought"

and finally "hey this is really cozy" and finally...

"wow, why didn't i do this at 20 years of age"  "just think how much farther ahead i would be now"

these stages take some time, and that time adjusts to the temperament of the individual(s) involved.

remember back after ww2, the 50's?  lots of families did just fine in 900 sq/ft , where mom stayed home
dad worked, and they raised 3-5 kids... that is up to 7 people in 900 sq/ft.  and they didn't kill each other!

bob g

[Henry W]

We shopped around for quite a while. Some 25 footers were horrible with layouts. I have to post some pictures that show the layout. A private entry to the master bedroom is very convenient. Still can have privacy when company is over.

[Henry W]

Here is the layout

[LowGear]

I live in a 16 by 24 foot apartment three months of the year.  You remember Pig Pen in Peanuts?  A very close cousin.    I still don't mind it but every visit I throw stuff away.  A shopping bag here and a shopping bag there - it ads up.  I've noticed when I'm at home - a normal sized house for the US - I really don't use much more of the space than I do when I'm at the apartment.  I should mention the ceilings are 6' 1" high at the apartment.  And of course I painted the walls and ceiling flat black.  

I look at these tiny houses and their whooping price tags and then look at travel trailers.  I get some of the tiny houses but the vast majority of people would simply be better served by a used Air Stream like trailer.

The two doors on your unit is also an incredible safety feature.  The house I live in now has two doors to every room except the utility room and it's 5' X 10' with the door centered on the interior wall.  Yes, the bathrooms have two doors as well.  The regular one and then a glass slider to a planting area.  The house is pre-ventilation fans.

I once saw a cube styled truck on a fairy in Washington state and though little about it until I walked past the back and there I was going across Puget Sound looking directly into a couples front room.  Amazing.  My first tiny house experience but I'm sure if I had the wits to move into small I'd go the travel trailer route as well.

Casey

[BruceM]

One thing to watch out for in small spaces and trailers-  watch for inverter/charger units under sitting and bed space. The EMF levels are extremely high in close proximity and has caused some serious health problems for some.  Having low magnetic fields and an absence of screaming on the Am radio between stations closer to wiring in the bedroom is particularly important.   

The Radio Shack model 12-467 AM radio is particularly good to use as a poor man's "near field sniffer" to check home wiring.   It's tuner is easily swamped by EMI.  It's still available on ebay, usually.  It will also let you hear your gadgets such as LED lights, EMI on inverter AC, dimmers, etc.

[Henry W]

The inverter is under the refrigerator. If it is an issue a Faraday cage might help.

[BruceM]

Shielding of the inverter isn't as simple as putting a faraday cage around it, since all AC wiring is connected and will radiate as well.  But the near field magnetic fields (a wavelength or less distance) will be strongest near the inverter.  If it's a high frequency sine type, then welded mild steel is somewhat useful.  If it's a low frequency design,  mu-metal is needed.  In both cases, you might achieve 60% reduction, which is not enough.

Anyone who sleeps in the convertabed sofa should NOT have their head towards the refrigerator/inverter. You should NEVER sit there near the refrigerator with that inverter charger on, in my opinion.  Both AM radio and ELF magnetic field meters will show you that this is an extreme, off the scale situation.

If at all possible, I'd suggest disconnecting it entirely. At the very least,  turn it off at night.

I know several people who have had their lives destroyed by inverter/charger units in their home or RV  living space. Two of them died quite young, after years of misery. 

About the only way to find a worse situation would be to have your bedroom wall be inside a bank of smart meters in an apartment complex.

[LowGear]

Hi Bruce,

Just to digress another moment from travel trailer life.  What have you heard about the micro-inverters?  One per panel.

Casey

[BruceM]

The current trend in grid tie solar is a very bad situation, health-wise.  Two systems have prevailed for being cheap and easy to configure.  Micro Inverters or the Buck converters at every panel.  The high frequency switching buck converters at every panel boost panel output voltage to a regulated 350VDC.  Handy and makes the inverter easier but this means you've got bad EMI sources at every panel, just like the microinverters.  You can't do a decent job of filtering at every panel because of both cost, and because there is no good high frequency ground available on a roof.  

What would have made more sense from a health standpoint was to keep the panels clean DC in series to make the voltage high enough to be practical with smaller wires, and keeping the whole roof system clean DC  by filtering that side of the inverter.  And then filter the AC side of the filter so you don't trash the entire home (and neighbor's) power with high frequency EMI.  None of your home wiring is shielded, so this is just plain stupid technically from a public health standpoint. The big plus is that at least it's off at night, but that doesn't help pre-school kids and their moms.

[veggie]

Nice Henry !

Is there a bank of solar panels coming soon ?
Maybe a 2.5 kw system to offset most of your loads ?

veggie