Author: Chelsea Barron
If you are looking for ways to conserve electricity while Boondocking you are in the right place! Boondocking is a fabulous way to see our amazing country. It gets you off the grid and out into the thick of nature, something that not many people have the opportunity to experience. Obviously, this is absolutely incredible, and something all RVers should take advantage of.
That said, there are some drawbacks to boondocking. The biggest one? A lack of hookups. When you’re out in the middle of the desert or a huge forest, you can’t very well expect to find a handy outlet or water spigot, and this means you’re on your own when it comes to finding and conserving water and power.
Fortunately, there are ways to go about this. In this article we are going to give some pointers on how to conserve electricity in your RV so you can fully enjoy your nature adventure.
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Finding old-school tools and appliances that don’t use electricity can be hugely helpful in your conservation mission. For instance, a manual coffee grinder will save a bit of power each and every morning, and a stovetop tea kettle will remove the need to use an electric version.
Find enough of these kinds of tools and you’ll be off to an excellent start.
Related Read: Boondocking Essentials- Everything You Need For a Successful Dry Camping Trip
Not In Use? Turn It Off
Clearly you’ll want to turn off any electric items that aren’t in use. This is something we are taught as children, and it applies even more so when boondocking. That said, there are some extra steps you may want to take when trying hard to reduce the amount of power you’re using.
For one thing, your water pump should be turned off between uses. The pump tends to draw small amounts of power the entire time it’s on, meaning that a pump that’s left on constantly could cause a real problem.
Other energy vampires are the electronics you plug into the wall. Therefore, you will want to unplug these items when not in use, and you may even consider turning off the inverter if you don’t need it.
Switch to LED Lights
LED lights use significantly less electricity than any other type of light. For this reason, switching all the lights in your RV to LED lights is actually enormously helpful. Don’t want to take on such a project? Consider mounting stick-on battery-operated LED lights throughout the camper to provide light without sucking any power from your house battery.
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Use Daylight to Your Advantage
Of course, you can also avoid turning on lights by using daylight to your advantage. Complete all tasks that require lots of light before the sun goes down, and use the late evening hours to sit around the campfire and take in the sounds of nature at night.
Not only does this save power, it also forces you to slow down and truly enjoy the amazing things around you.
Controlling the temperature in your RV becomes a lot more difficult when you don’t have electricity. In order to keep things comfortable without draining your battery or running a generator, be smart about where you park.
If the weather is warm, park under the shade of a tree and use your awning to keep things nice and shady. In colder temps, try parking in direct sunlight to make use of the small amount of warmth Mother Nature is willing to give.
Skip the Furnace
Believe it or not, an RV furnace fan is a huge power suck. Therefore, you will want to skip using the furnace whenever possible. Dress warmly and wear socks and a hat while hanging out in your chilly home-on-wheels. You’ll also find it helps to pile plenty of blankets on the bed.
If you must turn on your RV furnace, try doing so for a few minutes to warm things up before turning it off again.
Invest in a Mr. Buddy Heater
For those who camp during the winter, going without heat simply isn’t an option. In these cases, we recommend leaving the RV furnace off and investing in a Mr. Buddy Portable Propane Heater.
These little guys are small but mighty, and can easily warm up a camper in no time at all. They use less propane than your RV furnace and do not require a power source, meaning you’ll save tons of power by using this in place of the furnace.
Just be sure to crack a window while using it! Otherwise you’ll trip the low-oxygen sensor that shuts off the unit, which is obviously a great safety feature to have, but might leave you waking up in the middle of the cold night to get it started again.
Open the Windows
On hot days, it can be tempting to leave the vent fan running all day long. That said, this is a really quick way to drain your battery. Instead of running that fan, try opening up all the windows to take advantage of the breeze blowing through the rig. As long as there is some sort of wind, this should cool things off nicely without any power usage.
Use Battery-Operated Fans
Need to create your own breeze? Turn to battery-operated fans. There are tons of battery-operated fans on the market, and they will work wonders when it comes to making you more comfortable in a hot RV.
Try placing the fans near open windows for an extra nice breeze, or have the fan blow across a bowl of ice for a makeshift air conditioner.
If you’re worried about cost and waste, use rechargeable batteries and keep a few precharged sets on hand in order to avoid purchasing new batteries on a regular basis.
Charge Up in the Car (or Truck)
You will almost certainly have devices (including those rechargeable batteries) that need to be recharged during your time in the wilderness. Instead of using your house battery to charge everything up, take these items in the car or truck with you on outings and charge everything up while you’re driving.
You might even consider investing in a second house battery to charge during these jaunts, so you always have a charged battery without ever running a noisy generator.
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Boondocking, Camping Gear + Accessories, Education, Green Living, RV Tips, Survival