A solar water heater from trash for your RV

Solar hot water heaters use the sun to warm up water in a collector to provide hot water with no use of your fuel. The principle behind the collector is very simple and many materials can be used to build one. Someone in China has used beer bottles in their design and the Brazilian army used beer bottles and milk containers to heat water for 50 soldiers. There are instructions for doing this is you decide you want a cheap hot water source.

How does the soda bottle collector work?
The heat of the sun is absorbed by a black pipe that is filled with water. In order to increase the heat you surround the pipe with a soft drink bottle to provide insulation. The insulation lets sunlight in and traps the heat so it works like a greenhouse. You can use pvc pipe painted black or copper pipe painted black. The rule of thumb is 1 square foot per 2 gallons of water. So if you want to heat 8 gallons, make the collector 2 foot by 2 foot. Cut the bottle at the top and bottom then glue each bottle together.

Many bottles will work
You can add as many pipes as you would like and make them as long as you would like to get the amount of water you desire. However, when boondocking you need to conserve water, so don't make it too large. Any bottle made of glass or PET can be used to insulate the pipes so you have a lot of material to select from. The picture shows green beer bottles that someone in china used to heat water. Whatever you select, this is a good way to recycle material that would only end up in the land fill. In addition, you save propane.

Themosiphon connection
When taking advantage of the thermosiphon technique, the cold water input needs to come from the bottom of the tank and the hot water returns to the top. The collector needs to be lower than the tank for this to work. A thermosiphon technique is good because it doesn't have a pump that uses up your battery and could fail.

The bottle over pipe collector is just one way to get low cost hot water but it is rather easy to implement without any special tools. If you want to experiment, this is a great way to do it without spending very much money.

Vagabond on the road

The best place to park your home in the summer is underneath a tree as long as you aren't worried about the tree falling on you. It reduces the sun load on your metal walls keeping your inside temperature at a minimum. In the winter, it is just the opposite, you want to absorb as much sun as possible to minimize the amount of heat you need to add to stay warm. All this is well and good but parking in the shade underneath the trees isn't always good for your solar and wind turbine charging system. So you have to make a trade off between what is best for your total system.

Solar hot water heater
The solar water heater is another system that needs plenty of sun so it is in contrast to keeping your home cool also. I am experimenting with a portable system that I can relocate to a sunny location then reconnect to the RV systems once the water is ready for use. My RV  uses a 6 gallon water heater meaning that water would weigh 50 pounds. However, I don't use 6 gallons of hot water per day. I use a gallon and a half for a shower so a 2 gallon tank would work just fine for me. That would be a more manageable 17 pounds of water plus the weight of the Solar collector.

My portable shower
My portable shower uses a garden sprayer built from HDPE and colored black. They are available in the hardware store. I can locate the garden sprayer in the sun on a reflector and it heats up nicely. The sprayer can then be pumped up to provide pressure for taking a nice outside shower. While this is handy, I would like to be able to take an indoor shower since I have one in the RV but I would like to save propane. This means I need to build a solar water heater that I can connect to the existing RV system. One way to do this is to pump up the garden sprayer to transfer the hot water to my existing tank.

Mixing of water
A good hot shower will have water between 105 -120 degrees. So if you are mixing the cold water in the water heater with the warm water in the solar storage tank, you will need hotter water than 120 to mix with the tank water. If you heat up 2 gallons of water to 130 and mix it with two gallons of water at 70 degrees, you will get a nice shower temperature. The shower will have to come 100% from the hot water tank of 100 degree water.

Easy but unsightly
This can be used in remote locations but those campsites won't appreciate it at all. A coil of black hose left in the sun will heat water very well. Turn the water on as a trickle and let it run into a bucket, garden sprayer, or back into your tank. The water gets hotter based on the amount of time it stays in the hose. It is a solar version of the tankless water heater.

More compact portable version
I am looking to add an attachment that will allow me to keep the functionality of my propane hot water heater while adding a solar adjunct to the system for use while boondocking. I will need some quick connect fitting and a small enough package to move easily to a sun location. It must also look reasonable good for those camping areas that care. I will post more about this again.

The call of the wild is strong in this one

When you are looking at ways to hitch up your wagon and become a vagabond, you will find two types of vehicles: the motor home and the truck pulled trailer. Each of these has its own advantages and disadvantages. What I found was the more miles you drive, the better off you are with a motor home. You don't have to set it up and everything is at your fingertips while moving. If you like to stay in one place for a while and drive to see the local sites, you are better off with a trailer. The trailer has the advantage that you can replace your vehicle or replace your trailer if you wish to upgrade. You can also travel around without your trailer much cheaper. When you don't drive many miles or set up very often, the motor home loses it advantage I think.

Call of the wild
If you are feeling the call of the road, all you need is to purchase your home and hit the road. Many people spend years trying to save the money to buy that home while those years will never return. Buy what you can now and hit the trail. I read where one couple went to the salvage yard and fixed up an old motor home. It got them on the road the only way they knew how to do it. Don't wait for that big lottery win that may never come. You can work along the way. The important thing is just to get started now because who knows what will happen tomorrow. The people are friendly, the lifestyle is relaxed, and the scenery is beautiful. It is like being on vacation the rest of your life.

A life of significance, not just accumulating wealth.
Ever wanted to know what life will be like in your retirement years? Take a day and head on over to the closest elderly care facility. Spend a day talking to several of the residents about what they did after they retire. After a few hours of learning for you and much needed visitation for them, you will learn that life is about living those wonderful experiences while you can do it today. Wealth is accumulated in your memories while happiness is reliving the best of times and laughing about the worst of times. Hear the call and answer it without fear. You will never regret the changes it makes in your life.

Do you remember your childhood experiences?

In a colossal waste of money, the US government funded a study that showed that people are happier when the pay for an experience instead of possessions. That house and car you spend your money on don't make you happy but that trip you took to the islands to scuba dive stays in your thoughts for a long time. You talk about it and relive it many times. Who didn't know that? All you childhood memories are of things you did not those new shoes you wore to school.

The Simple Life is about the experiences
When you live the simple life, you do away with unneeded possession and substitute experiences. These experiences are easier because you are no longer tied to heavy debt to pay for those possessions. More and more people are figuring this out as money is scare during the depression but they are really enjoying their experiences instead of buying a new house or fancy new car.

Possessions versus experiences
Change your life by taking away one of your possessions like cable, cell phone, or any unneeded but desired item. Take that money and do something you have always wanted to do. Plan it, look forward to it, do it, and relive it. These are the experiences that define us and we talk about in old age. Make a list of different experiences and start doing the local ones first. Soon, your experiences will define you and not your possessions. Life is all about the journey.

Vagabonds in the 21st century life style

There are many ways to live as a vagabond from roaming in that $300,000 RV to hiking the back roads with all your possessions on your back. I surveyed them all and selected something in the middle that was frugal enough to let me retire early and enjoy life while I still had my health. The simple life I live in a small bumper pulled trailer that minimizes my costs but still allows me to work those jobs designed for full time RVers. The life is simple and I have lots of time for the things I enjoy. Work is now a very small part of my life and living life as I want to is the objective.

Working
There are many ways to work and live in an RV. Trading work for a small amount of funds and or a campsite with utilities can be found in National Parks, National Forest, or Bureau of Land Management sites. You will get views that rival the best ones in the US. Volunteering can be done at many non profits that will provide you with a place to park your RV. Pick your favorite type of charity and don't forget habitat for humanity. Amazon and UPS hire Rvers to work the holiday rush for gifts and packages. They provide you a place to park and a good pay rate. Don't forget hosting at those private campgrounds. Trading days, flea markets, and other shows will hire temporary workers or you can sell your own creations there. There is work to be done and as long as you are willing, the compensation is sufficient to live as a vagabond.

Inexpensive places to stay
Overnight stays from 1 to 3 days can be found at Wal Mart, truck stops, rest stops, and city parks. Some city parks even have utilities. Many more places can be found where you can boondock or dry camp with only the utilities you bring with you. The National Forests allow boondocking that is called dispersed camping. The Bureau of Land Management( BLM) maintains long term visitor areas that are low cost with some utilities provided for your RV. BLM sites are also available for a 14 day stay with no cost but you have to be totally self contained because they don't have anything but a place to park. Some of the best views in this country are available to those who know where they can park for free.

Equipment
Whether you are boondocking or in a full service campground, additional equipment can make your experience more sustainable, frugal, or just easier. Thermal cookers help in many ways while power for boondocking can come from green sources like wind turbines and solar panels. Solar hot water heaters save on propane and solar ice makers can provide refrigeration on just ice for those cool drinks. Solar ovens minimize heating up your RV while reducing your fossil fuel use.

Hints
Experienced full time RVers have many hints to pass on like how to save money on hot water, managing your electric systems, and how much propane do you use. Learn how to barter, brew beer on the road, use a pressure cooker to save cooking time, or just the different types of lifestyles people live on the road. Don't forget the cooking equipment that makes your favorite meals like a good Dutch oven. Safety equipment from weather radios to personal transponders can make you feel more comfortable enjoying the quiet of that remote campsite.

Everyone can hitch a trailer to the vehicle from a small light weight teardrop to a 5th wheel on a full ton pickup. Figure out your budget, pick your home, and enjoy the life of a vagabond where enjoying life trumps making money.

I will be your God

One of my favorite passages in the bible is when God says, "You will be my people and I will be your God." Exodus 6:7. It is a relationship between us and God that goes both ways. He didn't say that he made us to be his servants but that it would be a relationship between us and him. "I will be your God." is a covenant that he will always be there for us. He is the provider of our wealth which isn't the wealth as defined by the world. You don't need bigger barns to hold it. You need a bigger heart to give away the extra.

My simple life is designed around the premise that we should only use the resources that we need and share the rest with others. The excess is not to be hoarded as possessions. So, without this over abundance of possessions or wealth as defined by society, I have more choices to be free. I am free to go where I want and free to do many more things in life. The requirements for a simple life are met easily many more ways that the desire to have an abundance of possessions. You work less, enjoy what life has to offer much more.

You won't find the simple life taught at many churches today. No pastor stands up and reminds us to sell all our possessions and follow Jesus for he has too many possessions himself. So, will you follow the lead of society to store as much wealth as you can or adopt the principals of the simple life? If you aren't happy working feverishly for that wealth, perhaps it is time to do something different before you journey is over. Live simple and you will live free.