Friday, March 22, 2013
Cats in a Van
Having cats in an RV year around seems nuts. It is. But the more I revisit the insanity of my decision to live in an RV with cats, the more I realize just how well my toilet training worked. Having cats that use the human toilet instead of a litter box, and use it reliably 99.5% of the time, has been the only possible way to have these critters. No stench, no litter, no problem. The cats seem to like it because their toilet is always clean. Since they don't come in contact with their bio-matter anymore, their paws and coats have also cleaned up. Vomiting is down to maybe once every month and a half. It has been a colossal experiment, but one that I can safely say is a total success. It has been so nice to just flush the toilet and not have to deal with stinky shit in the open air. Once it's in water, it's a far less stinky ordeal. I was concerned that the whole house would stink of their stuff when I first started this, due to the small volume of the interior, but it just hasn't been the case. It's like having a couple of toilet trained house elves, rather than litter-box using cats. Pretty crazy.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Winter in an RV? Ha!
Only a couple days to go until it's officially Spring. I think I'll take an early victory lap. I realized the other day that I've officially made it through Winter in an RV at 7,200 feet. Wind... cold... snow... whatever. It's an especially strange thing because there were foundation houses with pipes freezing, even University buildings with frozen pipes in the town. Then there I was in my house on wheels and didn't have a single day of frozen pipes. I guess all that winterizing work I did was a total win.
The skirt didn't pop a single snap, the water line never froze, and the sewer compartment stayed near the freezing point on the COLDEST nights thrown at me. All in all, I'd say it was a near total success.
However, I have learned a couple things about living in an RV during Winter. The first is that you have to be prepared to not always be toasty warm -- I knew this, but it's definitely a reality. The second is that the windows are where most energy will be lost. Last, humidity is a problem during Winter because you can't easily vent it. It will freeze around the metal window and door frames on the coldest days.
For next year, I'll be installing a heater in the water compartment in fear of the next winter being worse than this one. I may also install a second backup heater in the sewer compartment for the same reason. It would also be nice to find a way to insulate the skirt, so I can achieve even better energy efficiency. I will also be insulating all of the windows for next year to make it more energy efficient.
How was living in the RV in winter? Well, it was exactly what I thought it would be -- Cozy, cool, but totally livable. Days when the sun was shining, even if it was 10 degrees outside, the interior would hold above 60 degrees during the day. As I predicted, the temperature gradient in the beast was definitely extreme with cold temps near the windows and warm temps in the middle of the room, but that's totally liveable. It was like living in a tiny house or apartment, but with the knowledge that I can unplug and go away any time I'm ready. That's a great feeling.
The skirt didn't pop a single snap, the water line never froze, and the sewer compartment stayed near the freezing point on the COLDEST nights thrown at me. All in all, I'd say it was a near total success.
However, I have learned a couple things about living in an RV during Winter. The first is that you have to be prepared to not always be toasty warm -- I knew this, but it's definitely a reality. The second is that the windows are where most energy will be lost. Last, humidity is a problem during Winter because you can't easily vent it. It will freeze around the metal window and door frames on the coldest days.
For next year, I'll be installing a heater in the water compartment in fear of the next winter being worse than this one. I may also install a second backup heater in the sewer compartment for the same reason. It would also be nice to find a way to insulate the skirt, so I can achieve even better energy efficiency. I will also be insulating all of the windows for next year to make it more energy efficient.
How was living in the RV in winter? Well, it was exactly what I thought it would be -- Cozy, cool, but totally livable. Days when the sun was shining, even if it was 10 degrees outside, the interior would hold above 60 degrees during the day. As I predicted, the temperature gradient in the beast was definitely extreme with cold temps near the windows and warm temps in the middle of the room, but that's totally liveable. It was like living in a tiny house or apartment, but with the knowledge that I can unplug and go away any time I'm ready. That's a great feeling.
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