Trying to choose an AIO for my Skoolie

[Frick]

Nothing I saw was 240.
honestly, I think you are over estimating usage. Two units is a huge thing to fit in a Skoolie( I used to design and build skoolies) and I never had more than 5k. I did add a soft start to the AC on the main cabin and left the bedroom ac on shore or gen power only. That drastically reduced start up loads. Everything else can be managed in the sense of just understanding what you are using and not running a portable heater and electric skillet and ac and hair dryer all at once.

Possibly more money but midnite makes a nice midnite/magnum combo on an e-panel that is mostly pre wired. Quality stuff, buy it once and it will serve you well. i have shipped those out with lithium’s or gel agm batteries and 6 big panels on the roof and people have lived fully off grid from there forward Without sacrifices. A gen is a nice back up in A 3 day white out snow storm you meant to avoid… a Honda 2200 or 3000 is usually enough.

propane is nice, use it for cooking, hot water when you don’t have the spare juice to heat the tank, and an emergency furnace for when It is super cold and there isnot much power.

you are calculating using everything all at once and that isn’t really realistic. also, beware as others have said the parasitic draw of units.

also, keep the panels close to the roof ( not flat top, angle them to match the roof line) or you will get mad windage issues while driving in a crosswind. Wyoming and Nevada, I’m looking at you…

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

The portable washing machine description says "use 120V 60GH"
How much water does the washing machine use?

I noted that down from the manual so I could remember it. It seemed important. It has a 1.6 cu ft capacity. I cannot find the exact water it uses, but it has small, medium, and large with that capacity. It's considered a portable washer for RV/Dorms, etc.

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

honestly, I think you are over estimating usage

I think it was so I didn't get too small of a system.

midnite makes a nice midnite/magnum combo on an e-panel that is mostly pre wired.

This isn't something I have looked at.... hopefully I will be able to understand it.

propane is nice, use it for cooking, hot water

we will be running our oven/stove and hot water heater off of propane.

emergency furnace for when It is super cold and there isnot much power.

We will have a wood stove.

Thanks for your help @Frick

 

[John Frum]

I noted that down from the manual so I could remember it. It seemed important. It has a 1.6 cu ft capacity. I cannot find the exact water it uses, but it has small, medium, and large with that capacity. It's considered a portable washer for RV/Dorms, etc.

I'm not sure what "60GH" means.
Sure hope it isn't 60 gallons per hour .

I commented earlier in the thread about all in ones not handling the neutral/ground bond properly in a mobile environment.
Its a pretty important consideration.
Important enough that I draw your attention to it again.

 

[Frick]

I noted that down from the manual so I could remember it. It seemed important. It has a 1.6 cu ft capacity. I cannot find the exact water it uses, but it has small, medium, and large with that capacity. It's considered a portable washer for RV/Dorms, etc.

Some are rated gallons per cycle and some just don’t…. if It doesn’t say you’ll have to run it and let it dump to a trash can and measure it.

 

[FilterGuy]

OK Good. All 120V. That makes it simpler.

I am really glad you put together a worst-case spreadsheet. Now you can go into the planning with a better understanding of what it would take to do everything and what trade-offs will mean.

As noted before, the listed wattage on devices is almost always higher than the actual wattage. Consequently, the battery size and solar array size is probably over-estimated in the spreadsheet. If you can measure the current and/or wattage on any of them, it will help refine the estimates.

The trade-off will almost certainly be around convenience and comfort. If you used a 3000W inverter, you would be able to use any of the items listed, but won't be able to use them all at once. Along the same vein, if you install a modest-sized battery and solar array, you can use the AC for short periods, but not 24x7.

If this was just a vacation RV, I would say put in a single 3000W inverter and accept that the AC, Hairdryer, Air fryer, and dryer can't all run at the same time. However, you mentioned it might become a long-term/permanent dwelling.... and that changes things. What is acceptable for short-term inconvenience may get kinda old in the long term. However, there is one more variable that may help: When it is parked for long-term dwelling, will there be access to shore power?

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

Some are rated gallons per cycle and some just don’t…. if It doesn’t say you’ll have to run it and let it dump to a trash can and measure it.

It's brand new and still in our house so I have not used it yet.

 

[Frick]

I think it was so I didn't get too small of a system.

This isn't something I have looked at.... hopefully I will be able to understand it.

we will be running our oven/stove and hot water heater off of propane.

We will have a wood stove.

Thanks for your help @Frick

If you do the wood stove, be sure your insurance company doesnot have that as a named disqualification. Most do. also, driving with a wood stove is a pain, you have to make sure you close the flue well. Then there is the issue of venting intake air for it, which it will suck around your windows and freeze your bedroom while your living room is warm. An intake right under the stove of at least 3” to the outside is usually a good way to mitigate.

here’s the factory page on the magnum combo

Product - MidNite Solar

MidNite Solar Product Page.

www.midnitesolar.com

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

I'm not sure what "60GH" means.
Sure hope it isn't 60 gallons per hour .

@smoothJoey it was a typo it's 120v/60Hz

 

[Dzl]

If you do the wood stove, be sure your insurance company doesnot have that as a named disqualification

Very important point, as it seems almost all insurance companies do explicitly refuse to allow/cover woodstoves.

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

When it is parked for long-term dwelling, will there be access to shore power?

It would all depend on the land we buy. We definitely won't be hopping from place to place forever. The traveling we would do would just probably be for a really fun empty-nester type of road trip while we look for that place we want to be permanently.

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

Very important point, as it seems almost all insurance companies do explicitly refuse to allow/cover woodstoves.

Are people just driving around with them - hoping they don't get caught? It's so misleading then. Our bus is still titled as a Commercial for Personal Use - so, since it isn't titled as an RV yet.... we do have insurance, but it's just parked on a side yard and I assumed the rules were for it as it is titled. They also said no roof decks.... but so many people have those too.

 

[Dzl]

Are people just driving around with them - hoping they don't get caught? It's so misleading then. Our bus is still titled as a Commercial for Personal Use - so, since it isn't titled as an RV yet.... we do have insurance, but it's just parked on a side yard and I assumed the rules were for it as it is titled. They also said no roof decks.... but so many people have those too.

Insuring skoolies is a can of worms, insuring skoolies with roof decks or wood stoves makes it exponentially harder (to do above board). I think often what people do (and I am certainly not recommending it) is get insurance, provide pictures if needed, then add the woodstove or roof deck after the fact once insurance and registration are behind them. All fine and well until you actually need the insurance, and then all bets are off. As much as I like both ideas in concept, I wouldn't risk it. But maybe there are ways that are less sketchy. You certainly do see a ton of people with them. Where I am currently camped there are at least 4 vehicles I see chimneys on (no skoolies, but all DIY builds). A good resource for all things skoolie + insurance related is Skoolie.net, here is one post on wood stoves and insurance, there are others.

 

[Frick]

Are people just driving around with them - hoping they don't get caught? It's so misleading then. Our bus is still titled as a Commercial for Personal Use - so, since it isn't titled as an RV yet.... we do have insurance, but it's just parked on a side yard and I assumed the rules were for it as it is titled. They also said no roof decks.... but so many people have those too.

Oh, here’s the dark side to skoolies…
ok, first off there is been a huge push of rv parks being legislated to only accept new RV’s, like 7-10 years old, and specifically no home built. There are companies that certify rv’s and it’s unlikely you could get one. That’s a problem. Then there is the letter of the law, which last I checked (2 years ago) there was not a single place you could legally use an rv for a primary dwelling. Code violation.

so driving around fine, visiting relatives and such fine (don’t go to California, that’s a long story but it is a super rv unfriendly place now), boondocking great. Big fancy rv parks…. Eh, call ahead. As far as options, Thousand trails is one of the on,y ones that is a nationwide network and has no rv age limit (as of two years ago). Can be a good deal, can be a bad deal, if interested ask me. That’s it’s own post of the lore, legends, contacts and what you can get away with. I used it, lived for $50 a month all inclusive.
definitely don’t drive around with commercial tags, you are fair game to every state highway inspection and weigh in. They can be a-holes, they will find wacky things wrong you can’t fix. Title as an rv, just drive by. The rooftop acs are one way they identify you by camera and don’t hassle you.

 

[John Frum]

ok, first off there is been a huge push of rv parks being legislated to only accept new RV’s, like 7-10 years old, and specifically no home built.

I hope that means a buyers market for 10+ year old RVs.

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

here’s the factory page on the magnum combo

I might have to find a YT video on this tomorrow.

 

[Frick]

people do live in them, some places it’s normal, others don’t mind if you are a good neighbor. There’s tricks too, like buy land with a crappy mobile home. It legally has no value but counts as a primary dwelling. That officially you live in 51% of the time. Also, it gives you easy to connect to utiliites for your skoolie.

many places have allowences for living in an rv to renovate a home. Once the code officer shows ( highly unlikely most everywhere unless you are pissing people off) then you still have 6 months to “ show” you are living in whatever house is on property.

roof decks are great, I love them, but your roof is likely to be all solar panels…

also, if you plan a wood stove, you’ll Be somewhere it gets cold. If it gets freezing, think about your fresh and grey/black water system. water freezes in hours if uninsulated or heated. Batteries too don’t like cold, lithium likes it even less.

things to think about.

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

roof decks are great, I love them, but your roof is likely to be all solar panels…

We have no desire for a roof-top deck... just remembered that from when I got our policy on our bus.

also, if you plan a wood stove, you’ll Be somewhere it gets cold. If it gets freezing, think about your fresh and grey/black water system. water freezes in hours if uninsulated or heated

My husband worked in insulation for a long time... started as an installer and worked to production mgr, sales, and then became a GM for a new branch in Charlotte - so LUCKILY... we are very well insulated in our bus. We only have grey - no black, as we have a composting toilet. I do know the compartment around our grey tank will be insulated. We will probably start researching a backup non-electric heat source.

people do live in them, some places it’s normal, others don’t mind if you are a good neighbor.

We hope to get at least 10 acres. Also my mom is retired and widowed, so we are thinking of maybe encouraging her to look with us - buy a house on a large piece of land and we will just park it somewhere on the property and share it with her.

 

[FilterGuy]

We hope to get at least 10 acres. Also my mom is retired and widowed, so we are thinking of maybe encouraging her to look with us - buy a house on a large piece of land and we will just park it somewhere on the property and share it with her.

Do you expect to have grid access on the land?

 

[The_Kobayashi_Vroom]

Product - MidNite Solar

MidNite Solar Product Page.

www.midnitesolar.com

All the information on this on YT is 1 year old +