Costs of Alternatives for Running Fridge - R-pod Owners Forum

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lostagain

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Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
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Topic: Costs of Alternatives for Running Fridge
Posted: 10 Sep 2018 at 11:01pm

We take our propane bottles to the local Tractor Supply which is the cheapest around and fill them. We're charged for the amount they put into the bottle, whether it's fully filled or otherwise. We've got one old tank that I have to do an exchange on for one with a newer manufactured date. Though you pay a little more for the propane, if you search the dates on the tanks, you can get a newer one that has a decent service life without having to hassle with disposing of the aged out tank.

RISE project, earth only 12K years old? hmmmm? I think that's a topic best left for a board that has topics other than rPods.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

GlueGuy

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Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posts: 2630

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 at 8:27pm

Originally posted by jato

Also, remember that when you exchange your propane tank for another you are only getting one that is 75% full verses when you go to a local hardware store, or other that will actually fill you up, it is actually full.

Actually, the amount of propane you get in an exchange varies quite a bit. We've gotten them as low as 75%, but we've also gotten them close to 100% (I weigh them when I get home with them). Unavoidable sometimes, as they "age out". Otherwise I take them to the local gas station that offers propane, and the fill 'em up.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

jato

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Joined: 23 Feb 2012
Location: Kewadin, MI
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Posted: 10 Sep 2018 at 7:50pm

Wow, sun is 5 billion years old? Hmmm. From the RISE project done in the 1990-'s scientists had to capitulate on the age of the earth to no more than 12,000 years and that is on the liberal end. This figure was arrived by looking at the half life of helium, and seeing how much helium is currently in our atmosphere. Life cannot exist w/o this important gas but there is a minimum and maximum amount that is allowable for life to exist as we know it.

Also, remember that when you exchange your propane tank for another you are only getting one that is 75% full verses when you go to a local hardware store, or other that will actually fill you up, it is actually full.

God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."

offgrid

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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290

Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 3:45pm

I installed this cell booster system in my Rpod 179. I clamp the pole for the high gain directional antenna to the flange of the slide. I leave the onmi antenna that comes with the kit on the TV, and move the booster cradle over there while driving. Works quite well 80-90% of the time with the directional antenna, but there actually still has to be a signal to boost. In the bottom of some ot the WV hollows I sometimes camp in, not so much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u47bXmgoIQ

There are lots of other really interesting techy videos on Tom's website. Definitely worth a look,especially the series on his 24V salvaged Tesla battery pack install. 5 kWh battery weighs 55 lbs and is 80-90% useable so more like 4x a dual golf cart setup at half the weight and 10x the cycle life.

We actually use the television quite a bit especially on rainy days so I swapped for a 12V one, only uses about 1.5A.

1 kW of surplus commercial size modules can be had for less than about $400 now. For sure there will be lots of work involved. Should be a fun project.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

lostagain

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Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
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Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 2:46pm

We went one step further, with a savings in energy I might add, and took the tele out of our Pod. Less weight to lug around and we never watched it anyway. If we are desperate to watch a screen with entertainment, tethering the Mac to the cell phone (assuming there is service) works fine for the German romance movies with dubbed Spanish. And we can charge the phone and Mac with the surplus energy we have from our solar panel.

It'd be nice to mount solar panels to the roof, like they did on the wings of Solar Impulse, so that we can run the fridge, but that's an awful lot of work and money to invest for the moment. Camping takes priority.

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

offgrid

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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290

Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 2:20pm

Glueguy, do they still have network TV!?

I haven't had cable for 10 years. No landline either. Streaming only, via cellular data unlimited data plan. Have a cell booster and directional antenna for the Pod. I still get old school Netflix discs in the mail though.

Let me know if you want an extra TV antenna. Once I get that and the roof air off I can cover the whole top of the pod with solar, edge to edge with 72 cell modules which coincidentally are the same length as the pod is wide. I'll just go over top of the fantastic fan and the tank vents.

Where in Norcal are you? I was in Santa Cruz before moving to the OBX. Miss the weather (or more accurately I miss the lack of weather) but not the cost of living.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

GlueGuy

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Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posts: 2630

Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 1:54pm

Originally posted by offgrid

The TV antenna on my pod is kinda a unicorn these days I think, I haven't watched broadcast TV since the 80's. Gotta get that thing off there.

That's how we get all of our network TV these days. There is no such thing as "cable" where we live. Actually, I am loathe to actually pay for TV, so the antenna is the best option.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

offgrid

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Joined: 23 Jul 2018
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Posts: 5290

Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 11:02am

You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game...Science sez so.

The sun has been around about 5 billion years and will be around for another 5 billion. The earth continuously receives 174 petawatts (thats 1.74x10^17 watts) from the sun. Humans use about 18 terawatt hours (1.8x10^13 watt hours) of energy annually. So the earth gets enough solar energy to meet all of humankind's annual energy requirements in about a third of a second. Close enough to perpetual and unlimited free energy for me! Besides, if that's ever not enough we can build a Dyson sphere to capture all the sun's energy. It would block all the starlight though which would spoil the fun sitting around the campfire at night.

The TV antenna on my pod is kinda a unicorn these days I think, I haven't watched broadcast TV since the 80's. Gotta get that thing off there.

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

lostagain

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Location: Quaker Hill, CT
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Posts: 2587

Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 10:13am

Of course there would be additional drag. If you read one of my earlier posts on the topic, you will note that I said there would be extra fuel consumption. There would be additional drag from the device and supports and there would be additional drag caused by the force necessary to move the propeller blades, turn the generator, and move the electrons.

Another element that would have to be investigated in regard to windage would be whether it would be more efficient to mount it fore or aft (like the pusher prop on some home built planes). I wonder how it would affect the wind turbulence following the trailer that the little foil is supposed to help? It could create a lot more drag, thus energy consumption, or it could help reduce it. Some wind tunnel testing may be in order.

Oh, how I wish there was a perpetual motion machine to give us free unlimited energy. But, alas, there isn't. There is always a price to pay, it's a question of trade-offs.

And that's why we don't mount unicorns to the top of Pods either. ... even though they'd really look cool. Wink

Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost

offgrid

Senior Member

Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290

Posted: 08 Sep 2018 at 9:24am

lostagain, I wasn't thinking you were planning to run this thing while towing. Confused

StephenH is 100% right. The good old second law of thermodynamics (you can't break even) would come into play and you would be way way behind trying to convert gasoline into battery charge this way. From a quick look it appears that the turbines are about 40% efficient, and the TV engine is about 20% so overall less than 10% of the chemical energy in the extra fuel burned would be transformed into electrical energy in your battery.

Stow it flat, rig a couple linear actuators to it and wire it to your slide out switch so you can push one button and everything would deploy when you got to the campground. Big smile

1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold