New 177 Owner and Thoughts

Welcome!  Looks like you have covered most of the usual suspects, I would add the noise of the A/C... maybe you haven't discovered that yet.  

Unfortunately while the major appliances are the smallest possible (except the fridge, which is a good thing), they are still too big for the small pods.  For the heater and A/C this means they are very loud.  The blower in the heater must blow hard enough to trigger the "sail switch", which is a safety switch that kills the burner if something goes wrong (including a low battery while boondocking).  The only way to make it quieter would be to slow it down or make the blower smaller, either of which wouldn't allow the sail switch to trigger - of it did just a slightly low battery would cause the heater to shut off.

There are two solutions.  With hookups, do what you've done and use a small electric heater.  Off-grid look at the Olympic Wave 3 catalytic heater, which can be connected to the pod's propane system inside using quick-disconnects so it can be moved outside on chilly nights.  An alternative is the Big Buddy catalytic heater.  Both heaters have safety shutoffs, don't use any battery power and are silent.

As for the A/C, I've investigated alternatives in this thread, with my most recent conclusion that the only reasonably priced solution is to mount a 5000 btu window unit on the tongue, then modify it to duct the air in/out of the pod and weather proof the control panel.  I haven't ventured to that yet.  Our solution for now has been to keep the blower set to "on" and "low" all the time so most of the time it doesn't wake us up when the compressor kicks on.  During the day I'll set the blower to "auto" so in-between compressor cycles we can still talk.

We added memory foam to the top of the factory mattress and are fine with it now.

Most people here see 10-12 mpg no matter what they drive, its the nature of the beast.  The pod looks aerodynamic, but it isn't.

Others here use covers all the time, some only during the winter.

We had the same problem with our furnace the first time out in the late fall. The first time the furnace kicked in I thought the trailer was going to take off, even the floor was vibrating, but I was able to reduce the noise by about 50%. Now when the furnace comes on, I find it kind of soothing. Here is what I did:

Marwayne,

On further thinking, just about anybody who posts here has a lot of Pod experience.  You really can't go wrong with any of the suggestions.  Marwayne, in my opinion, is truly a mod afficionado.  He is obviously very capable in woodworking and all of the other disciplines.  I'm not sure the factory would recognize his Rpod.  All his mods are well thought out and well executed.  I only wish I were half as handy as he is.  If you replace the mattress at the get go, you will have done the most for a single mod to make your podding more enjoyable.  Since you are local, if you would like to see ours, just contact me and will show you what we have done.  I did show another local Podder our mods and they got some ideas to make theirs more to their life style.  We camp almost exclusively with full hookups as I must maintain contact with my office.  However with a wifi connection, we can stay out at least two weeks and have a fine time.  In any event, use your pod, keep a pad and pencil handy and write down what you need and what needs modifying.  My only other suggestion, which someone else has to take the credit for, is to purchase a 3" 3 ring notebook with a package of plastic sleeves.  Insert each of your instruction sheets, warranties, etc. into each one.  When you are on the road and have a problem you have all you need handy.  We keep it in one of the overhead cabinets, and find it very useful.  We also keep all of our pets health records with us,l just in case.  Safe Travels.