The power of one

Let’s be honest, the idea of going ‘off-grid’ in this day and age has quite different connotations to the same concept 30 years ago. Back then, it was all wood burning stoves, wax candles and cold baths. 

These days ‘off the grid’ doesn’t mean you have to give up your creature comforts. RV owners everywhere are leading the off-grid charge and adopting a new environmentally friendly attitude is not just good for the planet, it’s good for your wallet too.

On the surface, owning a vehicle that uses three times more fuel than the average family sedan to travel a comparable distance may not appear an ‘eco-friendly’ choice. My own motorhome for example averages 16.8L/100 which isn’t completely outrageous until you consider my VW Polo diesel can sip almost a quarter of that!

But an RV’s strength is the fact it’s also a house on wheels and when you start weighing up how the average RV is used, these large cumbersome vehicles are so green, they practically sprout leaves and branches.

Other than the folks out for a Big Lap, most RVs travel far fewer kilometres than the average family sedan. This fact is supported by the number of used motorhomes on Caravancampingsales.com.au with as little as 45,000km for a 7-10 year old vehicle.  Fewer kilometres travelled means less emissions and less fuel burned.

Adding to the green credentials of RV living is that these four wheeled houses generally use much less energy for day to day living than a house or apartment and that’s before you start taking measures to reduce your environmental footprint.

This is where owning an RV get really exciting. Unlike a house, a caravan or motorhome has very few restrictions on the kinds of work you can carry out yourself and even better, requires no planning permission. 

For a few hundred dollars and a little DIY sweat, an RV owner can have solar installed in an afternoon and have free energy streaming down from above and into their battery storage.

Even a not-very-handy person like me can swing a screwdriver. A few months ago, I had a wonderful time installing LEDs to replace the tungsten bulbs in our motorhome…  and nearly all of them work!

Of course if you want to be sure everything works properly the first time, simply engage a professional. Given the comparatively small size of an RV and the fact most have a pretty decent onboard storage for power and water already in place, it’s just a simple matter of extending things a little.

Before you rush out and install more batteries and a big solar system, take a little time out to first optimise what you have. Replace light bulbs for LEDs and replace old worn out coolers with an energy efficient compressor or LPG powered fridge. This optimisation step means you can get away with less batteries and less solar. Money saved!

One of the best optimisation tricks doesn’t cost a cent. It’s pretty obvious, but where you park your RV and its orientation towards the sun can have a dramatic impact on the ambient air temperature inside the vehicle. Not many houses let you up stumps and move to a better location if the weather is against you but with an RV, you can easily park to keep things comfortable.

A cooling ocean breeze in summer is priceless and helps your fridge work more efficiently. When the weather turns cool, an RV lets you migrate north for the winter… or at least park with your long side towards the northern sun.

Another, not-very-obvious ‘eco tip’ is to swap your traditional chemical toilet with a composting toilet. Yes, the broken down solid matter can be used on plants and gardens (so it is easily disposed of) but the real ‘eco’ attraction for these toilets is the water savings.

Water is essential for drinking and washing and in an RV you can only carry so much. A composting toilet works without water. This could save you 15-20 litres of water each week, plus your water pump has one less job to do which will reduce power usage.

Combine this with the fact that you get about 80 days use from a composting toilet before you have to empty it compared to around 14 days for a chemical toilet and you have an ‘off grid’ winner.

Living off grid in an RV for short blasts is not only possible, it’s part of the vehicle’s design. Extending your range to go off-grid for a week or more is easy and that feeling of independence is priceless. The bigger the RV, the more storage for water, solar, fuel and supplies you will have. A month or more between hook-ups is not uncommon.

Taking steps to improve the ‘of the grid’ design of your RV is not just a cost saving and fun exercise, it helps shine a light on emerging eco technologies. The more these energy saving technologies are understood, the more they will make their way into more permanent housing structures and help make the world a greener place.

Is your RV setup for extended off-grid travelling? Share your tips and tricks in the comments section below…