Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Only pic I could snag right now, thats before I installed a light, the wiring is there for it. I installed four 12v 10w can lights, they are only about half an inch thick

You can see some of the rock wool insulation, noico sound insulation, sill seal I used between the ribs. The only issue I had with the noico is that they folded it in thirds, otherwise it seems to be helping greatly. Rain collecting on trees no longer sounds like a full auto versus tin cans

Just found out my minifridge consumes as much power as a larger fridge if not more, so I think I am going to upgrade to a 2-compartment fridge freezer in the 10-18cu ft size. My current is a 4.4cu ft or less I think. Freezer inside fridge compartment with one door. Shooting for 300 kwh yearly or less - about 800 watts a day, 50% Battery draw down should give me nearly 2 days without solar input, not accounting for energy losses from running an inverter.

My old cobra square wave 1500w inverter that died was about 85% efficient and ran the fridge just fine, I think it was around 350kwh yearly... I think I can improve efficiency some by getting a sine wave inverter.

My only other concern is that with only 200w of solar power I would need four hours of good light to recoup the losses, I will probably have to double up panels to cut that down to two hours. If so then i will need a better MPPT charge controller too. That or try to find a fridge closer to 200 kwh/year. So far the only ones I can find that come close cost a couple thousand, whereas only a couple hundred for ~300 kwh/yr. Sadly a chest freezer/fridge wont work in the space either. Perhaps I can modify auto-defrost off too, that could get it down to 500-600 watts daily. I am willing to slap some insulation under and around it, or any other tricks as long as it doesnt look like crap. Or I could add insulation to the insides?

Mark959 wrote:Just found out my minifridge consumes as much power as a larger fridge if not more, so I think I am going to upgrade to a 2-compartment fridge freezer in the 10-18cu ft size. My current is a 4.4cu ft or less I think. Freezer inside fridge compartment with one door. Shooting for 300 kwh yearly or less - about 800 watts a day, 50% Battery draw down should give me nearly 2 days without solar input, not accounting for energy losses from running an inverter.

My old cobra square wave 1500w inverter that died was about 85% efficient and ran the fridge just fine, I think it was around 350kwh yearly... I think I can improve efficiency some by getting a sine wave inverter.

My only other concern is that with only 200w of solar power I would need four hours of good light to recoup the losses, I will probably have to double up panels to cut that down to two hours. If so then i will need a better MPPT charge controller too. That or try to find a fridge closer to 200 kwh/year. So far the only ones I can find that come close cost a couple thousand, whereas only a couple hundred for ~300 kwh/yr. Sadly a chest freezer/fridge wont work in the space either. Perhaps I can modify auto-defrost off too, that could get it down to 500-600 watts daily. I am willing to slap some insulation under and around it, or any other tricks as long as it doesnt look like crap. Or I could add insulation to the insides?

I'd recommend a pure sine-wave inverter in any case.. it will be much easier on the motor and I'd say extend the life of it over the modified sine wave. In fact, some manufactures advise against modified sine waves and will void warranty.

Get a Kill-a-watt meter to measure actual power draw from the fridge and then see how long it stays on over a one hour period in your typical environment with the thermal load (contents) cooled thoroughly. Work backwards from there on what you need for power. The Kwh/yr is a good general comparison and definitely a marketing tool, but it may not tell the whole story of power usage. There are some variable assumptions used to arrive at that #... but in general 1 kilowatt hour / year = 0.114079553 watts. Assumes an average run time and etc...

Extra insulation on the fridge may be good if you know that the heat transfer from your condenser coils is not through the skin of the fridge. Some are (mine was and I had planned to insulate)... so you have to know that before you cover it up. If it does shed heat through the skin, insulating it will do more harm than good.

Thanks for the input, great food for thought.

This is the cheapest fridge I could find that would fit the general size, without killing me financially - 297kwh/yr. usually the cheaper fridges have worse insulation but this unit has the other beat, unless they are fudging their numbers...

https://www.consumerreports.org/product ... /overview/

As far as pure sine wave, this is the cheapest I could find that seemed decent:
Power TechOn 2kw with 4kw peak, theoretically i should be able to run a 700-800w microwave ( i know they consume more than their rated wattage, i'm assuming under 1500w load) while the fridge kicks over, with some room to spare
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131 ... 3NWQ&psc=1

AIMS look more reliable but cost another hundred on top, not sure if I could swing that...


Right now I have a battery tender to keep the batteries charged up onshore, but the goal is to be able to camp off grid for extended lengths.

The other option is in addition to the ~230ah (at 20hr rate) of batteries I have on the trailer now I also have a pair of group 31 NAPA batteries from my truck that were drawn down but salvaged, they are holding a charge now I just need to see if they put out the amps. I imagine they each can do 100ah at 20hr rate. Maybe use the truck alternator for recharging every couple days if the solar falls behind...

If you are going to be out for extended periods of time and boon docking, a small inverter generator is ideal to supplement solar when it is not keeping up and allows you to schedule heavy load tasks. I like redundancy. Solar is great, but it only works half the time (day only) when not cloudy, parked under trees, or etc. and then you are depending on batteries. Before I'd invest too much into more batteries and more panels (although not a bad thing)... maybe consider a small (quiet) inverter generator. You don't have to get the Honda... Champion makes a nice once for around $450 that will run everything you have and top off the batteries as needed. Also needed to run the AC regardless. In cases where I needed to top off batteries, the generator only runs for an hour or two at most.

I have 500W of solar and 375aH of batteries. I still find the need to occasionally top off the batteries because of cloudy days, campgrounds that are shady most of the day, or I wanted to run the Air conditioner. I also stay up late so I use power well after dark.

I can run the 1500W ceramic heater and the 1100W water heater if I run out of propane also..

Just some things to think about. I think the ideal setup is just the right amount of solar with a generator to supplement or backup in bad conditions or if you need to run large loads.

I appreciate the advice!

I have a 3kw generator that is dual fuel propane and gas, with remote/electric start, its a big bastard but I could maybe mount it on the back, I need to take some tongue weight off anyway I was thinking about mounting some sort of cargo carrier off the back, I could offset that and have a spot for the genny (jenny?) - jsut checked the plans and could make that work. Rated 69 db, not sure if I could muffle it down more

This is the unit:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Durostar-El ... /205190776

Or did you have something more portable like the hondas in mind? I would have to do a chinese clone in that event, or some other alternative..

well got the last window cut in, ring doesnt fit depth-wise so im going to install 1/2" ply n cut it out again to act like a shim...

also ordered this bundle for pump and heater:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GK ... OJD5&psc=1

mounting a 40 gallon tank above the axle, with a 10 gallon gray tank for the sink. Hose bib and shower setup externally.

69dB is very loud. Just a point of reference, a little Honda 2000 or similar Yamaha or Champion is 59dB at full load and 53dB @ 1/4 load. The decibel scale (dB) is logrithmic so every 3dB is double the noise from the previous. 69dB would be to 59dB apprx. like the number 80 is to 10 on a linear scale. It is a very noticeable difference.

You can have a normal conversation standing next to 59dB. 69dB and you would need to be yelling at another person at normal conversational distance.

If you will be camping with others, you may consider getting a quiter generator. Lots of brands and options. Honda is the standard, but you can find something good for much less. I know folks who have the Champion and like them alot. They are very quite also.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Good idea to put the water tank over the axle to keep it load nuetral! At 8lbs a gallon, it adds up quick.

Looks like a good package deal for the HW heater and pump. Way to go!

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Know any decent affordable pure sines on amazon or ebay?

I saw a few - power techon had decent reviews, aims and a few others seemed to be higher quality. Willing to get decent quality but hoping to be near 200$, but I can go higher if the quality or features are there to justify...

inverters listed continuous wattage, surge wattage, cost:

power techon:
2000w/4000w 250$
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0131 ... 9A21&psc=1
1500w/3000w 200$
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CO ... 3NWQ&psc=1

AIMS:
2000w/4000w 324$
https://www.amazon.com/PWRI200012120S-I ... erter&th=1
1500w/3000w 254$
https://www.amazon.com/PWRI150012S-Inve ... e+inverter
1200w/???? 169$ - with auto transfer AC switch
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Inverter-A ... e+inverter

windynation vertimax:
1500w/3000w 229$
https://www.amazon.com/VertaMax-3000W-S ... merReviews

BCI:
3000w/6000w 299$
https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Sine-Wave-P ... e+inverter

Edecoa:
3500w/7000 356$
https://www.amazon.com/EDECOA-3500W-Inv ... e+inverter

Novopal:
1500w/3000w 200$
https://www.amazon.com/novopal-Inverter ... merReviews

Sungoldpower:
2000w/6000w 549$:
"dream" features but hard to spend that much (plus idle power consumption is between 13-30watts):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011DR7NHQ/re ... PTR37CGSDC







Side note:

PowerJack has a bunch for cheap, but I've heard some horror stories so I dont know...
https://www.amazon.com/PowerJack/b/ref= ... =PowerJack
https://www.amazon.com/20000W-Inverter- ... merReviews

Pics of the new and last window:



Getting there!

Mark959 wrote:Know any decent affordable pure sines on amazon or ebay?

I bought the small one from Eastwood, Haven't used it much so I can't vouch for the quality yet, but the prices are good.
Eastwood Inverter Link

thanks for the input, looks like a good contender! I will mull it over the weekend...

The water heater/pump shipped 3 days ago, getting excited to get that all setup. Working on mounting the 40gal soon so I can do the fresh water setup, then the gray tank and sink drain can be done

My mom has had the Xantrex pro watt 1000 for a few years tied to battery backup at her house in case of power outages. It’s worked flawlessly.

I ordered one for my trailer conversion a few days ago.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I ... UTF8&psc=1

Iconfabul8 wrote:

Mark959 wrote:Know any decent affordable pure sines on amazon or ebay?

I bought the small one from Eastwood, Haven't used it much so I can't vouch for the quality yet, but the prices are good.
Eastwood Inverter Link

Well I ordered the eastwood 2kw inverter, looks identical to the powertechon here, probably the same china factory: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0131NFWX2/re ... g=UTF8&me= which is what I was close to pulling the trigger on.

they had a 25$ off coupon, shipping 15$, overall 220 for a new 2kw with switch is great. Just hoped I could have gotten free shipping for more savings but I'm not waiting for a special, i will need the inverter sooner than the next big sale day I'm sure.