Vedette wrote:I did notice during my reading of your journal, that you decided not to have DC power.
That suprised me. DC is so easy?? I plan to use DC as my main power and use the AC only when we are camping where power is easily obtained.
Just asking???
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi
To say DC is easy is relative to your knowledge and experience. That being said though, I had an electrician friend that had volunteered to help me so my decision was really based on other factors in the end. This is kind of long winded, but here's our logic (maybe this will give some food for thought to others struggling with the same question.)
From the beginning of the build Lance and I had decided to keep all systems as simple as possible as long as all basic needs are met, so there were only 3 things I wanted to operate with DC in the first place, the roof fan, 2 cabin lights and a stereo. The stereo was optional from the beginning as it is my experience that unless you are camping somewhere away from other people, most people in the campground probably don't want to hear your music anyway and since we'll only be inside to sleep, it didn't seem that important in there either. (And that's why God made iPods.)
Now we're down to 2 things, lights and fan.
For outdoor lighting we have 2 Coleman lanterns that we're looking forward to using (this is
camping after all). We have numerous LED stick up lights, flashlights and lanterns that will supply any other light we need, inside and out. If we want to leave a light outside at night a solar walkway light would serve just fine.
Now we're down to one thing, the fan.
So, for the sake of a fan I just didn't think the cost difference between a plain vent and one with a fan, a battery, charger, converter, wiring, , and all the rest were justified. Not to mention the weight and the space required for all the above mentioned items. The lack of the fan will be no problem for spring, fall or high elevation camping. We do have a roof vent and 2 doors with opening windows/screens. The only discomfort will arise in the dead of summer. We will have AC power though so we have the option of going to a campsite with electricity and carrying with us a small AC operated fan for the night time.
Most other conveniences we might consider carrying (I can only think of 2 offhand, a microwave and a coffee maker) would operate on AC anyway. I don't really see us carrying a television, but if we decided to do so ditto for that. The only other need for power I see is cell phone or laptop charging and if we're traveling those can be done in the car.
I will admit sometimes I look at other's campers wired for sound, air conditioning, disco lights and big screen and I drool just a tiny bit. But that's not for us. We plan to spend our days biking, hiking, kayaking or exploring, our evenings talking around a campfire and sleeping, so our needs are pretty simple.
by Vedette » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:23 pm 
In the critter I have AC and DC but I also have a propane lantern and a led lantern for back up lighting. I like those factory doors you're using and if I build another one (which is a good possibility), I'll go that route too. Heck if I build another one it'll be at least 5 wide, 2 doors, no front cabinets and either a partial or no galley. If I ever build another one it will have more interior room to please my Becky. 
