How I Power my RV Boondocking (Now RVing, NOT Sailing Brick House

Rebecca Childress upgraded her Class C Motorhome RV to LifePO4 Batteries, but she took it one step further and also got an AllPowers Solar Generator as a second LifePO4 battery bank, as well as portable solar panels because she wanted more battery capacity and power. She has done some upgrades over the last year to prepare for a lithium battery upgrade on her RV, including a battery monitor, a new lithium compliant converter, a 3000 watt inverter, and Bouge RV solar panels that she actually had tied on to her sailboat but then glued to the roof of her RV. She is still experimenting and testing the new setup on her RV, but so far is pleased with the results of her research and her previous knowledge and experience with Lithium battery upgrades one her boat and now on her RV. She may do some more upgrades to her new lithium battery uphrade on her motorhome because its not quite perfect yet - suggestions and ideas welcome in the comments down below!
Discounts offered for LifePO4 AllPowers solar generator and solar panels:
iallpowers.com....
10% Off Discount Code: YJW87PKF2E4Q
ALLPOWERS R2500 Power Station:
bit.ly/3wOn8uK
ALLPOWERS R2500 Power Station Plus 2pcs SP033 200W Solar Panels:
bit.ly/3WRQnaI
10% Off Discount Code: YJW87PKF2E4Q
Power Solutions on RV Brick House Available on Amazon:
Inverter: amzn.to/4aBqOOy
LifePO4 Batteries: amzn.to/3KnK9Yw
Battery Monitor: amzn.to/3UYqMdB
ALLPOWER Portable Solar Panels: amzn.to/4dZNniS
BOUGE RV flexible Panels on Roof: amzn.to/4e0po2L
AllPowers R2500 Solar Generator: amzn.to/4bL6bAm
RV camping memberships and Discount Links:
FMCA
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Harvest Hosts/Boondockers Welcome
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Escapees Club. Please provide “Rebecca Childress” and my member # 187418… when you sign up I get a credit towards my renewal next year!
escapees.com/j...
Passport America -
passportameric...
Roadtrippers.
itunes.apple.c...
Coast to Coast , RPI, and Thousand Trails ( I have the first 2)
Kenneth Hoel
[phone]
PLEASE give him my name -Rebecca Childress when you contact him by name and I get $50 if you buy in. Please mention my name a few times -it helps and doesn’t cost you more!
Coast to Coast and RPI
Phillip Van Benthuysen
Golden Pond RV Park
501-723-8212
Tell him I referred you… Rebecca Childress… and if you buy from him he sends me $50 or so. Please mention my name a few times… it helps and doesn’t cost you more!
Hipcamp
www.hipcamp.co...
If you think Hipcampers would love camping on your property in their fully self-contained rigs or tents, you can list your land on Hipcamp today to lock in your $100 bonus payout!
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[@SkylinersYeti]

Rebecca, Your RV life is going well. In my first travel trailer I had 400 amp hr lithium batteries, and 3000 watt inverter and 200 watt solar panel. In my new travel trailer I have 1080 amp hr lithium batteries, 2000 watt inverter ( to be upgraded to 3000 soon), and 1200 watts solar panels. One challenge with solar power is it only works when the sun is shining.. That means when it is cloudy, snowy, or camping in trees no solar power. I do carry 2- 2000 watt Honda generators for those days. In the future I plan on a DC to DC charger. It will permit me to charge my travel trailer battery bank while towing the trailer.. Plans A, B, & C. Enjoy your time out west. Lots of remote boon docking in Eastern and Central Oregon. You will find a lot of trees in Western Oregon and more limited boondocking opportunities.

[@RVLifeNOW]

that’s a beautiful plan A, B and C for your power… I love it!

[@SuperSushidog]

Cool, I really enjoy seeing the different power solutions fellow boondockers choose. We're retired FT RVers who discovered we love to boondock. We've been FT for the last 5 years in a 1999 National Tropical It was the best decision we ever made. We have recently expanded our solar system as we find ourselves boondocking more often - for 10 months last year. We designed and built our solar system ourselves, which allows us to be electrically self-sufficient, without the need to connect to the grid anymore. We started by building a 620-watt liftable solar array on the side of our motorhome using 2, 310w conventional glass panels. Our side array makes a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself with a couple gas struts, and it's easy to clean, standing safely on the ground. Lifting the array to the exact angle needed improves its efficiency 20-30% compared to horizontally mounted panels, even more in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky. Next, we built a 12v, 560ah LiFePo-4 battery using 8, 280ah prismatic cells and a Heltec 330amp (1,200a surge) BMS to start our generator. These cells fit perfectly under the steps of our MH where our old pair of golf cart batteries used to reside. We insulated the battery compartment, cut a small hole in our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to keep this space at close to room temperature, so we don't have to worry about the BMS shutting down charging due to low temperature - or their life reduced from getting too hot. If you add all our 12v system components together including the liftable array, wiring, converter/charger, inverter, charge controller, breakers, wiring, battery monitor, etc. this system cost us under $3,500. It has already paid for itself several times over the last 5 years, not just in the cost of electricity, but in the cost of staying in RV parks too. By mounting the solar array on the side of our coach, we left the roof free to rack 8, 550w solar panels down the length of our 35ft Class A, 15" off the roof, above our AC, vents, etc. It shades our entire roof, allowing plenty of cooling air underneath, increasing solar output and reducing the heat load on the air conditioners. Our 4,400w array can run both our A/Cs, our household appliances and charge our batteries at the same time, even in winter. We can even run our mini split heat pump 24/7 providing both A/C and heat powered by the sun. We use a Sungold Power all-in-one 48V, 5,000W Inverter/100A charge controller/battery charger, saving us space as well as money compared to a system built with individual components. We chose this particular unit because it supports up to 500 volts of solar power which was needed for our 400voc solar array. Our 48v battery uses 16, 320ah prismatic cells and a 200amp BMS to keep it safe. Together with our 7.1 kwh 12v bank, we have a total of 23.5 kwh of batteries onboard - kept charged by 5,020 watts of solar. We removed our old rooftop bedroom A/C and replaced it with an EG4 28.5 seer-2 mini-split heat pump on the upper rear of our motorhome. It's super quiet and cools as well as our 14.5k btu soft start equipped Furrion we have up front, but only draws about 1/3rd the power. It heats efficiently too, reducing our propane usage. Our total budget for both 12v and 48v systems was around $11,500, including the $1,500 high-efficiency heat pump. We have no need to hook-up to power pedestals or run our generator anymore, as we run everything in our MH strictly off the sun. We travel around the country a lot, visiting National Parks, and doing the tourist thing, mostly boondocking out west. We spent last winter in Yuma, AZ, but we're visiting our son in NC now, where boondocking places are pretty rare. We found an RV park that is letting us camp in a spacious site without hook-ups for only $100/mo., saving us $500/mo. off their FHU rates. Having options is good. Take care. We hope to see you on the road one day.

[@RVLifeNOW]

wow your solar panels and battery setup is nothing short of amazing. You can be offgrid for life in perfect comfort. The setup cost for mine including everything but the solar generator addition was about $2700 including the generator and portable solar panels… from wires to batteries to solar panels to installation materials to converter. But some of it was taken off my sailboat so really only about $1800. It’s enough but i can run AC :) Yours sounds just so amazing!!!

[@richmorpurgo5554]

You went from the girl who didn’t want to be in Patrick’s videos to KILLIN IT now!

[@RVLifeNOW]

haha thanks … ya

[@robinpatterson8754]

Just like bieng on the boat, minus the water. You're such a smart irl and doing awesome.. Do AWESOMNESS

[@RVLifeNOW]

😊 thank you! RVing is very similar to boating in many ways including the power setup

[@tammy6992]

It’s good to see you posted. All right let me get back to it.

[@RVLifeNOW]

haha thanks for watching…

[@AngusJohnson-ei1kk]

Hi Rebecca, good to see . Good educational clip. Later gator. Angus .

[@RVLifeNOW]

hey thanks Angus… did you get out sailing yet?

[@AngusJohnson-ei1kk]

There is a medical monkey wrench in the works DM me ill fill you in .

[@melee401]

Great to see you back going along to further life in your travels dear. I am an Engineer via 3 paradigms now. Patrick was never anything less than an Engineer as well. I see you as an Engineer too. You have crunched so many numbers both at sea and ashore that you know the over building needed to get what you desire from a system. I look forward to watching your engineering learning go further from the sea to land. There are needs and there are wants. WHEN you go from LABs to Lifepo4s you are going to have to get the battery storage high away from the pavement dear. Lifepo4s really do not like the temperatures down there just above the roasting pavement at all.

[@RVLifeNOW]

yeah the roasting pavement is a good good point… thanks for pointing that out… I don’t plan on going anywhere cold… that’s what I was mostly thinking about but the roasting hot pavement i hadn’t thought about too much. i guess they will mostly be getting used while I’m sitting still as I only travel for 3 hours like once or twice a mo th… rest of the time they will be in the shade. But maybe even 6 hours will be too much. It gets pretty damn hot in the RV too though, from the roof… not sure which is worse! They are cheap chinese LifePO4 … so if they fail they fail. Would be nice if they aren’t violent about it. Don’t believe they will be. I’m still hoping that someday Freedom Won batteries in South Africa will become available on the usa. Those batteries on my sailboat were just so damon good!!!

[@davidboatman2531]

I think this is your first rather detailed DIY video since leaving SV BH? Well, you did the flat-tow setup as well. Good job (and good life)? You are making it happen. I like your level of alternatives … sort of backups to your backup (Plan A, B, etc).

[@RVLifeNOW]

Thanks David… The solar panels, both the Allpowers portable solar panels and the ones on the roof… are so awesome. And being able to add 50% more battery power with the Allpowers solar generator has me over the top with an abundance of power! I stay out for a few weeks and aside from water i’m as good as when i left!

[@artravision]

Great to see you have options out there!

[@RVLifeNOW]

Always! Thanks!

[@MaShcode]

You can install a wiring gland to cover your spider hole. Keep out the creepy crawlers. Hope to see you out there! Bon voyage.

[@RVLifeNOW]

what do you mean my spider hole?

[@melinda5777]

It's so beautiful out there. Remember this winter, you have a free place to park in Lower Alabama. Or at one of the 3 camp grounds on the Island! Stay Safe! ✝️🙏❤🇺🇸⛵👣🍍☘🤗

[@RVLifeNOW]

Thanks. Probably gonna stay west for a while… it’s a long way back to Alabama! But thank you so much!!!

[@melinda5777]

@@RVLifeNOW NO problem. I tried to get ya this way before you headed out that way. I've been following Brickhouse for many years! I still think about South Africa every time I see the name Brickhouse. 💔

[@flatflyeroz]

Welcome back.

[@RVLifeNOW]

thanks. I try to do one every month :) I’m not going anywhere. Well I’m travelling but the sailing now RV channel will carry on…Thanks for continuing to watch :)

[@edmartini9724]

At 1:51 it looks like there's space to extend that battery tray for a 3rd battery, non?

[@RVLifeNOW]

It would cover up the distribution box so if i ever had to get in to that I’d have to take my battery setup apart…

[@edmartini9724]

@@RVLifeNOW Build the distribution box cover into the (removable) 3rd battery tray and connect the 3rd battery with a beefy Anderson battery connector. The LiFePO batteries are light enough.