Large RVs have enough space for 3-5kw of solar. This would be enough to power the RV drivetrain if it doesn’t need to move very far on an average day, and all the house systems including AC.
But I concur with your general idea. The problem with living in an RV, is first you haven’t actually solved anything. The reason housing is overpriced in many areas is local jurisdictions make efficient land usage illegal. (building 30+ story ‘pencil towers’ which is the obvious way to use land efficiently)
As an RV is just 1 story, and the size of a small apartment, it functionally doesn’t solve anything. If everyone switched to living in RVs then parking spaces would suddenly cost half a million dollars to buy.
The reason you are able to ‘beat the system’ by living in an RV is those same jurisdictions that make tall buildings illegal require wasteful excess parking that is simply unused in many places. So you’re basically scavenging as an RV or van dweller, using up space that would otherwise be unused.
Anyways the problem with this is that the owners of whatever space you are squatting in are going to try to kick you out, and this creates a constant cat and mouse battle, and water is really heavy and sewage is really gross. (fundamentally the resource you would exhaust first isn’t fuel or electricity, it’s water, since a decent shower needs 10 gallons and that’s 80 lbs of water per person per day.
I am curious about how RVs manage waste and wastewater. I have heard people using rainwater collection and filtration for their water needs, and then using dry peat toilets for urine and feces. However, I have not considered the wastewater generated by showers. I read that there are septic tank stations where RV users can dump wastewater in, but I am curious whether there exists some way for them to manage it on their own (without relying on such stations).
My sources for this is primarily various youtube videos and a few articles. (I was considering the obvious idea: live in a van in Bay area while working a software job that would pay 160k+. Aka, maximum possible salary with minimum possible costs. )
The problem is that a comfortable shower is 1 gallon a minute and lasts about 10 minutes a person for a nice one. (most ‘low flow’ heads are 2 gallons a minute but I have found 1 is not too bad) The issue is that say if there is 1 person, a 10 day supply of water is approximately twice that, or 20 gallons * 10 = 200 gallons, or 1660 lbs. You also run into the problem that most RVs simply don’t have a room for tanks this big anyways.
Yes, there are dump stations, and places you can get water, pretty much within some reasonable driving distance of anywhere in the USA. It’s just hassle, it’s something I don’t have to deal with renting part of a house.
What most people do is they get the peat toilet. They do have a shower, but their water and wastewater tanks are small, about 30 gallons each. They solely use the water for the sink and for a very brief shower only when absolutely necessary. The rest of the time, they shower at 24 hour fitness or similar gyms, and do their laundry at laundromats. They also don’t use many dishes, either cooking extremely basic meals or getting takeout.
Large RVs have enough space for 3-5kw of solar. This would be enough to power the RV drivetrain if it doesn’t need to move very far on an average day, and all the house systems including AC.
But I concur with your general idea. The problem with living in an RV, is first you haven’t actually solved anything. The reason housing is overpriced in many areas is local jurisdictions make efficient land usage illegal. (building 30+ story ‘pencil towers’ which is the obvious way to use land efficiently)
As an RV is just 1 story, and the size of a small apartment, it functionally doesn’t solve anything. If everyone switched to living in RVs then parking spaces would suddenly cost half a million dollars to buy.
The reason you are able to ‘beat the system’ by living in an RV is those same jurisdictions that make tall buildings illegal require wasteful excess parking that is simply unused in many places. So you’re basically scavenging as an RV or van dweller, using up space that would otherwise be unused.
Anyways the problem with this is that the owners of whatever space you are squatting in are going to try to kick you out, and this creates a constant cat and mouse battle, and water is really heavy and sewage is really gross. (fundamentally the resource you would exhaust first isn’t fuel or electricity, it’s water, since a decent shower needs 10 gallons and that’s 80 lbs of water per person per day.
I am curious about how RVs manage waste and wastewater. I have heard people using rainwater collection and filtration for their water needs, and then using dry peat toilets for urine and feces. However, I have not considered the wastewater generated by showers. I read that there are septic tank stations where RV users can dump wastewater in, but I am curious whether there exists some way for them to manage it on their own (without relying on such stations).
My sources for this is primarily various youtube videos and a few articles. (I was considering the obvious idea: live in a van in Bay area while working a software job that would pay 160k+. Aka, maximum possible salary with minimum possible costs. )
The problem is that a comfortable shower is 1 gallon a minute and lasts about 10 minutes a person for a nice one. (most ‘low flow’ heads are 2 gallons a minute but I have found 1 is not too bad) The issue is that say if there is 1 person, a 10 day supply of water is approximately twice that, or 20 gallons * 10 = 200 gallons, or 1660 lbs. You also run into the problem that most RVs simply don’t have a room for tanks this big anyways.
Yes, there are dump stations, and places you can get water, pretty much within some reasonable driving distance of anywhere in the USA. It’s just hassle, it’s something I don’t have to deal with renting part of a house.
What most people do is they get the peat toilet. They do have a shower, but their water and wastewater tanks are small, about 30 gallons each. They solely use the water for the sink and for a very brief shower only when absolutely necessary. The rest of the time, they shower at 24 hour fitness or similar gyms, and do their laundry at laundromats. They also don’t use many dishes, either cooking extremely basic meals or getting takeout.