We love our new Eggcamper

[Ray N]

Originally Posted by Dick and Ann

Just picked up our Egg and went on 4000 mile trip down Mississippi River. It was great.

Congratulations! We love our EggCamper and hope you enjoy yours as much.

[RaymondC]

We, too, are new to both the camper and the Egg worlds. We traveled from the Toledo, OH area to Avon, NC on the Outer Banks for Christmas with a stop off in Baltimore for a visit with our daughter. So far the unit is working OK, but I do not see much use for the all electric system without being hooked up to a 120v outlet. The Yamaha 2000 runs 'till about 3 in the morning with the heater on, and forget about cooking, hot water, etc. I will be switching to propane this coming year -- researching the various pieces and parts needed (the forum is a big help, thank you very much!). With the two of us and two fairly large dogs, the Egg is "cozy", but seems to be doable.

Merry Christmas to all and thanks for all the good info.

Ray and Kathy Crabtree
2011 EggCamper
2011 Toyota RAV4

[Ron F]

Ray, I added propane to our EggCamper last summer. Although I wish every state and federal park would have hookups, the reality is that in the northern states, they don't. So for me, propane is the answer for dependable heat and hot water. We always cook lunch and dinner meals outside anyway, so we were already using a small propane stove or grill for that. For breakfasts, we have the coffee maker and microwave when we're connected to power, but off grid I use a small alcohol stove inside to boil water and make coffee.

When I added the furnace, I kept the original electric heater. The furnace is the Atwood 8200 II. It only draws 1.2 amps when running. The water heater is a combination electric/propane model, also from Atwood. I have two 11# tanks mounted in a tongue box behind the battery.

Ron

[Dick and Ann]

Wonderful setup. We might like to do that at some future time. We do a lot like you. We are used to minimal living ; have a
small sailboat that we spend time on.
We are looking forward to lots of land yachting.

[cpaharley2008]

Ron,
How is that Atwood working with your solar? Does it draw down the battery overnight?
All you need now is a propane light?

[Ron F]

Jim, The atwood draws 1.2 amps when it's running. As you know, serious winter camping isn't really an option in the EggCamper. There is some insulation, but if the temperatures are down to the teens, the furnace would have difficulty keeping up. We use the furnace more for temps in the 30s and 40s. With that said, the solar does fine for the times of year that we camp.

(BTW, I copied your idea of adding a hatch to shut off the A/C vent. I also closed off the original air intakes on the underside and re-routed the intake through the area now covered by the new hatch. This makes a huge difference, cutting of the infiltration of cold air.)

Our battery provides 150 amp/hours to play with. Our daily draw in the spring and fall is somewhere between 30 - 35 amp/hours, using heat and refrigeration. Daylight here in the dead of winter is about 1.5 hours of useable sun, and the solar doesn't provide enough to keep the battery topped off. The fridge is the big draw at over 3 amps when running. But in the spring, summer, and fall we get more sun and use the heat less, so the solar is plenty to keep us off the grid for as long as we'd like.

Long ago, I replaced all of the interior lighting with LEDs. It was easier than piping propane to lighting fixtures. :-)

Ron

p.s. I'm bummed that we won't make the Mid-Atlantic rally this year. I have a conflict with my grandaughter's wedding. Perhaps Mid-Atlantic 3 in 2013.

[Ron F]

Dick, I'm a former sailor. Sold my Cape Dory Typhoon 2 years ago. I miss it; it was a great boat. If I ever get a home on a body of water, I'm going to get another one.

Now we do land yachting. We're cruising down to FL tomorrow to spend the winter. If you keep your eye out, on 95, you'll see us rolling through some time on Thursday.

Ron