Our First Week
We have completed our first full week in our new home and although we thought we had been doing a lot of research along the way, clearly the learning is just beginning. Little things that most of us just take for granted in our modern homes and apartments like setting the thermostat and forgetting about it for the next few months isn’t something that is part of RV life. We have 4 heating systems and 2 zones in our RV and we constantly need to be adjusting the heating operations throughout the day and depending on the weather outside. There is a propane heater that can force air up through the floors in both the bedroom and main living area, there are electric heaters (one above the living room and another above the bed) that force air down through the ceiling and finally there is a fireplace. It’s been a learning curve trying to figure out how to affectively leverage all of these heaters. The propane is the quickest to heat the place but also the most expensive and we burned through a 30L tank already by using the propane too heavily. The electric heater in the bedroom work wonderful to heat the small area but the fans are super loud and is not something one can sleep through. The electric heater in the main area is kind of useless as the heat is forced downwards and never makes it to the ground leaving our feet always freezing. I’m going to need to find a good pair of slippers in the coming weeks. The electric fireplace is an absolute jewel and we have settled on using it to primarily heat the place once we have used propane or electricity to bring the RV up to temperature.
Another thing that Emily discovered the hard way was our small hot water heater. We had been turning it off when not in use as we wanted to save power. Emily went to take the first shower and realized that our tiny 6 gallon tank if not left to heat for half an hour prior to shower will never get hot and what little water is warmed will be depleted rather quickly. She was rather worried at first that showers for the next couple years would be like taking a shower at the beach. After some reading we discovered that as long as we have hookups we should start our hot water heater when we get to camp and leave it running until our departure. Subsequent showers have been wonderfully warm and enjoyable.
Another thing that we have discovered this week is that sweeping is almost a daily thing if not a couple time a day activity. The amount of mud, grass and other bit of nature that we track through the door is incredible. As careful as we try to be in keeping the dirt outside it’s extremely challenging especially with a four legged friend.
Overall our first week has been lovely. Settling into a new home routine and finally starting to cook again after eating out for weeks during the moving process is great. It’s nice being on the road and exploring new and exciting places but always being able to come home at night. I think the next few years is going to be an experience we’ll never forget and we are so looking forward to what this year brings.