Hello!
New to the forum, it's been extremely insightful in figuring out what I want in my FWC. I'm currently looking at a rig for full-time (1-2 year) use for a cross-country climbing and documentary film journey. I'll mostly be camping in unimproved/dispersed campsites and will almost never have a shore hookup. I'm heavily considering a Fleet with a front dinette, furnace, flush-mount sink/stove, 80L compressor fridge, fantastic fan, and possibly external hot water shower.
I have a few questions, listed below. While I found some sort of response in searches, specifics were difficult.
First, the sizing of the bed. Living in the rig full-time I'm not incredibly excited about setting up the bed each night and remaking my sheets/blankets/etc. What are the dimensions of the Fleet bed without it pulled out? How do people set up their bed setups quickly when they are in a location for a long time but want to have full access to their living space below? Additionally, I'm not particularly excited about sleeping on the cushions provided by FWC. Do people replace these with some sort of memory foam/mattress? I know it's roughly 4 inches thickness. How do you roll this back or store it when the bed is in its smaller position? Is it possible to leave the bed made in some regard this way to avoid re-making it each night?
Second, I'm overwhelmed by power and solar options. My power needs are as follows: constant charging capacity each night for two laptops, two cell phones, two camera batteries, 80L compression fridge, furnace, and then the hot water pump/regular pump, LED lights, fan. I will NEVER have shore power and am wondering what the most efficient/least expensive power system would be. Ideally would be able to run all of this for 3-4 days in a cloudy situation without solar, and infinitely when the rig gets 8 hours of solar each day. The fridge is the most important-I could stand to not charge devices for a few days if necessary, although draws for charging these devices are rather minimal. What kind of amp hour battery bank would be suitable for this? What ah is provided by the 'dual camper battery system' optioned by FWC? Is it a good value (total $620 for dual battery setup/wiring)?
In terms of solar, what size panel compliment the kind of battery bank I outlined above? Is the 160 watt from FWC ($995) a good value or should I look to something else? I found people who had found good success with $200 120 watt panels chained together. I don't mind doing the work myself.
On the topic of power, is the 80L compressor fridge a huge power drain? I read around 4.2-4.8 amp/hr for the 110 liter-is this around the same for the 80? I'm wondering about something like an ARB instead for long-term use at a much lower amp/hr draw-seen figures of 1.5 amp/hr.
Finally, how does the hot water system/outside shower work? Is it a tank system or on-demand tankless? Is this worth the price tag or would a stand-alone on-demand system be significantly cheaper and more efficient for use every couple of days?
Any any all help is appreciated-even if it's a link or telling me where or what to search. Cheers, look forward to joining the family.
New to the forum, it's been extremely insightful in figuring out what I want in my FWC. I'm currently looking at a rig for full-time (1-2 year) use for a cross-country climbing and documentary film journey. I'll mostly be camping in unimproved/dispersed campsites and will almost never have a shore hookup. I'm heavily considering a Fleet with a front dinette, furnace, flush-mount sink/stove, 80L compressor fridge, fantastic fan, and possibly external hot water shower.
I have a few questions, listed below. While I found some sort of response in searches, specifics were difficult.
First, the sizing of the bed. Living in the rig full-time I'm not incredibly excited about setting up the bed each night and remaking my sheets/blankets/etc. What are the dimensions of the Fleet bed without it pulled out? How do people set up their bed setups quickly when they are in a location for a long time but want to have full access to their living space below? Additionally, I'm not particularly excited about sleeping on the cushions provided by FWC. Do people replace these with some sort of memory foam/mattress? I know it's roughly 4 inches thickness. How do you roll this back or store it when the bed is in its smaller position? Is it possible to leave the bed made in some regard this way to avoid re-making it each night?
Second, I'm overwhelmed by power and solar options. My power needs are as follows: constant charging capacity each night for two laptops, two cell phones, two camera batteries, 80L compression fridge, furnace, and then the hot water pump/regular pump, LED lights, fan. I will NEVER have shore power and am wondering what the most efficient/least expensive power system would be. Ideally would be able to run all of this for 3-4 days in a cloudy situation without solar, and infinitely when the rig gets 8 hours of solar each day. The fridge is the most important-I could stand to not charge devices for a few days if necessary, although draws for charging these devices are rather minimal. What kind of amp hour battery bank would be suitable for this? What ah is provided by the 'dual camper battery system' optioned by FWC? Is it a good value (total $620 for dual battery setup/wiring)?
In terms of solar, what size panel compliment the kind of battery bank I outlined above? Is the 160 watt from FWC ($995) a good value or should I look to something else? I found people who had found good success with $200 120 watt panels chained together. I don't mind doing the work myself.
On the topic of power, is the 80L compressor fridge a huge power drain? I read around 4.2-4.8 amp/hr for the 110 liter-is this around the same for the 80? I'm wondering about something like an ARB instead for long-term use at a much lower amp/hr draw-seen figures of 1.5 amp/hr.
Finally, how does the hot water system/outside shower work? Is it a tank system or on-demand tankless? Is this worth the price tag or would a stand-alone on-demand system be significantly cheaper and more efficient for use every couple of days?
Any any all help is appreciated-even if it's a link or telling me where or what to search. Cheers, look forward to joining the family.