Randyretired

If you are living in an RV during really cold weather condensation is most likely a major problem. This is especially true with single pane windows. The mold and building material rot will quickly destroy an RV.

Air leaks are a major culprit in trying to heat a RV. Many feel air infiltration control is more important than insulation. Air leaks also make a room uncomfortable in cold or hot temps. The best part for RV's is sealing air leaks doesn't add a lot of weight. For the divider my choice would consider what will best seal, is light weight and inexpensive. Single pane glass or plexiglass will likely have an R value of 1. Simple multipane units might have a R value of 2. I think you can gain more by by covering a well sealed partition with a blanket or insulated curtains during cold times like at night. The same thing for the windows and door. Powering electric heat with solar is a formidable and very expensive task. Most likely requiring the roof of an RV to be completely covered with solar panels and a large battery setup. Heat pumps are more efficient but still will need a very large solar array and battery bank.

Windows rarely are anywhere near as good as minimal wall insulation. We covered over a living area skylight on the outside and added insulation. It made an immediate difference. The 5er was warmer in the cold and cooler in the summer heat. South facing windows often bring in more heat than they lose but since RV's have little thermal mass these aren't practical. The best multipane windows are filled with special gas to slow heat transfer but very few have R values near 7 and aren't practical for RV's. Typical RV windows even double pane are very inefficient. Lots of RV's have R7 or better walls. I like the light of windows also but the insulation value is a definite minus.

We had a similar experience. Now we use a bungee to make sure the cabinet door remains closed! Months later we found pieces hidden under the sofa and some small pieces that were under the slide slid out.

I can't help with tax advantages but depending on the size of your RV there may be problems with CDL requirements and commercial insurance.

Seeing a post from an LEO reminds me of what a local cop told me while kn our ranch. He said if you call we will respond as quickly as possible and can probably be there in an hour. Maybe a little faster if we happen to be in the area. Of course most crimes happen in minutes but if you can hold on for the first hour we can help after that.

We rarely stay at campgrounds. We prefer to boondock in National Forests and BLM in the mountains during the summer. We also have some secluded mountain property that we stay at a lot. We are not full timers but we stayed in the mountains all summer. We often boondock in AZ during the winter and have a small lot for other times in AZ. I try to stay alert and prepared but I am not paranoid. If attacked it is usually a suprise and often the attacker will have the advantage. Still I feel safer boondocking than in most cities and a number of campgrounds. I feel that there is only a small percentage of people that would even think of committing these types of crimes and more people means a slightly better chance of a thug. A lot of campers boondocking seem to be carrying weapons of one type or another and I think there would be easier targets. All in all we have stayed in remote areas for many years and we plan on continuing. We owned a ranch for years and one had to be on our property or flying above to see our house so this type of area has been our home. Maybe it is just what we are used to but I feel safer boondocking than in a city.

The Mayo Clinic also charges 15% more for doctors than most Medicare conforming providers. This is Medicare approved but not Medicare covered. Many insurance policies also do not cover this. We were fortunate that it was covered.

It didn't work that way at the Mayo Clinic 10 years ago. They would bill Medicare and send in the paperwork for the medigap policy to pay us. I have statements showing thousands of dollars transferring between the Medigap UHC policy and thousands of dollars sent to the Mayo Clinic. They obviously were aware of the UHC policy as they sent in the original paper work. We were responsible for paying the bill. We stayed around Scottsdale, Phoenix for over a year for treatment. During Christmas of that year we stayed in the Mayo parking lot for 2 weeks so we were close in case of an emergency. Staying in their parking lot required special doctors orders as that is normally forbidden. We also learned that there were assigned and unassigned Medicare Bill's. The difference is Medicare pays all of the charges in some cases, such as hospital room charges. We were informed as soon as we registered that that is the way the billing worked there and good luck figuring it out. None of the other places we visited had this type of crazy billing. However, the Mayo Clinic was able to do things we could not get locally and it saved lives.

I don't know if it has changed but 10 to 12 years ago the Mayo Clinic would fill out the claim for a medigap policy but put the patient to receive the payment. It was up to the patient to make the necessary payments to the clinic and chase down whatever the insurance paid. I sure wish they would have honored the medigap policy. We certainly learned how difficult and screwed up medical billing is. Even after we obtained some training it was difficult or nearly impossible to keep up with things. More than once we just paid the bill and hoped the insurance paid us back. For a time both of us were receiving care. During a time of stress you just do what you can. The insurance must have covered most of it as we had enough to cover what we needed. After seeing and studying all of those bills we were sure thankful for insurance! We have since changed to a MA plan have have not had those problems.

Awareness is necessary but as a friend who is a retired swat sgt. told me. When a thug is going to do something they nearly always have the element of surprise. They usually are thinking things over beforehand where as the victim finds themselves in a situation that they must think fast. He said it is beneficial to think about what one might do in some situations. That way you can be prepared.

Our Medicare Advantage plan pays Medicare rates anywhere period. We do not need a referral and it covers everything that Medicare covers plus. We have never had a problem finding doctors. Most like the fact that they only need to bill one place instead of Medicare plus a supplement. I understand you don't like Medicare Advantage plans but don't just assume things that may not be true just because you don't like them. I am thankful we have the freedom of choice and we can choose. As I have stated this is a special plan that my DW has and probably isn't available everywhere. We pay $5 copay for our family doctor and $10 for specialists. Everything else is 100% covered. Routine care including wellness checks and physicals are 100% also. No deductible.

While many locations seem to invite more trouble than others I have not found isolated places problematic. In fact I tend to feel more secure in isolated places than many cities. Boon docking in dispersed areas on Forest Service or BLM ground is our preference. We also own property that is mostly isolated and enjoy being there. In fact on our property we are much more likely to see deer, elk and more than other people. We think it is quiet and peaceful. We do keep in mind that help is probably at least an hour away and take precautions and we are prepared. We are planning on building a house there as we prefer living in these types of places and have not had many problems.

Through my Dear Wife's former employer she is offered a regular Medicare supplement or a special Medicare Advantage Plan. We have had both. Both plans allow us to use any place that accepts Medicare anywhere without additional costs. The Medicare Advantage Plan is better for us in number of ways. The cost to her former employer is the same either way. We do worry that we might lose this Advantage Plan because of political disagreements.

I have trained dogs with and without an electric collar and the collar is usually the best. Training dogs requires simple but straight forward commands. Using a collar to force the required response to a specific command seems to work very well. As TCW posted use a collar that has a warning such as a tone. Most dogs learn quickly what will follow if they don't respond to the specific command and the shock is used very seldom. However, I have seen people try to use a collar every time a dog does something they don't like. This results in a confused and often angry dog. My last cow dog was rarely on a leash but once trained he would never leave my side when on command and knew to come immediately when called. His training went far beyond this but an electric collar for that type of training is way easier and more humane than any other method I have seen. My Granddaughter bought a new Lab a few years ago and she had the dog doing mostly what she wanted but sometimes it wouldn't come on command. This was most likely when another dog was around or a rabbit or something appeared. She brought her dog and we worked her with a collar for one weekend. That is all it took but this was a young dog that had previous training. My suggestion would be to read up on best training methods and selectively use a collar.

You might also check the dealers price. The local dealer here had air bags cheaper than I could find online. These didn't have the Volvo name on them. The Volvo name bags were more.

I think you are right and this leads to breaker failure and burnt plugs. Depending on a single device to routinely keep wires from getting hot enough to burn and start a fire seems risky to me. Electrical codes have a minimum service size for this reason and many try to operate these same appliances in their RV. As I said earlier I think 30A service in an RV is just a way to cut costs, safety be damned.

I think the best thing to consider is, how much the 120 watt panel can charge a battery. 120 watts is just a little better than good battery maintenance. It likely will take more solar to keep up with most RVers. I have run into people who claim solar doesn't work after trying a small panel. It is important to keep expectations reasonable.

Sure hope this all comes about at a reasonable cost. Using Hughes Net where other internet isn't available sucks. Supposedly fast and unlimited internet can only be found in their ads.

Most electrical engineers design circuits at no more than 80% of capacity. This is a safety factor. If RV's followed that then 24 amps would be safe. That is only about 2900 watts. Many people live with 30 amps but it can be a problem if you are not used to it. I think 30 amp service is just another example of the RV industry cutting cost despite the safety concern. The average coffee pot uses around 1000 watts and the microwave may well use 1500. Add in the converter and that may be at the safe limit. I would have to think long and hard before I would go back to 30 amp service.

I think cell coverage is very dependent on where you like to go. We like to camp in the mountains in Colorado and Wyoming in out of the way places. Cell service where we go is spotty at best. In fact we have some land we camp on a lot and the only way to get internet is satelite. We have Hughes Net setup there but our data is limited. Satellite TV is way cheaper than trying to stream.

I am NOT a TV expert by any means but our built in TV antenna has a crank directly below the roof antenna on the ceiling. Most I have seen are that way. You crank it up and point it towards the best signal. It also has a 12v amplifier where the indoor TV coax connection is. There is a switch to turn it on. That system seems to work pretty good if there is over the air TV available. If you camp where there is limited or no over the air signal then a satellite system from Dish or Direct TV can be used most anywhere that the sky is open. The dome that you have may work but I would visit a satellite dealer to find out. My guess is that depending on what stations you want the cost would be $50 to $150 a month. Finally there are some internet streaming services available but if you are in an area where cell service isn't available it probably won't work and you need a really good cell service plan. The satellite TV covers nearly everywhere but usually requires you to do some setup. There are also some options for you to authorize the local stations wherever you are.

Friends of ours had a DRV and it was bad from the purchase on. Trim fell off on the first trip and then it went really bad. The water leaks never stopped, the kitchen sink fell through the counter and then the Lippert no lube axle bearing failed sending the tire and rim out the back of the trailer. There was substantial damage. Even the end cap was dislodged and broken. The slides often needed help to move. The unit spent months at the dealer and DRV was not helpful. I know not everyone has these kinds of experiences but I wouldn't buy a DRV.

We carry our Forester as I posted with a 5th wheel. Our travels are limited to just a few states but we are not over length in all but one of these states. Unfortunately being over length or over width with a Smart car is the choice many of us must make.

Nearly every tire manufacturer has a chart for recommended tire pressure for the load the tires are carrying. As suggested earlier weigh your vehiclle axles loaded and check the charts. These are cold tire pressures before driving.