Five things we have learned about RV systems during our first week...

1.) Propane - It is wise to shut off the propane for the water heater when not in use.  The water heats up quickly for showers and dishes.  Cooking on propane is like cooking on natural gas, but we are not going to be cooking much on the stove during the summer because it puts out too much heat with the A/C running.  With that said, I have made pancakes and oatmeal on the stove for breakfast and I cooked a larger meal for dinner one evening, but it was clear that was not a good idea when trying to cool the space.  From now on I am going to be using the microwave and eating cold food for the summer.  I can use our Vitamix for smoothies and hummus, so those will have to be the staples.  I can also use our other kitchen appliances - bread-maker (I may try running it outside in the shade) & crockpot.  I am exploring solar cookers as well, I have never used one.

2.) Grey Water - Easy to empty!  Fills up fast with four people taking showers/baths and doing dishes.  Kids get a bath every other day.  Adults take a shower every day.  It seems that we fill 1/3 of the tank with the adult showers.  I am missing a dishwasher a little bit.  I have to keep up on the dishes because we have no counter space.  Did you see my last kitchen?

 Here is my current one:

Actually, you can take the Virtual Tour of our trailer to see the whole space.

3.) Black Water -  Fills up much less quickly than grey water.  In six partial days spent here we have emptied it once and it was only half full.  We followed the advice of more experienced folks, ran a little grey to get the hose wet, emptied black, then dumped the rest of the grey to wash out the hose.  I am definately appreciating only having one bathroom.  However, I must again point out that the space we are used to is going from this (four full bathrooms):

To this:

4.) Electricity - Full hooks-ups are excellent.  We have adequate outlets and are charging devices, running fans, microwave, and lights.  One of the things I decided to do was to eliminate all of my framed pictures and instead put all of my favorites on a digital frame which sits on a shelf in the main cabin.  I enjoy turning that on when we are here to remind us of all the good times we have already had and to make us dream of those we can have in the future.

5.) A/C - Four the first four or five days we left the trailer to air out during the day.  This includes leaving a couple windows open, the fans on, and the cupboards and benches open.  During those days we got to the trailer between 5-6pm each day and the trailer was at 99 degrees...We determined that the thermostat does not have the ability to display three digits.  We then cranked the AC and within an hour to an hour and a half it is down to 78 degrees.  We then held that temp until around 10:30 or so and then open the windows for the night because it had been getting cool.  However, we purchased the Reflectix, cut and taped it to the trailer windows over the past couple of days.  Yesterday we started turning on the A/C during the day at 90 - the outside temps exceed 110.  When we arrived back at the trailer today the temp was 115 and it was 90 degrees in the trailer with the A/C off (i.e. not running all the time).  Over the past 1.5 hours we have been reducing the temp by 2 degrees every 15-20 min and are at 84 degrees now (111 degrees outside).  The A/C does not seem to be working at the max, It reaches the new temperature and then shuts off.

I spent a couple of hours last night researching sun shades - a permanent solution to the Reflectix. There are a lot of factors to consider purchasing and installing these shades, so I will save that for another time.  For now I am feeling good that we can probably obtain 30 degrees below the outside temp.  We have to be out of the house by Wednesday - shortest two and a half weeks of my life - and then we will be here full-time!