Conserving Water,
Power, and Propane (LP)
Last updated
As we do 90% of our camping in the mountains without hookups (and without a generator or solar panels), conserving water, power, and propane is essential. Some things that I do include the following:
1. Only turn the water pump switch ON when needing pressure. Otherwise, leave it in the OFF position.
The only time we leave the water pump switch in the ON
position is when we're taking showers. Then it gets turned right back OFF. Yes,
it's true, the water pump itself only cycles "on" when it senses that
the water pressure has dropped below a certain level, so while the purpose of
leaving the switch in the OFF position may seem to be conserve a little bit of
power, the
2. Only light and keep the hot water tank lit when actually needing and using warm water. Otherwise, keep the pilot light off. This is also true for DSI--Demand Start Ignition-- models that have an interior switch. Only turn the switch on when needing and using warm/hot water.
Actually, this is only a minor sacrifice in convenience for a good return. Also, keeping the water temperature at a constant warm/hot setting when it is already too warm inside the trailer only adds more undesired room heat. The only exception to this practice is when it is extremely cold outside and there is a danger of the water in the tank freezing (see "Cold Weather Camping").
3. Experiment, find, mark, and then only use the temperature control setting on the hot water tank so the desired warm water temperature comes from only having to use the hot water faucet.
Having to adjust and fiddle with both the hot and cold water faucets to get the desired warm water temperature from the sink or shower wastes precious water and even power from the water pump. When taking a shower, this can be frustrating (unless you have an on/off toggle at the shower spray head). It's great to just have to turn the hot water faucet to get the "right" warm temperature.
Unfortunately, the DSI water heaters that are now used in the Fun Finders don’t have a temperature control. It’s preset.
4. Take "Navy Showers".
Most of you are already probably familiar with this practice. For those who aren't, essentially it involves just running the water long enough to get your hair and a washcloth wet. Then you immediately turn the water off and shampoo your hair and soap up the washcloth to clean with (using biodegradeable shampoo/soap, of course). If the washcloth needs more water while you're cleaning your body, a quick twist of the hot water faucet does the trick. There is only one rinse at the very end when you rinse all the shampoo and soap at once.
5. Use wipes for body cleaning.
On our extended camping trips when we don't take showers every day, we use wipes for quick cleanings. Depends makes an adult size wipe that is great for just this use.
6. Carry drinking and cooking/cleaning water in portable containers.
We've always carried our own separate water containers for drinking and cooking/outside cleaning and only use water from the fresh water tank for showers or for inside cleaning at the galley sink. We use a 5 gal. insulated drinking water container from Home Depot (made by Igloo) for our drinking water and carry a second identical container when we are on extended trips or there's no source for good drinking water available at the campground. I use two 5 gal. red plastic gas containers from Wal-Mart for carrying cooking/cleaning water. I refill these at the campground spigot or hand-pump as needed (using a long black funnel I purchased from Wal-Mart to ease filling). I use these two containers to also refill the fresh water tank. A clear flexible tube spout is absolutely necessary to get the water into the external fresh water fill on our T-160 (Shadow Cruiser adjusted the fresh water fill placement in Fun Finder models that came after ours). When we camp where water is not available, I have two additional 5 gal. water containers I can take along, as well as a third insulated drinking water container (that’s a lot of water weight to carry!).
7. Heat cooking water and cleaning water on a camp stove.
We love our Coleman 2-burner stove with a manual ignite knob. It's so convenient to keep a water container on the picnic table next to the stove for cooking and then cleaning.
8. Use flashlights or battery-powered lanterns at night.
I have a rechargeable lantern that I keep plugged into the outlet in the open storage area above the wardrobe closet (it automatically gets topped off when I plug into shore power to top off the trailer batteries and cool down the fridge 24 hours before we leave on a trip). We use it when needing light at the dinette table at night for eating or playing cards/dominoes/games or by the sink when we're brushing teeth. We use flashlights for reading and for anything else after everyone is already in bed.