We have a beautiful, two basin, stainless steel kitchen sink with an extending faucet, but for the first few months of bus life, Steve hauled water to the bus in five gallon jugs, which he hooked up to a hand pump. When we moved to our current location, we scored a water hook-up, but we still had to heat water on the stove in order to wash dishes or bathe. Then, about a month ago, Steve installed a four gallon electric water heater under the sink.
When Steve purchased the tank, he couldn't help telling the sales woman how excited we were to have hot water after nearly a year without it. The raised eyebrows and crooked smile he received in return reminded us how odd our year without hot water must look from an outside perspective.
I'll admit, it is amazing to be able to wash my hair without first heating up a tea kettle. Although when the hose that brings our water from the RV hook up to the bus froze earlier this winter, I thought back to the good old days when we had no water to freeze.
Hopefully, when we get home, the water will still be dripping. If not, it's shovels for the snow and a roaring fire to thaw the disinterred hose.
Hi Katy,
ReplyDeleteReally enjoying your blog ..
My wife Cathy and I are friends of the Obergs. We live off of Camp 12 Road on Stonefly Dr. Our family of 5 and our cat spent 9 months (Sept - May) living in a camping trailer while our house was being built. Was pretty challenging but we have a lot of good memories.
We also had challenges keeping our water hose from freezing. If you have access to a spare outlet you could try running a heat tape cord secured with zip ties along the entire length of hose. Secure foam pipe wrap around both and secure again with zip ties. We were able to keep the hose clear 90% of the time with this solution.
Good Luck and keep posting!
Dan Rodriguez
Thanks Dan!
ReplyDeleteWe're planning to buy property some day and live in the bus while we build (or get a second bus set up) so it's always encouraging to hear from people who did this with kids!
We use heat tape and an insulated hut to keep our water source going. Maybe we should put one on our hose as well.
-Katy
When we first got our property last February, We had no water or electricity with 4 kids, All we got was the land with a tiny driveway. First we bought a generator and 2 water tanks of 300 gallons each and placed them at the top of our ridge, After of course making a road up to there. We still are hauling our own water and use gravity feed through garden hose to give pressure to our Bus. In July we got the power pole installed with RV hookups. The internet was the easy part, But we still contend with hauling out our septic every week. showers dishes and laundry water we allow to drain off into the trees.
ReplyDeleteThanks James. We'd love to get property some day and it is always good to be thinking about creative ways to make it happen.
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