34 years ago I went off grid with solar PV and water heater. Haven’t used grid power since. I do have a backup generator that gets used occasionally in the spring and fall but I spend winters in Arizona in my PV equipped camper. Only real expense is new batteries every 6 years. Still have to buy gas for my 41 mpg car and 90 mpg scooter but that doesn’t amount to much. The little 25 mpg camper only gets used to go to AZ and back to Oregon one trip a year.
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Yep always wanted to live in a camper to avoid utility bills.
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Ok, I’m not sure I’ve seen a 25 mpg camper. What is it?
Curious minds want to know.
Sprinter vans (diesel) can get 25 mpg.
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I espect one of those early 70’s small Toyota pickups with a small camper or just a shell could turn in 25 mpg. Might require some down-wind driving. Better than down-wind sailing anyway.
I filled up today for $4.69. I usually fill up at 1/2 tank but now do it a little sooner. However the last couple of times seems like the car is taking an extra gallon or two with the same reading on the gas guage. I’m just kidding but why it’s a gallon or two more every time is a bit puzzling. It’s almost like the pumps are off which I know they aren’t. Maybe its just because I rarely paid any attention to the total before. Still $35 for my little puddle jumper for less than a half tank was a surprise.
It’s a 1993 base model Toyota pickup, 2.4, 5 speed. Bought it new in 1993. The camper is homemade steel tube frame with an all metal pop top from a 1964 Ford Econoline Travel wagon. When folded down the camper top is only about 6" higher than the cab.
I have a solar PV house in Oregon where I live most of the year but spend winters camping in the Arizona desert.
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Could someone please let me know what this “PV” acronym or abbreviation is for?
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Photovoltaic=PV. Solar panels that turn sunshine into electricity.
I’m jealous. I paid $4.859 a couple of days ago in Central Maryland. That’s down from $4.999 last week and any improvement is good. We went to our daughter’s home in Richmond, VA a couple of weekends ago and gas was the same price as home. That has been the case for a few months. A couple of years ago gas was always at least 20 cents less per gallon in VA.
Same here, I too would like to know for what PV is an abbreviation.
First time I remember seeing $5.00 per gallon instead of $4.99 was a couple days ago on 2 gas stations.
Gas prices seem to be noticeably declining of late in these parts.
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They are leveling-off a bit here, too.
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There’s a small town outside of Syracuse NY called Solvay NY. There are several companies in that town (Crucible Steel, Allied chemical, church and Dwight in solvay. They generate their own electricity and sell what’s not used to the town. Their electric rate is 5.87cents (well below the national average). I have a nephew who lives in Solvay and the house heating is electric. His electric bill on a 2,100 sq/ft home is less then $200/mo. That’s for everything.
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I just filled-up at Costco, and the price was $4.45/gallon, a drop of ~30 cents from the last time that I filled-up 2 weeks ago.
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Rummaging through some old R&T magazines came across a squib in the June 1991 issue, Count Your Blessings
“If you think gasolineis getting expensive in your neck of the woods, take comfort from the results of a price survey conducted by motoring associations in Western Europe at the end of last year.
The cheapest gallon of unleaded was bought in Luxemborg for $2.67, in Italy the price was $4.92 a gallon.
The average for 15 European countries was just over $3.60 over”
And remember, this is from 30 years ago when the sticker price of the tested Mercury LTS was $11,219
$4.50 doesn’t look quite as bad
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$4.50 is bad
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