Life on a boat or RV

We are back on the boat getting it ready for the summer. This weekend we got a major snow storm and while it didn’t present many problems for us, we did learn a few things. It’s still in the 20’s here and while it’s cold outside we are nice and toasty inside. But we had to do some modifications.  While tied up to the dock we only have 30amps of electric. This isn’t enough to run everything that we need to run.

Ahhh.. The 30 amp dilemma. With only 30 amps you can’t run everything at once. You can only run a few things at a time without popping the circuits. So you have to choose. We have 2 electric heaters on the boat and a heat-pump. If we tried to use them all at once it would pop the breaker. So we invested in a propane heater and since that doesn’t take electric at all we can run it when we have the electrical stuff on. Works well. The propane tank is outside and we run a hose inside to the little heater. We choose the Mr. Heater propane heater, where we can use the 1 pound propane cans if we need to take it outside with us and can’t bring the big bottle of propane with us.

Electric heaters and electric usage

Electric heaters use a lot of power. So while some nights when we have both of them on, (we very seldom use the heat pump that is on the boat) we have to turn off other electrical appliances. The heaters and the microwave cannot be on at the same time.  So when we are cooking both heaters have to be off. The hot water tank can’t be on when the heaters are on.  The hot water tank has to be off to use the microwave. So it’s just a matter of learning what you can run at the same time. We have become very aware of what appliances use the most electric and adjusted our living to work with that fact.

We also have to keep in mind which side of the boat has what plugged in. You don’t want everything plugged in on the same time on the same side. We can’t plug both the heaters in on the same side of the boat; it too would blow a circuit. Heaters have to be turned off to use an iron, or a hair dryer if you are using the hair dryer on the same side of the boat. (Learned by experience).

During the summer we have the same problems with the air conditioning on, you simply cannot run everything at the same time.  But we very seldom cook inside during the summer months. So cooking inside has been a learning curve. Living on a boat is a huge learning curve. We have everything that we really need and it’s really not a problem for us, but when you move onto a boat from a larger house, you realize all the things that you don’t need. We have the basics that will keep us happy and we’re fine. We don’t have electric blankets anymore, but we have enough heat to keep us warm. While the floors of the boat get a little cold, nothing can’t be corrected by putting on a pair of socks.

But winter on a boat hasn’t been all that bad. Once we got the heat working well to keep us warm, it’s just like living on a boat during nicer weather. With the colder weather we do start the engines more to make sure that everything has been working well with them.

Why don’t we use the heat pump more? Well its an older boat, and repairing major things that go wrong will be expensive. So instead of taking the chance to have it go bad, we choose to just not use it, and instead use electric heaters that will do the same job. The electric heaters heat it well, and with the propane heater it keeps all the cabins warm enough for us. Now if we could only figure out how to keep the propane from running out in the middle of the night we will be set.

The electric bill:

Our electric is included in the slip rent. So we really don’t know the total bill for electric. But with using only 30amps at a time total and we’re gone the majority of the day where we turn off everything except the refrigerator, we don’t think it is much per month.

So what can you run at once with 30 amps of service?

Our refrigerator is always on, the battery charger is always on. Those things never change.  Then we have my computer which is a desktop here, and we have the cable modem on too. We have 2 electric heaters, 2 TV’s one cable box on most of the time usually. We can run small appliances like a can opener when these things are on.

If I need to turn on the hot water tank, I will need to turn off one of the small electric heaters till I turn off the hot water tank. If I need to use the microwave/oven I will need to turn off the hot water tank and both heaters if they are on. Now while the oven is on, I can run the can opener for about 30 seconds before it blows the circuit breaker, but you really don’t need to run it longer than that anyhow.

Believe it or not with only 30 amps of service at a time you can run a lot of electrical things without blowing the circuit breakers. We know when we hear the buzzing sounds from the circuit breaker box that we have too much on and that it’s going to blow the circuit so we hurry and turn something off.

So we have learned that even with 8 inches of snow on the ground we can still be comfortable inside and nice and warm. Would I want to do this every winter? nope I don’t think so. I don’t like getting on the dock from the boat knowing that it’s icy, but as long as it doesn’t last long on the ground, it will be ok.