I got an exciting gift from my friends this week. Mike had a couple of new batteries sitting on a trickle charger and offered them to me to create a little more power. Yes I will replace them in the spring. Lol! I called my friend Tom to help with the installation and then we called Topper to see if we could do it in his garage. Put that all together and I have more power. What a beautiful gift. The gift of keeping me warm longer.
Living on 12 volts of power is hard in the winter. In the summer you really do not notice it except I can not make toast. Lol! But in the winter, when the darkness comes early and the cold comes with a bitter wind you really notice the lack of power. I have lanterns and battery powered lights to use and I do, but I very much like the soft glow of the overhead light and as of yet have not found a suitable replacement in a battery powered one.
I like to be warm! I really do not like being cold and I will be honest on a night like tonight when the wind is blowing and it is the minus temperatures I am typing with a heavy sweater on and blankets over me. It is hard to keep the van warm. I cannot run the furnace constantly and with the wind it will cool down pretty quickly in here when I shut it off. I am hoping the extra batteries will help.
My thought was that we would replace the one and put the other under the bed. Where the house battery is located there is no where for another battery to sit. Under the van there is very limited space with the water tank, the propane tank and the gas tank all taking up space. Really the only place to put them is above the existing battery box under the bed.
When we figured out where they would go I told them my plan of replacing the original battery they asked if something was wrong with it? Well no not really. It was less then a year old but I usually replace it in the fall or early winter because winter is so hard on it I like to have a new strong one so it can take the beating I am going to give it. They told me I could hook up all three. There was enough room for both batteries in the space under the bed. Oh wow! I will not turn down more power thats for sure.
They drilled down through the floor ran a wire between the batteries and within an hour I had 3X the power and still have room for my hiking boots!! Woohoo!
Just for information sake, the plates to the left in the picture are traction plates. A person I met at work while I was in Timmins actually gave them to me. They connect together to put under your tires if you get stuck. I have not used them, maybe because I am lucky or just that good, but I am glad I have them there if needed. The are also compact which fits into my minimal world.
So far as I sit tonight and turn the furnace back on, it comes on strong and warm for the 3rd or 4th time. I look at the power gauge and I am still at 3 levels. I would have had to start the van already by now before. I had the overhead light on a little longer than I usually would because pushing my luck and walking the line seems to be the way I do things! Lol! Taking the excitement where I can get it!
Getting colder as it is I also winterized my tanks. I got up one morning and the lines were frozen. I opened the cupboard and put a space heater near it as I was plugged in and it thawed quickly. Pheww!
No more running water for about 4 months. Man if there is anything I miss it is that. Working with jugs is a pain and clutters up my hallway. Remebering to put them on the counter so there is less chance of freezing so I am not chipping ice for coffee, because that is a drag and takes me longer to get my morning coffee which makes me cranky! Lol!
It was a beautiful Christmas with my children, grandchildren and friends. 💜 I am a very blessed lady!
Looking into 2021 I am so hopeful that we can get back to living life. We can get back to hugging our friends (there is no one that will stop me from hugging my children, just sayin). At some point this has to end. If we are to just exist and live then really what is life? When it does I have a dream to go after!
Cheers to a better 2021! Keeping the dream alive!
Thanks for coming along on my Chipmunk Adventure!
See you next time!
🐿