I'd say all of the above is good, and DEFINITELY on the power protection device.  We didn't start out with one and was in a mobile home park for 3 years before retiring.  The power source in that place wasn't great (had two power issues with the incoming lines - open neutral and bad electrical connection), and I think they might have contributed to knocking out our first Whirlpool washing machine.  We now have one of the Progressive Industries units hard wired into our system and it has the remote display.

In a pinch on our fifth wheel, the leveling system (hydraulic) will even let me raise it enough to change tires.

Since we had issues within 2 years with our RV fridge, we modified our Mobile Suites for residential refrigerator.  Love that one.

Terry

In Laymans Terms wrote:

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RO systems, water filters, residential fridges, dehumidifiers, two-pane windows, solar panels, hydraulic leveling systems . . . just to name a few

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 It really depends on what you want…as Howard and Linda are fond of saying there isn't any wrong way to do this thing. 

We have a dishwasher and would not be without it…it fits in a spot that would be pretty much wasted for storage anyway and it does 2 days worth of dishes on about 2 gallons of water…I can't wash them in that little.

Washer/Dryer…we don't have one and don't want one. The problem with most RV W/D setups is that they're smaller so you have to do more loads and heavy stuff like towels or jeans might need a regular washer instead as some W/D are pretty small. More loads mean you have to do laundry a couple times a week or maybe even every other day. Going to the campground or a nearby commercial laundry lets me do it all in a couple of hours and then I'm done for 10 days or so.

Residential fridge…we have one and would not have gotten an RV type…lots of fire and other problems with them, they don't work as well as a residential, there's more space in the residential model…and I like my ice cream well frozen which can be an issue. Drawback is you need a bigger inverter, more batteries and solar if you want to boondock much.

Stuff like water regulators, lots of water hoses with quick disconnects, and filters are pretty much gotta have parts…as are sufficient tools, jack pads, chocks, bug spray in a pressure sprayer, awning tie-downs, power protection system, power pedestal testers, adapters for 50/30/20 plugs in various genders, levelers, and a host of other stuff…but I don't think you can really skimp on those. Dual pane windows are pretty much a must if you are in hot or cool areas…much cheaper to maintain inside temps. 

You asked about daily basis though…for us it would be the residential fridge, dishwasher, hot water kettle and Aeropress for the morning coffee, and our Breville 800 countertop oven. We have the convection microwave but did not get a gas oven. The Breville bakes, broils, and toasts…pretty much everything a real oven would do…it's like a toaster oven on steroids. We also got a 2 inch memory foam mattress topper for our bed. Between that and our various computers and iDevices that's pretty much everything we use every day.

Oh yeah…forgot to mention. Beer mugs that live in the freezer to stay cold and real glass stemless wineglasses. I ain't drinking out of no Solo cup.

So as we follow this particular part of this thread, I have to say both Neil & Connie as well as Barb make good points about the W/D as a must have or not depending on your choices. I guess the economics of one choice over the other seems to be the decider for us. If they come out more or less equal, then the option with the best lifestyle enhancement will be the winner. At least that would be our choice. As you can see, we all have different priorities that suit our particular needs and desires.

FWIW, Brian

In Laymans Terms wrote:

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  Does anyone use their propane oven inside their camper much? I've never used one in the 20 years I've camped, but I thought fulltimers might.

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 When we had them in our camper trailers we just used them to store pots and pans. Our motorhome now doesn't have an oven. It just has a micro wave/convection oven. We use the micro wave a bit. The convection oven part of it we used a few times but it would generate a lot of heat while using it. Now with the Breville convection.....we use that when we need an oven. It works faster and better in my opinion. Grandaughter and I have made many cookies. muffins, and cup cakes in it.

In Laymans Terms wrote:

A couple questions I have based on the comments above - and pardon me for being clueless - how is the residential fridge different from a typical RV fridge, other than (I'm guessing) size? Does it still run off propane? From a couple answer above, it sounds like it can be retrofitted into a fifth wheel that comes with an RV fridge, is that right?

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 Nicole,

With regards to the residential refrigerators, they are all completely electric, thus Neil and Connie's comment about the inverter and extra batteries if boondocking.  The inverter allows the refrigerator to run while one is not hooked to an electric pedestal in a park or campground.  As for retrofitting, it can be done, but one must 'measure, measure, measure' to insure that the refrigerator chosen will fit into the spot.

In our case, we had an RV fridge that gave out after only 2 years of use full-timing.  Even though we have an extended warranty that would have repaired or replaced the RV fridge, we elected to go residential to avoid having one go out again in a short time.  While some have had good luck with RV fridge's, being we are full-time, it was important to us to modify our coach and install a residential.  The modification required making some changes to the space where the fridge sits and choosing a fridge that easily fit into the new space.  That's the reason for the 'measure, measure, measure.'

Should the modification interest you (I don't remember if you already have an RV), I posted an extensive thread about our modification for the residential.  If you'd like to see what we did, the link below is to an RV Dreams thread where I posted links to a couple of other forums and several links to my blog where I posted comments and pictures of our process.

The Saga of a Residential Refrigerator

And yes, the residential does a LOT BETTER job of keeping ice cream cold and firm.

Terry

Barbaraok wrote:

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2riker2go wrote:

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I started out using the oven, but it was a pain to light the pilot light. Then I figured out how to use the convection oven in the microwave and I haven't used the other one since!

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 Our propane oven has never been lit!  It is where I store my Cuisanart Griller along with a couple of other things.  Have had convection ovens for years and love them.  Our micro/conv oven is great for everything I want to bake.

Barb

 

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 Same for us.  When we had an oven in another rig it was a good place to store the bread. Don't have one at all in this rig.  Opened up a lot of space for cabinet storage under the range.  Convection M/W's have been great for us.

NWescapee wrote:

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One comment on the use of an oven, we have only the convection oven. 2 previous TT's had the propane oven that we rarely used so when we decided to go full time, I knew I didn't want one. Convection oven works well for most baking and we've actually started using the grill a LOT more for cooking things, such as pizza and stuffed fish fillets, that I had always cooked in the oven before. A bit of a learning curve, but on warm days, it's great not to heat up the rig.

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Not to get too far off the tread, but Linda, who does the grilling and I’m very thankful for that, loves the infra-red version of the Webber grill. She said it took just a little time to get calibrated to its fast cooking – higher temps.  But she loves it.  We (she) grill out a lot.  That’s a style thing but nonetheless . . . The trailer cooktop LP gas range is used little and we had a fold down cover made for it as part of the custom build to provide more useable flat counter space.  We use that space, as an example, for a single burner induction cooking appliance.  Love the induction – uses very little power relative to being electric and doesn’t heat up the rig. But we still have the gas range for boondocking when required.

All these comments show the OP there are many ways to live this life.

I held back to see what others said and now I will add my list of items we are glad to have that were not mentioned.
We wake up each morning knowing the time and approximate outside temperature, since we have a projection clock that alternates between time and showing the outside temperature. Many companies make these, ours is a La Crosse. For us, knowing the time and temperature without getting out of bed is comforting. Now if we can keep our cat from knocking it over on occasion, life would be good.

With a diesel motorhome we had a time when we were getting check engine lights and having to drive many miles to find out what they meant. We picked up a Silverleaf VMSpc and run it on an old Windows laptop while going down the road. It has helped us with check engine lights and has a much better fuel gauge than the motorhome.  The geek in me also likes all the real time information being displayed.

We also love our Magnum 3000 watt hybrid inverter/charger.  Right now we are driveway camping with a long 15 amp extension cord, but can run our microwave, Breville Smartoven and a hair dryer, since we have the shore set to 10 amps and the hybrid will add amps to the incoming electric.  

Our internet setup is very important to us.  We have both Verizon and AT&T mobile hotspots going through a Pepwave Surf SOHO router.  Each of us has an Android tablet, each of us has a laptop, we have a wireless all-in-one printer, and we have a couple other laptops for special purposes. 

Diane loves her Wii for Zoomba and other exercise games. 

We do not have satellite TV and do not miss it.  We do have a Bluray player and HDTV.

We love our residential fridge, especially the huge 10cuft freezer.  We like our vented combo washer/dryer and use it all the time.  We use our Breville Smartoven most days to toast and other days to bake or roast.  We do not have a propane oven, but do have a convection microwave that is rarely is used as an oven anymore.  We use our propane cooktop all the time, making pasta, rice, one dish meals, etc.  We make meals that we can eat multiple times and  rarely make something that only lasts one meal.  We do not own an outside grill.  When on our own, we eat breakfast and dinner in, with an occasional lunch out.  When with others, we often end up out for dinner.   We love our fancy Sleep Number mattress.

-- Edited by bjoyce on Friday 6th of November 2015 10:17:27 AM

-- Edited by bjoyce on Friday 6th of November 2015 10:19:00 AM

Barbaraok wrote:

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 There are a couple of misconceptions in the above statement.  First, is that the w/d can't do towels or jeans.  We do 2 large bath towels & 2 hand towels in a load.  Jeans - 2 pairs at a time along with 2 or 4 T-shirts.  The trick is to make sure you balance the load.  We do queen size sheets and queen size flannel sheets in the w/d.  As to doing it every other day - so what?  Throw a load in and go do something else.  There is no 2 - 3 hours sitting in a laundromat waiting on laundry, we're out and about.  I also often use a delayed start, throw a load in and then have it start about 5 am - so we get up to warm fresh towels.   

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 Hmmm…maybe there are larger ones than I've seen but still it comes down to personal preference…ya wanna do laundry 3-4 days a week or every 10 days. 

For us we go with the latter…sure, it takes a couple hours total but I wander up to the laundry and start them then come back in a half hour to put them into the dryer then come back to fold. On a nice day I just take my iPad along and read a bit while waiting. Some folks like to have it all done every 10 days…some don't mind the start it and let it run.

From a cost standpoint I think the laundry comes out ahead but that depends on how long the W/D last I think. I spend maybe 200 bucks a year on quarters…get them 100 bucks at a time from the bank. The W/D option was something over 1000 if I recall correctly. However…we didn't make the decision on cost but rather on what we wanted to do. We've always done laundry every 10 days even when we lived in a sticks and bricks…others do a load every night or two but that isn't us.

"Hdrider mentioned installing an EMS - what is that? " - http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ (RV  Surge and Electrical Protection)

bjoyce wrote:

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There are many threads on the "yes or no washer/dryer" and "combo washer/dryer versus separates" on this forum. We all have our reasons for preferring one over the other and we are happy with our combo. My mother-in-law requires her own due to chemical sensitivities.

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 To add to Bill's comment, the laundromat might be a good option for most people, but if anyone has allergies or other reactions to pets or pet hair, then having their own washer and dryer could really be important.  I remember seeing one RV park laundromat that had a sign saying no items that might have pet hair on them.  Needless to say, that could include one's clothes, if they let their pets onto their laps or beside them.

If the RV parks don't have enough washers and dryers, one would also find themselves paying for the gas to drive to the laundromat elsewhere.  In our case, we are 15 to 20 miles from the nearest laundromat, other than the one in the park.  If that were occur regularly, that cost would need to be added to the cost of the washing and drying.

In Jo's case, it is easy for her to find something to do in the coach while laundry is being done, which is about twice a week.  Sheets and towels get done once a week.

Terry

We should get back to the main subject. We replaced our Splendide combo at around 9 years when we could not fix it getting slower to dry. But, our new one, a 2100XC, has a periodic maintenance procedure that clears the lint out of the innards and brings the drying time back to what it was. There was no such procedure for the 2100 we used to own, so maybe a 2100XC will last longer than our 2100 did if you do the procedure. I know of no one that runs their own washer/dryer while not on hookups and some are plumbed by the RV manufacturer directly to the discharge and not to the grey tank. I do know people who run a load while going down the road while running the generator.
Again, having a washer/dryer is a choice and those that due have made that choice and those that do not have made theirs. Its an individual decision, just like RV type, brand, gas versus diesel, boondock versus full hookups, preferred campground choices, memberships yes/no, etc. We all make many choices based on our own wants, needs, finances, life history, etc., and it does not make us inferior or superior to others.

2100XC is a great machine because its larger capacity drum(wash a larger load) I prefer the stacking washer dryer system(currently have) but if I was in need of a single all in one unit the 2100XC is a great choice.I have one but not in the MH.its in our out door kitchen system. I have heard of people running the wash while driving down the road but you need a large grey tank like the better larger diesel pushers have. The direct discharge would most likely be on trailers with small grey tanks( my guess)
If you are full time and have the space I highly recommend a washer/dryer system of some sort. The new platinum splendide non vented incandescent dryer  system combo works great if you don't have a way to externally vent the dryer

Thanks Barb.... more data to plug in. It does appear that, economically, the "in house" laundry facilities are the way to go for most laundry needs. (at least for us).