So you’ve been following the #rvlife and #vanlife tags on Instagram and the photos of people adventuring in beautiful locations and apparently traveling wherever and whenever they want have inspired you to consider buying, renting, or borrowing an RV. Maybe your friends or neighbors have a camper and you’ve taken enough trips with them to know you’d like one of your own. While RVing doesn’t have to be a complicated endeavor, every new or prospective RVer needs to be familiar with some basic concepts no matter what style of van, motorhome, camper, or travel trailer you might choose. The following guide is far from comprehensive, but I hope it will provide some valuable information for anyone considering an RV in their future. If you’re reading this article while already sitting in your new motorhome during its maiden voyage, please refer to your manufacturer’s manuals and instruction booklets for specific operating details on your systems. This is merely a generic guide that might answer some basic and non-specific questions.

Let’s start by taking a look at the styles and types available before we get too far ahead of ourselves. This info is fairly common knowledge, so I’m not going to dwell on the distinctions too much in this article. A recreational vehicle is either self-propelled or towed behind a separate vehicle. The self-propelled types are defined by a class identifier – A, B, or C. The largest and typically perceived as the most luxurious RVs are the big bus style vehicles denoted as Class A RVs – whether originally manufactured as a Class A, or converted from a former life as a passenger bus (referred to as a “skoolie”). Generally one step smaller than these bus-sized RVs, a Class C is typically identified with a cab-over bunk area (we have a 24 foot Class C, so if you’ve read the blog before you’ve probably seen photos of Cecil). Class C RVs are usually built on an extended van chassis and can range anywhere from around 20 feet in length to 40 or more (sometimes called a “Super C”) similar to a Class A motorhome. On the smaller end of the scale, the Class B RVs more closely resemble a delivery or large passenger van. These typically don’t have quite as many features as a Class A or Class C, but luxurious Class B RVs are available – whether converted from an existing van, or purchased from a high-end manufacturer like Leisure Travel Vans. Finally, all of these options are available in either diesel or gasoline models depending on manufacturer.

Potential RVers have just as many choices when it comes to the towed variety of motorhomes. The largest type is a travel trailer, often big enough to fit other vehicles inside a special bay (called “toy haulers”) or simply with tons of indoor living space and sleeping areas (possibly referred to as a “bunkhouse”). A travel trailer is towed behind a heavy-duty truck with a special hitch mounted in the bed of the truck. The more common camper is smaller than a travel trailer, and mounts on the back of a tow vehicle through a standard bumper-style hitch. These are available in a huge variety of styles and sizes, from 30 or more feet in length, to tiny one-room shells barely big enough for a person to crawl inside and take shelter for the night. The once popular pop-ups which seem to have fallen out of favor recently also fit this category. Finally, the truck camper style is a living space mounted on the bed of a truck. It isn’t towed, but rather rides on and is attached to a truck and resembles a kind of hybrid between a small Class C and a towed trailer.

All that being said, the sizes and styles between the various types of RVs are endless and these distinctions are simply a brief overview, certainly not an exhaustive list of everything available. For the rest of this article I’m going to use the term “RV” to denote a generic type or style and the following systems could be found in any recreational vehicle. The systems that will likely see the most use and possibly generate the most questions for a beginner are the utilities – electrical, water, and sewer. We’re going to focus on those three areas for the rest of this article.

ELECTRICITY – JUST WARM IT UP IN THE MICROWAVE!

You’ve chosen your RV and it’s sitting in your driveway, backyard, or maybe you’re really excited and you’ve already driven to a destination ready to jump into #rvlife. Unlike tent camping, your RV likely has domestic components built in that require electricity to operate – lights (preferably efficient LEDs), a powered awning, a water pump, refrigerator, microwave, television, etcetera. These components receive power from one of three ways – through the 30 or 50 amp power cord running from an exterior source of municipally-generated electricity to your RV, from your gasoline-powered generator, or directly from your RV batteries.

If you’re plugged into a properly rated outlet at a campground, you should be able to safely use all of your electrical systems with mildly reckless abandon (using an exterior outlet is called “shore power”). Fire up your roof-mounted air conditioner (if you have one), flip on the television, plug in your tablet to recharge so you’re ready to post photos to your new Instagram account, whatever you might want to do. This is the easiest and most convenient way to power your RV if you’re going to be heavily reliant on standard electricity while RVing. If you’re unfamiliar with 30 or 50 amp power plugs, be aware that they are shaped differently than a standard household plug with extra prongs that definitely will not fit a common 10 or 15 amp outlet. If you don’t have 30 or 50 amp power available, you still have the option of plugging into a typical domestic outlet by using a proper adapter. You will, however, be severely limited on what you can operate with this setup. If you attempt to switch on your AC, you’ll likely trip the household breaker if the unit even turns on at all, and you probably shouldn’t try running the microwave, electric kettle, induction burner, and hair dryer at the same time. Standard 10 or 15 amp household service will power your RV refrigerator and provide enough juice to recharge your devices, but don’t push the envelope or you’ll have to reset a tripped breaker, or worse.

The next option to live as though you’ve never left your home is to fire up your generator. If your RV has an onboard generator, it should already be rated high enough to power all of the built-in electrical devices as well as send enough power to the outlets for whatever household item you might want to plug in (within reason). If you’ve added an aftermarket or stand-alone generator to your RV, then you should be aware of the power rating and know what you can or can’t run with your generator.

Generators use gas, either from their own tanks or pulled directly from your self-propelled RV tank, which means you either need to carry gas cans with you or make sure you have enough in your tank to run your generator with enough left over to drive your RV to the nearest gas station. We view our generator as a system of last resort, but plenty of other RVers disagree with our point of view. Generators are generally noisy, disruptive to your neighbors, produce smelly exhaust, and don’t exactly mesh with a natural setting. If you enjoy tailgating and only take your RV to stadium parking lots, using the generator is probably no big deal in that kind of setting. If you prefer traveling to state or national parks or more remote camping areas, you might consider alternative power options. Many public and private parks have quiet hours (between 10PM and 7AM, for example) during which you can’t use a generator, so if you like watching movies at night, you might be out of luck in one of these places if you need a generator to power a TV and/or Blu-ray player. We have seen a few newer portable generators that are actually pretty quiet, and that’s a welcome trend in generator technology. But everyone goes RVing for different reasons, so fire up your generator if you must. It is occasionally necessary to rely on a generator to recharge your house batteries if you have no other means to do so, which is a topic coming up next.

The third option for powering your electrical devices is through your house battery bank. If you’re not plugged into an external power source and you don’t want to fire up your generator every time you need electricity, your house batteries are your only option for electrical power. This could be an entire article in itself, but for now I’m going to cover the basics. If you have a self-propelled RV, your house batteries are not the same as the battery that starts your engine. House batteries are deep-cycle batteries (also commonly called marine batteries) that are designed to be discharged and recharged multiple times while providing a steady stream of electricity to your devices. Your engine battery is designed to provide a large burst of power at once to start your engine, rather than to operate steadily over an extended period. Your RV probably has either a battery bay or storage compartment where your house batteries are located, or it might have a storage case on the outside most likely close to the trailer hitch.

The power flowing from the batteries to your RV living area is probably connected through a master shut-off switch, which may look like the photo below. If you’re sure your batteries are charged yet you don’t have any power where you think you should, check the master switch to be sure it’s turned on before any further troubleshooting.

Depending on your personal RV setup, drawing electricity from your house batteries may be identical to using shore power. But most likely your traditional outlets will not operate when relying upon your house batteries. Only devices than can operate off of direct current are capable of using electricity directly from a battery. If you have a couple of outlets that look like cigarette lighters from a car, these are DC outlets that will work directly from your house batteries, as well as your built-in lights, water pump, small exhaust fans like in the bathroom or above your stovetop, and the refrigerator controls. More likely than not, your refrigerator cooling system will not run on your house batteries – it will be powered by propane when not plugged in to shore power or when your generator isn’t running, and if that’s the case you’ll notice a couple of buttons somewhere on the fridge indicating so. For a standard outlet to function from your stored battery power, you need an inverter to invert (hence the name, thanks Captain Obvious) the DC power from batteries to AC power used by microwaves, televisions, and most modern electronics. If you’re lucky enough to have a built-in inverter, using devices from battery power might be as simple as pushing a button or flipping a switch. If not, you’ll need to install an inverter or use a portable model depending on your personal needs.

Your batteries will naturally lose their stored charge over time, possibly a very short amount of time if you’re sucking a lot of juice out of them to recharge cell phones, use overhead lights, and run your powered awning in and out to show off your new toy to the neighbors. So how do you get electricity back into your battery bank? Just like recharging a cell phone, your RV house batteries will regain electricity when your RV is plugged into shore power. But if you’re camping in a remote location, spending the night at a rest stop or a Walmart, or in a campsite without electrical hookups, simply plugging in your RV isn’t an option. If you have a self-propelled RV, your batteries will also recharge when the engine is running thanks to power created by the engine and supplied through the alternator – although I’ve heard this can shorten the life of your alternator, so you might not want to rely on this method as your sole recharging option (*UPDATE – please scroll to the bottom of Part 2 for more information on recharging house batteries with an alternator). Plus, this involves turning on your RV which is no problem if you’re ready to drive somewhere, but maybe you’re in the middle of your campground reservations or only a few days into your stay at a pristine BLM location next to a placid mountain lake and you aren’t ready to go anywhere. Your onboard or portable generator will also recharge your house batteries when it’s running while creating enough electricity to power your living area while your batteries are filling up on electrons. Depending on your particular RV, the master switch between your batteries and living area probably needs to be in the “On” position for the batteries to recharge through your engine, generator, or maybe even shore power.

Another option is to use an alternative power supply to create electricity for your batteries. One of the most common methods is using the sun’s natural energy converted through solar panels to feed your batteries. This is quiet, eco-friendly, renewable, and convenient assuming you’re in an area with enough reliably sunny days to make this option feasible. A solar array can be very simple, from a single ground-deployed panel clamped directly to your battery terminals when needed, to a full-blown roof-mounted series of panels running through a solar controller to a large lithium battery bank and then through an inverter to all of your RV outlets and devices. With a large enough solar system (of the RV variety, not the astronomical kind), you could theoretically even run your air conditioner for a limited time. We use a 120-watt ground-deployed double panel array with built-in solar controller. Our electricity needs are admittedly small, and we make a conscious effort to conserve electricity when the sun isn’t shining and we’re not plugged in to shore power. Relying on solar when traveling in the northeast during our first year was a bit more challenging when taking cloudy days and tree cover into account, as opposed to these past couple of months in the sunnier southwest. But we vastly prefer solar as the number one option for keeping our house batteries charged using clean, renewable energy. For anyone considering solar, both the Wheeling It and Technomadia blogs have a huge amount of detailed, technical information on every aspect of a complete solar setup.

WATER – MOM, I’M THIRSTY!

Now that you’ve considered your RV electricity, let’s talk a bit about fresh water. With all of the outdoor activity you’re engaging in thanks to your new RV, you need to stay hydrated of course. Some people rely on bottled water or other packaged beverages when using an RV, but let’s suppose you’re interested in a more long-term, sustainable solution that doesn’t necessarily create unneeded waste in the form of plastic bottles or jugs. Your RV is likely equipped with two water inputs – one leading to a holding tank, and the other leading directly to your kitchen and bathroom faucets, shower, toilet, and maybe even exterior faucets. If you’re parked close to a spigot providing safe, potable water, that’s great – run a hose from the spigot to your input port labeled “City Water Connection” or something similar, turn on the spigot, and suddenly you have water available on demand in your RV. This method can be used in combination with a water filter attached between the source and your RV, or even an onboard system mounted under the kitchen sink for example. When using an exterior spigot, your RV plumbing works just like it would in your home. Turn on the sink, you have water; flush the toilet, the water flows in (mostly the same way); twist the knobs in the shower, get wet.

If you don’t have a nearby spigot handy, the next option requires a small amount of forethought. If your RV is equipped with a fresh water holding tank, this can provide water to all of your plumbing in the same way as an external source but propelled by your water pump. You do, of course, need to fill your tank either before you leave on your RV excursion, or after you arrive at your destination assuming the location has a public water spigot available for use before you find your parking spot. Also, your RV likely has at least one T-shaped plunger-style fitting at some point in the plumbing (typically a low point drain, but maybe more). If you’re filling an empty tank and water is oddly pouring out from underneath the RV in a nice, even stream, this low point drain is likely open. Figure out where it is and close it, or you won’t be able to fill your tank while the drain remains open. Fresh water entering your holding tank can be filtered in the same manner as before, if you choose.

Using water from your holding tank requires a couple of extra considerations. The first issue is your water pump, which means you’ll be using electricity to power the pump and you’ll have to remember to turn it on when you want water, and off again if you’re trying to conserve battery-supplied electricity. The second and more important consideration is maintaining a clean and healthy water tank since you’re drinking the water it holds. This means sanitizing your tank at least once every six months and completely draining it if your RV is going to sit unused for an extended period of time.

You can find plenty of videos on how to sanitize an RV water tank, but the basic process involves pumping a small amount of bleach into the tank along with enough water to fill the tank about a quarter to a third of the way. Then you drive around with this solution in your tank allowing the water to slosh around and hopefully cover the inside of the entire tank in the process. Fire up your water pump and turn on your faucets to get this sanitizing solution flowing through your plumbing system too, before draining the tank and partially refilling with fresh water for a rinse process. Turn on your pump and all faucets again to get this rinse water flowing until you can’t detect a bleach odor from the water flowing through your faucets. Drain the remaining rinse water and the process is complete. You’re ready to fill your sanitized tank with fresh, clean, drinking water once again. This process is admittedly wasteful, as the entire RV lifestyle can be, which is something I’ll address in a future post – but for now you’re just getting started and conservation improvements will come with time if that’s a personal concern (which it should be, but my soapbox isn’t within reach at the moment).

SEWER – WHAT’S THAT SMELL?

So you’ve been drinking water from your tank and dribbling a few drops down the drain, washing dishes in your kitchen sink, flushing your toilet (maybe), taking a quick shower after a hot day of biking, and washing your hands in the bathroom sink. You probably don’t really think about these processes at home on a regular basis, since your waste water either flows into the municipal sewer system, your septic tank, or some other form of waste water containment, treatment, or disposal. But you’ve been relishing the RV life for the past few days at a beautiful camping location you found on Hipcamp or Allstays. You are now directly responsible for any wastewater you create. Welcome to the glamorous RV lifestyle where you have to think about dirty dishwater and sewage on possibly a daily basis! In addition to your fresh water holding tank, your RV likely has two more tanks – one for gray water (drained from your kitchen sink and probably bathroom sink and shower too) and a black water tank (drained from your toilet, and possibly your bathroom sink and shower depending on your RV setup). These tanks are not magical vessels with unlimited storage, and at some point they will be filled to the brim and you’ll have to rid yourself of their contents. “Oh crap!” you exclaim, not realizing the very literal implications of your outburst.

Your tanks are emptied through a series of drainage tubes that must be connected to a proper sewage disposal system at some point. Remember Cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? Don’t follow his lead and search out the nearest storm drain or you could be facing jail time along with a huge fine. If you’re parked at a campsite with full hookups, you have a sewer drain right beside your parking spot. Some people either wait for their tanks to fill while parked at a full hookup site, then empty them into one of these campsite sewers, or attach their sewer hose (affectionately referred to as the “stinky Slinky”) immediately to the campsite sewer hookup upon arrival and leave it attached with the drain open until they are ready to leave. If you’re not at a full hookup site, you’ll need to seek out a dump station at a state park, private campground, RV resort, truck stop, rest area, or anywhere approved to accept RV waste. A quick Google search of “RV dump station” should quickly point you in the right direction.

The day has come to empty your tanks and you’ve driven to the dump station of your choice. Now what? Your RV hopefully came with a sewer hose or, in a flash of foresight, you purchased one before you left home. This sewer hose attaches to the big black drain pointing out from underneath one side of your RV. The drain is also covered with a tightly fitting cap and surrounded by a couple of pull levers. Under no circumstances should you pull one of these levers before attaching your sewer hose. If you do, the ensuing scene will end up on YouTube as every passerby whips out his or her phone to record the hapless new RVer covered in what looks like something that could be muddy water, but we all know it’s way more disgusting than that. You might want to be a YouTube star, but I’m assuming this isn’t the way you’ve always dreamed of achieving internet celebrity status.

So rather than yanking on those levers, first ensure that they are indeed in the fully closed position. Once you’ve achieved a reasonable and comforting level of certainty, untwist the cap on the drain tube. Not fighting a deluge of poo water right now? Good! Take the bendy sewer hose and place the exit end into the dump station drain (probably covered with a heavy metal flip-top lid), then securely twist the opposite end into place on your RV drain tube where you just removed the cap. Once the hose is firmly and securely attached or held in place at both ends (with something other than your own hands!), give that black lever a tug and stand back as all of your accumulated toilet waste flows from your holding tank into the pit of despair below your feet. You’ll hear as the flow gradually slows, and just like that your black tank is empty (mostly). Some RVs are equipped with backflush systems you can then employ to more fully rinse your tank, or some people use a device called a magic wand (or a “Master Blaster” brand name, which I like simply because of the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome reference) that shoots water down through the toilet and into your black tank. Let’s say you don’t have either of those things at the moment, so now that your black tank is drained, push the black lever firmly closed again.

You’re now ready to open the gray tank by pulling the gray-handled lever. Isn’t the color coordination handy? Draining your gray tank after draining your black tank will help push any residual bathroom waste out of your stinky Slinky. The nickname makes sense now, right? RVers are a clever bunch. Now that the gray tank is empty, firmly close the gray lever. Slowly untwist the sewer hose from the RV connection, making sure to hold the recently removed end under the RV drain tube because I guarantee a trickle of fetid liquid will run out of your RV’s exit hole. Replace the screw cap on the end of your RV drain tube now that the most peril-fraught part of the process is complete. While leaving the opposite end of the sewer hose in the dump station drain, look around for a water hose or spigot that should be nearby. Use this source of non-potable water that you will definitely NOT use to fill your fresh water tank to rinse whatever remains in your sewer hose into the dump station drain. Then carefully remove the end of your sewer hose from the recently fed dump station (YUM!) and place it back in storage, nowhere near your fresh water hose or anything that you value, preferably into its very own storage container or your rear bumper (does it have removable end caps?) where the stinky Slinky can live a solitary existence peacefully wallowing in its own stench while airing itself out as you drive. Take off the gloves you may have been wearing, or at the very least wash your hands before giving yourself a congratulatory high-five. You survived your first tank emptying experience. It’s really not bad at all, just pay attention during each step of the process and “You should be fine,” he says, rubbing his hands together in an evil manner while eagerly anticipating fresh YouTube videos of hapless RVers.

Now that you’ve emptied your tanks, you might be thinking how to minimize the number of times you do this in the future. Perhaps your RVing experience will foster a new appreciation for public restrooms. Maybe you’ll consider a composting toilet instead of driving around with a tank full of raw sewage attached to your vehicle. Don’t think the composting toilet will transmute your waste into glittering fairy dust you can sprinkle around as the evening sun sets, creating a shimmering, mystical atmosphere while you relax around the campfire. The composting toilet is simply another version of a holding tank and you’ll still have to empty and dispose of the contents in a proper manner. We use a composting toilet which we prefer to the standard RV toilet since it conserves fresh water and eliminates the need for a black tank, but that’s totally a personal preference. No matter what, at some point RVing involves getting up close and personal with bodily functions normally reserved for parents of children in diapers or other adult caregivers in various settings. But, let’s face it – we’re all human and like the children’s book teaches us, Everyone Poops. Ready to move on? Me too!

SYSTEM STATUS CONTROL PANEL – I THINK IT’S FULL!

With all this talk of charging batteries, filling water tanks, and emptying other tanks, you might be wondering how you know when anything is actually full or empty. Your RV is likely equipped with a sensor control panel. Often referred to as “Idiot Lights”, the indicators on this panel give you mildly reliable information on battery status, the amount of fresh water in your tank, the fullness of your waste holding tanks, and possibly the status of your onboard propane tank. These factory-installed sensors are notoriously poor in quality and should be relied on casually at best. For example, our lights have readings for either Full, 2/3, 1/3, or Empty. Not bad for an estimate, but certain types of batteries can be damaged or completely ruined if discharged below a certain level, and a simple 2/3 or 1/3 reading isn’t going to cut it for long-term usage. Also, the sensors in your black and gray tanks get covered in gunk after repeated use and can give false readings of being full even if you’ve just emptied your tanks or they might just stop working altogether. This can be mitigated by using the GEO Method of cleaning your tanks, detailed in this Wheeling It post. We employ that method occasionally and it works pretty well.

So while these lights are available for use, they should be considered as a general guide unless you’ve upgraded your sensors or have faith in your existing panel based on consistent repeated use. A few rules of thumb are to keep your batteries charged as often as possible when in use, know where you can easily find more fresh water, and if you smell something funny, your waste tanks are probably nearly full despite what your sensors may indicate. After you’ve decided that you do indeed like RVing, you can get aftermarket sensors, an upgraded control panel, and maybe most importantly a decent battery monitoring system – but these options are definitely not a necessity. Although if our solar panels didn’t have a built-in battery level monitor in the charge controller, we’d likely install a real battery monitoring system. You may rarely use your house batteries, so it might not even be an issue for you.

We still have a lot to cover so stay tuned for Part 2 of this series which will include cooking options, storage solutions, sleeping arrangements, slide-outs, and maybe a few more things that may be of interest. If you have any specific questions, or some useful tips you’d like to add, please feel free to comment or send us a message through our contact page. See you in the next installment!