The following is the contents of the last email news sent out.
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Due to taking off a few days each week to work on the log cabin kit that has now arrived, we are already booked through most of the fall. As of right now we are fully booked through October, with two days available in November.
Note that we will always do our best to fit in an emergency service (where something we installed isn’t working right or you have a nasty leak or something), separately from regularly scheduled upgrades that we stay booked months in advance with.
As a means of simplifying both our offerings and our product stock, we have dropped the VSL-900 package that was previously offered, and wasn’t much in demand. This was the in-between package where you get the inverter and battery monitor and auto generator start, but not the fancy touchscreen controller. The price break from the higher end package wasn’t that much, there was limited interest in the package, and this eliminates a few parts we then don’t need to carry that are different from the touchscreen (VAL) package. For anyone already on the schedule wanting this package, we will still complete that unless you wanted to switch.
Basically, this reduces our offerings to three tiers: Just battery (L-xxx), Battery plus inverter (VL-xxx), and the everything package (VAL-xxx). Hopefully this reduces confusion in our offerings.
The SDT-1 is a replacement shower door track for both G and K models with the sliding door(s) with silver slats. The kit comes in a set of short sections that are fit together and includes some extra screws (in addition to re-using the original ones) to attach it to the ceiling. There is now a link to directly purchase it on from the products tab of our website, along with an install video.
There’s been a lot of discussion about 12v air conditioners recently, with lots of Youtube videos of people installing them and claiming how wonderful they are. It makes sense that a 12v air conditioner would waste less power when run from batteries since and inverter is not required to generate 120vac to run the motors. However, it’s not a simple install due to the thick battery cable that has to be run from the air conditioner directly to the batteries (you can’t reuse the original 120vac power cabling). Additionally, these 12v air conditioners are generally lower cooling power, and ultimately drain the battery nearly as fast as a conventional air conditioner through an inverter.
To get some hard data on exactly how much power these units take, and how much comfort you can expect from running just with solar power in an off grid situation, I’ve set up a spare trailer as a test platform and have purchased a few different 12v air conditioners to try out. I’ll be publishing my data when completed.
I’m also going to test the latest variable speed compressor models (120vac such as Furrion Chill Cube) to see if there is any power savings by going that route instead. The best option(s) will then be offered along with the Houghton 3501 model we sell.
Epoch is no longer selling their LiFePo4 batteries direct to consumers through their website. Some of their line has also disappeared from Amazon, including the 300 and 105 models we sell. If there is interest, we will be selling install kits, including the batteries and necessary components to complete your own installation.
Each Monday at 8PM EST (7PM CST, 6PM MST, 5PM PST) I host a zoom meetup. These are open to all and mostly consist of people discussing mods, sharing something they’ve done, or asking questions. Occasionally we delve into general happenings around B-Haven or other topics. The meeting event is on the “Travato Mods” facebook group, but you can also
use to join directly. The meetings are recorded and available online through a private unpublished link (which is on the facebook event). Whether you have questions about mods or just want to sit in on the conversation, feel free to join us any Monday.