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Published: 13 October 2020

Let's get cooking with Number Juan Bus!

Roadside recipes to stay nourished and ready for adventure  

We’ve been living and traveling full time in our skoolie (@numberjuanbus) for over a year and in that time we’ve made a lot of delicious food. We often get asked, “What can you cook in your bus?” The answer is pretty much anything! However, when it comes to living in a tiny space and living off-grid you do want to choose meals and snacks that don’t make a lot of dirty dishes or require a lot of water. Wraps, sandwiches, bowls, burritos, and one sheet pan meals are great ideas for lunch/ dinners. Here are a few of our go-to bites to eat!

Cucumber Lime and Sea Salt Snack:

Kinda sounds weird but it’s one of our favorite snacks. It’s quick, easy, healthy and everyone in the family loves it!

Instructions:

Gather ingredients: 1 cucumber, 1 lime, sea salt
Peel the skin off the cucumber
Thinly slice the cucumber
Cut the lime in half
Squeeze the lime juice over the cucumbers
Sprinkle with sea salt to taste preference
Enjoy! It’s an ideal refreshing snack

Buffalo Cauliflower Wraps:

This meal happened on accident one day when I was trying to use up random ingredients I had on hand. It’s quickly become a staple meal and works for lunch or dinner.

Instructions:

Gather ingredients: frozen cauliflower, cooking oil of choice, Frank's Red Hot Wings Hot Buffalo sauce, cucumber, tomato, ranch, wraps. (Optional: add spinach and avocado to fancy up this wrap.)
Preheat oven to 400°F
Toss frozen cauliflower in cooking oil (I normally use ev olive oil)
Place cauliflower on a baking sheet and cook for 20mins or longer for crispier cauliflower.
While cauliflower is cooking cut up your veggies.
I like to cut my cucumbers in “stick" shape for this wrap
I prefer cherry tomatoes but any will work.
Place baked cauliflower on a wrap
Drizzle Frank's hot sauce to preference
Drizzle ranch or blue cheese to preference
Add veggies
Wrap up, serve with chips or fruit and enjoy!

Jackfruit BBQ Sandwich:

This meal is so quick, so easy, and so delicious! This is healthy BBQ and also works for Lunch or Dinner.

Instructions:

Gather ingredients: 1 can of Jackfruit, Favorite BBQ sauce, and buns.
Rinse off jackfruit and shred with a fork or by hand
Sauté the jackfruit over medium heat for 5-7 minutes
Add sauce and sauté for 1-2 mins
Remove from heat and stir until cool enough to eat.
Load up a bun, serve with your favorite BBQ side, (ours is mac & cheese, but coleslaw or baked beans are also great options) enjoy!

 To see a few other of our favorite meals to make in our tiny house you can watch this video we made.

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 Join our journey by following along on YouTube & IG:

Number Juan Bus YouTube channel

@numberjuanbus

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Published: 29 September 2020

 Outback Skoolie's step-by-step guide for their custom skoolie skylights

Hi there! We are Charlie and Nicole of Outback Skoolie. Charlie grew up in Brisbane, Australia and Nicole is from Chicago, IL. We met while we were both in Las Vegas, NV by complete chance and have been together since. Neither of us has ever been happy staying in one place and we both want to explore as much of the world as possible. We spent 4 months backpacking through Southeast Asia and Australia/New Zealand in 2019 and realized how much happier we were living with memories instead of things! This inspired us to downsize our way of living and dive headfirst into buying a school bus. We haven’t looked back since and are so excited to get on the road.

What led you to this project?

We’re the type of people who want all of the curtains open during the day and all of the lights on at night. The more natural light we could add to our bus the better! This led us down a rabbit hole of researching different ideas on how to replace the emergency hatches in our bus. We saw a couple of ideas from other skoolies, (such as Colaventures), where the hatch was made into a skylight and we loved it! We decided to put our own spin on these ideas which brings us to this how-to. 

Cost Breakdown:
Roofing screws - $18.54
Plexiglass sheet - $60
We found this cheaper at Home Depot, ~$38
Poplar Boards (or wood boards of your choice)
1 x 6 at 8 ft - $23
1 x 2 at 8 ft - $9.20
Weather Stripping Seal - $11
One step wood stain - $27.50
Utility Hinge, pack of 2 - $2.18
Supporting hinge, left and right sides - $6
Window Sash Lock - $3
Small handle - $3
Clear Silicone - $6.39
Flex tape (optional) - $12.99

*The links on this product list were supplied by Outback Skoolie.

Total approximate cost: $147.81

The Step-by-Step: Below are the steps we followed to replace our emergency exit hatch with a skylight!

1.) Demo time - First, remove all screws from your emergency exit hatch. Then scrape off the caulk around the hatch until you are able to pop it out. Scrape away any remaining caulk off the roof and clean it thoroughly. The cutout from your emergency hatch will most likely have rounded corners. Using a speed square, trace 90-degree angles on each corner of the cutout to form a true square.

Next, use an angle grinder to cut out the steel of your roof along the lines you just drew to square out each corner, forming a box.

2.) Measure, Measure, Measure - Measure all sides of the fresh new hole in your ceiling. For us, the measurements were 24 ¼” L and 23 ¾” W.

Once you have your measurements, cut your 1”x6 “and 1”x2” boards to match. We cut the 1”x6” boards first, for a total of two 24 ¼” boards and two 23 ¾” boards. We then used the 1”x6” boards to mark the exact same lengths on the 1”x2” before cutting. You should now have 8 total cut pieces.

3.) Choose your Aesthetic - Stain your cut boards to your desired color. We chose a traditional cherry stain as we wanted it to contrast with the white ceiling we plan to install. Let dry before continuing.

4.) Build your Boxes - Using a speed square to help, screw together your 1”x6” boards to form your base box. This is the box that will be drilled into your ceiling. Repeat this step to create a box from your 1”x2” boards, which will form the lid of your skylight.

5.) Cut your Plexiglass - Trace the plexiglass sheet to match the measurements of the boxes you created. This should still measure 24 ¼” L x 23 ¾” W. Next, use a utility knife to score the plexiglass sheet 5-10 times along your measurements. Repeat this on the top and bottom of the plexiglass sheet. Once the line is thoroughly scored, the plexiglass will snap cleanly on your lines.

6.) Attach your Plexiglass - Place the plexiglass sheet on top of the box made from 1”x2”s. Mark every 1.5 inches on the plexiglass with permanent marker all the way around the square. Pre-drill holes through the plexiglass and into the 1”x2” box on all your marks. Once you have everything pre-drilled you can begin attaching the plexiglass to your skylight lid, (or 1”x2” box), with your roofing screws (1 in).

7.) Avoid Leaks - Cut 4 pieces of your weatherstripping to attach to the bottom of your skylight lid. This will be attached to the 1”x2” but rest between the base box and lid box when the skylight is closed. Be sure to add clear silicone to the corners to fill in any gaps that exist between the weather strips.

8.) Installation - Take your base box made of the 1”x6”s and check the fit against your hole in your bus’s roof. You want it to be nice and snug so it’s easy to caulk. You may need to use a rubber mallet to fit it perfectly. We left some overhang so you could still see the stained wood below the ceiling level!

Once snug, it was easy to drill in 4 screws in each corner to attach it to the bus. We used self-tapping screws (1 ¾”) since we were attaching straight to metal.

9.) Attaching the Lid - Make your way to the roof and add your utility hinges to connect the top and bottom boxes. Be sure to push down on your lid to ensure a seal with the weather stripping.

Next, add supporting hinges so the skylight can stay open on its own.

10.) Final Touches - Grab your window sash lock and install the appropriate pieces on both your base and lid. Make sure you are pushing/pulling down on your lid against the base to have a tight seal when latched! We also added a handle to make opening and closing easy.

11.) Final step - Head back to your roof and caulk all the way around the skylight box. There should be no gaps to avoid all leaks. Once we had a good rain and the bus was still dry, we considered these skylights a success.

How can people reach you and follow your journey?

We’re so happy to share our steps on this project! If anyone has questions or wants to follow our journey, we are available at @outbackskoolie on Instagram.

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Written by Garret Towne

Published: 06 September 2020

Your big off-grid solar questions, illuminated.

Ever feel like harnessing the sun's energy is more magic than it is science? Our friend Garret Town of AM Solar is here to demystify the process with our "Solar Sunday" series to get you connected so you can start your off-grid adventures. In this article, he'll cover a series of frequently asked questions from how many batteries you need, basics for how to connect them, and if it's worth your time to clean your panels for a better charge. If you are new to solar energy or already warmed up to it, we hope this article sheds light on some of your questions!

Garret Towne has worked in the solar industry since 2009 starting with a company that developed dual axis solar trackers. After solar panel prices plummeted, making the ROI on trackers less attractive, Garret became a Senior Engineer and Technical Sales Manager for a solar panel distributor. Garret joined AM Solar in 2015 and became President in 2016. As President, Garret has grown AM Solar from 11 to 23 employees. Garret has a BS in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Oregon State University. When not at work, Garret enjoys studying foreign languages (Spanish, Portuguese & German), competitive archery, beekeeping, and raising chickens on his mini farm with his wife and son. His greatest joy in life comes from writing fake bios for his employees that get published on his website.

How many panels do I need?
It depends on the wattage. I wouldn’t recommend less than 400W for a simple DC fridge, LED lights, and fans. If you have a residential refrigerator, get at least 600W. If you want to run an air conditioner or minisplit, get as much solar as you can afford/fit.

How many batteries do I need?
If you just want lights and fans, you can get away with 200Ah of AGM. If you plan on using a microwave or blender, you’ll need at least 300Ah of AGM, or 200Ah of lithium. If you want to run an air conditioner or minisplit, get at least 300Ah of lithium, but plan to add-on.

What's the difference between AGM and lithium batteries?
This page goes into a lot of detail on that topic: https://amsolar.com/diy-rv-solar-instructions/edbatteries/
The main factors that I consider:
-Lithium batteries don’t need to be topped off weekly like lead-acid batteries and give you a little more flexibility in often you charge.
-Lithium batteries might twice as long as AGM batteries.
-Lithium batteries give you about 4x usable energy per weight and 2x per volume compared to AGM batteries.
-Lithium costs about 50% more than AGM.

Does tilting my panels towards the sun give me more power?
Yes, but maybe only 15%, and depends on the time of year. I would only consider tilting if you plan on parking for a week or more.

Should I clean my panels?
If you have a leaf or bird mess on a panel, the production of the panel will go down to about 0W. You’ll definitely want to clean anything like that. As for dust, it probably isn’t worth the effort.

If I have a 300-watt panel why am I only getting 175-250 watts when looking at my Victron Energy app?
It is unlikely that you will ever get the full rated output of your panels. That rating is meant to guide circuit protection decisions for system designers, not advertise real-world energy production. You will get 300W of power from a 300W panel, when you have 1000W per square meter solar irradiance at 25 degrees C, with no line losses. This isn’t practical for someone living in North America with flat panels, looking through a lot of atmosphere on top of a hot skoolie roof.

If my panels are a little in the sun am I getting the full charge?
You actually get a lot of solar production from a bright blue sky. You don’t need the full sun to generate watts. On the other hand, if you have shade close to the panel, it will dramatically reduce the output. I like to imagine that you have a fisheye lens on the panel looking upwards. How much of your view is obscured by shade? How much is bright blue sky and the sun? The ratio of shade to sun is roughly the percentage of rated output you will get. But, if there is a part of the panel that has zero light on it, that part will bring down the entire panel.

What are the standards you follow for fuse and cable connections?

Without going too deep, here are some standards we follow:
12V battery system, all parallel solar arrays:
Up to 200W of solar: 15A charge controller, 8ga cable, 20A fuse
Up to 300W of solar: 20A charge controller, 8ga cable, 25A fuse
Up to 450W of solar: 30A charge controller, 6ga cable 40A breaker
Up to 700W of solar: 50A charge controller, 4ga cable, 60A breaker
Up to 900W of solar: 70A charge controller, 2ga cable, 80A breaker
Up to 1200W of solar: 85A charge controller, 2ga cable, 100A breaker
Up to 1600W of solar: 100A charge controller, 2ga cable, 120A breaker

12V Inverter systems:
Up to 1200W, 2ga cable <10’, 150A Class T-Fuse
Up to 2000W, 2/0 cable <10’, 300A Class T-Fuse
Up to 3000W, 4/0 cable <10’, 400A Class T-Fuse

We are using Nissan Leaf or Tesla batteries. Can you answer our questions?
These systems are cool, but as a business with liability insurance and long term customer support, we can’t help with Nissan Leaf or Tesla-based battery systems. This is because they are typically used batteries. I don’t recommend this approach for the novice.

How do you know that it's electricity your bus is harnessing and not magic? (It's clearly magic.)
It is magic. You should see my old Electrical Engineering notebooks from when I was a student at Oregon State University. 500 years ago, I would have definitely been burned at the stake. That’s why this information is so hard to convey to the uninitiated.

Contact Garret and his team at AM Solar here. 

Thank you to Stu the Bus for use of the image of their tilted solar panels. Watch a full tour of their bus here.

AM Solar Skoolie Kits

Short Bus Kit

340W 200A 220AhAGM 500VA

Learn More

Adventure Bus

680W 200A 400AhAGM 2000VA

Learn More

Full Timing Bus

860W 200A 600AhLi 3000VA

Learn More

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Published: 01 September 2020

Ramblin Farmers share why they chose Havelock Wool as safe, sustainable insulation for their off-grid skoolie.

Logan Hailey is an ecological farmer, writer, and co-owner of Ramblin Farmers LLC. She lives full-time on the road with her partner Cheezy and three adventurous pups. Find them foraging wild plants & mushrooms, working on organic farms, and off-grid boondocking in their self-converted 2008 Chevy Bluebird short bus. Full Disclosure: Ramblin Farmers paid full price for their wool insulation over two years ago - no discounts, no promotions, and no affiliate linking. After seeing the results, they sought out collaborations with Havelock Wool because they love their products and their company. Logan was paid to write this blog post sharing her honest personal experience. All opinions expressed are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of Havelock Wool or Bus Life Adventure.

Written by: Logan Hailey of Ramblin Farmers

When my partner and I set out to convert a bus into a tiny home on wheels, we had absolutely no clue what we were doing. All we had was a dream to build a safe haven for life on the road and on farms with our three pups.

Like many, we taught ourselves carpentry, plumbing, solar electrical, and interior design along the way. It still amazes me how far we’ve come. What we didn’t realize is how much we would learn about the downfalls of conventional building products, namely insulation.

Breathing Clearly On the Road

I was diagnosed with chronic asthma and allergies from a young age and unknowingly suffered from Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) throughout my life. Indoor air quality can be up to 100 times more polluted than outdoor air, often causing symptoms like headaches, brain fog, asthma, allergies, dizziness, nausea, eye & skin irritation, and muscle aches, collectively known as Sick Building Syndrome (https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Safety-Guides/Home/The-Inside-Story-A-Guide-to-Indoor-Air-Quality/).

From day one, we knew that our bus needed to be free of chemical toxins and allergens so that I could breathe clearly and enjoy the road. But all around us, we saw skoolie builders proudly installing Spray Foam, Reflectix, and Polyisocyanurate foam board.

In my search for the perfect insulation to keep our bus warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and free of excess moisture and mold, I got lost down a rabbit hole of frightening studies on the health impacts of standard insulation options.

Toxins in Conventional Insulations

From fiberglass to spray foam to foam board, conventional insulations are some of the most toxic and carcinogenic materials on Earth. They are laced with cancer-causing chemicals like formaldehyde, isocyanates, polyurethane, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

They harbor mold, mildew, dust, and allergens. They seal in moisture, creating a lack of ventilation (which is a key factor causing SBS). Many require specialized equipment or protective gear to install. Not to mention, the production of these synthetic materials has a horrific impact on the environment, as well as factory workers exposed to them. No thanks!

The Ideal Alternative

Our insulation had to be:
1.) Simple to install by ourselves
2.) Affordable for a high R-value
3.) Non-toxic, allergy-free, without any cancer-causing chemicals
4.) Environmentally-responsible
5.) Able to prevent moisture buildup or mold

It took countless hours of research before I finally found insulation that fit the bill: Sheep wool batts from Havelock Wool!

Finding Havelock Wool was a godsend. They spent hours on the phone with us answering all my questions (best customer service ever). They were completely transparent about their production processes, sourcing, and customer experiences. They talked us through measuring our square footage, preventing thermal bridging, maximizing airspace, and different install options.

At last, I thought. By then, I was desperate to insulate and move on with our build. We instantly ordered two bags of Havelock’s “Van Life” wool batts (which cover about 200 square feet) for $240 plus shipping.

The batts are 2” thick with an R-value of seven. It was more than enough to cover the ceiling, area above driver, and back walls of our 25-foot short bus. Unfortunately, we had already insulated our subfloor using pink foam board (huge regrets there). In hindsight, I wish I ordered four bags and insulated the whole bus (approximately 300 square feet of surface area on the floor, walls, and ceiling) for $480. That’s $1.60 per square foot.

Installing Sheep Wool

Our wool shipped quickly and arrived pristinely clean, soft, fluffy, and without any chemical smells. I could literally rub my face on it. No other insulation could make that claim, except maybe recycled denim, which is of course cotton, and we all know how jeans feel once they get wet (sounds like a moldy mess! but I digress…)

The wool felt dense and durable, ready to withstand all the crazy roads and unpredictable climates we travel through. After all, sheep wool has been used for thousands of years to insulate doors, walls, homes, and barns, as well as blankets, jackets, and socks. Wool has been found perfectly preserved in Egyptian tombs.

The batts were super easy to install and no protective gear was needed. Isn’t anyone else freaked out by the Hazmat suits they wear to apply spray foam? For more information see this article on why foam fails.

We simply slipped the batts between the aluminum roof and our cedar ceiling panels as we anchored each click-and-lock piece to the beams. Of course, this means we fully gutted our bus (every damn rivet) and we are very glad we did... the old school bus insulation under there was nasty, yellow, and moldy.

If I had a van or a framed ceiling structure, I would've used the cross-rope method. Then you can secure all the insulation in place before installing your ceiling or walls.

Benefits of Wool in a Tiny Home on Wheels

As we worked with the batts, I quickly discovered all the benefits of wool beyond the non-toxic, insulative capacities:

- It is naturally fire-resistant with zero flame retardants. We have tested this ourselves by attempting to light our insulation on fire several times... nothing happens.

- Wool is remarkably sound-deadening and often used for recording studio walls. It significantly cuts down on road noise in our bus.

- The wool is completely bug and insect resistant due to the naturally-occurring lanolin (produced by the sheep) and small additions of natural boric acid (borax), which is basically what your grandma used to wash clothes.

- I have investigated the wool in our ceiling several times over the past years by pulling out the ceiling lights and peeking underneath. It is just as pristine as the day we bought it! No bugs, no critters, no mold, no nothing. Speaking of mold, that was a huge worry for us. Having built our bus in the rainy PNW, we were all too familiar with the gnarly mold problems in nearly every conventionally-built home in Oregon. We also knew that lack of ventilation is a key threat to living in any vehicle, especially a bus.

- Metal and glass repeatedly accumulate condensation, regardless of how many windows are open or fans are running. One person exhales more than a cup of water into the surrounding air every day just while breathing normally.

- Wool simply absorbs excess moisture and slowly releases it back into the interior air over time. Havelock uses this as part of their marketing, but I have witnessed it work firsthand. Even during the longest, rainiest, 100% humidity months of PNW winter, the wool has never shown any signs of mold or mildew. It always feels dry and soft to the touch.

Wool-Insulation two Years Later

It took us one year to convert our skoolie into a non-toxic, eco-friendly space with clean, allergen-free air. We have been living in Magpie the Bus full-time on the road for nearly two years now, rambling from high mountains to warm deserts and everywhere in between.

Our dogs can safely stay in our bus home in most any weather while we are working on farms. The temperature and humidity levels stay comfortably moderated year-round. My lungs are breathing clearer than they have in two decades and I’ve ditched the asthma medications that I took every day since I was a toddler. I’ve got Havelock Wool to thank.

Keep up with us on Instagram @ramblinfarmers or at www.ramblinfarmers.com
See y’all out on the road!

Clarification: Sheep Wool is NOT Rockwool. Keep in mind that Sheep Wool from Havelock Wool is FAR DIFFERENT than the health-harming Rockwool insulation, which is made with industrial waste and toxic slag. Havelock Wool comes from sheep freely roaming pastures of the New Zealand countryside. Rockwool is a synthetic, carcinogenic, and completely un-natural industrially manufactured product of melted basalt rock and “recycled” slag (aka industrial waste). Don’t get the two confused when insulating your bus conversion.