Whether you’re a full-time RVer like ourselves, or a weekend camper, van camper, automobile traveler or even a boater, you’ll want to take some tech toys with you so you can be plugged in. However, if you’re like us, once you go off the grid, you’ll need to rethink your electronic peripherals because not all can work without being plugged in to a 120 volt outlet.
Since Dan completed our solar install, we had to figure out how we can still be plugged in but the electronics have to be other than 120 volt. In doing so, we’ve found some pretty awesome finds that we’d like to share in this blog.
Be it known, we USE these products; they are not just some random listing.
1) RAVPower PORTABLE 26800mAh USB BATTERY PACK
This was listed on our Santa’s Top 25 Gifts for RVers and Campers and for good reason! You can buy these in any size you want. We have several. Since we’ve been boondocking and plugability has become limited to 12volt when we’re on solar, we simply charge these suckers up and take them everywhere with us to charge our phones, tablets, portable speaker, camera, etc. You can never have too many of them.
We listed this one first because you can plug in some of the following in to either charge or operate with these. This larger capacity battery pack has 3 ports so we can charge 3 electronic devices at the same time. We purchased this one on Amazon for about $42.
2) OPOLAR F201 RECHARGEABLE PORTABLE MINI USB FAN
3) O2COOL 10″ PORTABLE FAN WITH AC ADAPTER
We needed a bigger fan on warm days to move the air in our 5th wheel when we’re on solar. This 2-speed, dual-power fan plugs in with the AC adapter (included) or 6 “D” batteries which gives us about 40 hours of battery life. They are small and pack nicely away in a cabinet when we don’t need it. We place this on the floor if we step out to keep Krissie and Kandi cool on warm days. We also take it outside on windless days or nights to move their air around and to keep mosquitoes from ruining our evening. We bought this one on Amazon for less than $20.
The filters are replaceable which also can be purchased on Amazon. They are quite small yet pack punch when it comes to purifying the air. These are must-haves if you have pets, cook inside your RV or smoke. Aren’t these cute little guys?
5) LOGITECH BLUETOOTH KEYBOARD
While I do most of my blogging and writing on my laptop, I sometimes will want to sit outside do some writing without lugging my laptop out with me. I found this cool keyboard at a military PX store however, they can be found elsewhere. It simply takes a two AAA batteries.
It is Bluetooth capable so there are no cables or cords. There’s an on/off switch on the bottom to preserve the battery life when you’re not using. This particular model has a indented trough for my electronic tablet to set in. Its one of the best $40-50 I’ve ever spent.
6) BOSE BLUETOOTH SPEAKER
We’ve had Bluetooth speakers before but they never seemed to last or they would lose their parity. After researching and reading reviews, I figured I couldn’t go wrong with buying a Bose product. Don’t let this little guy fool you for it’s size. It’s rugged and puts out quality sound at the touch of a button. It was super easy to pair with my phone, tablet, and laptop.
It comes with a USB cable for charging. A typical charge will last all day and night of continuous use. I bought ours on sale for $100 which was a big spend for us but hey, we enjoy our music.
7) YOUNG LIVING ESSENTIAL OIL ORB DIFFUSER
We diffuse essential oils daily but when we operate on solar, I needed something that operated and/or charged on a USB cord that can be powered on our 12volt system. Well, it just so happens that Young Living has a travel-size USB Orb Diffuser that you can take anywhere you travel whether in your car, RV or pack in your travel suitcase.
Simply open it, add the prescribed amount of water and choice of essential oils, close it up and turn it on. It will diffuse up to four and a half hours continuous (green LED) or intermittent (blue LED). It comes with three essential oil wicks. You can read more about our blog, “Traveling with Essential Oils”.
You can order one, two or ten of these little darlings, replacement wicks and any of their high quality essential oils from Young Living Essential Oils through us. You can either sign up as to be your own distributor (you will need my # as your Sponsor and Enroller) to receive a 24% discount or if you’d prefer, you can simply sign up as a retail customer and order accordingly. You will need my distributor #1495003 to order whichever method you choose.
8) 12Volt DC LAPTOP PC COMPUTER CAR CHARGING CORD
9) ResMed CPAP 12V POWER CORD
10) ELECTRONIC PICTURE FRAME
This was a big hit in our listed in our Santa’s Top 25 Gifts for RVers and Campers. In fact, we were hoping we’d be gifted one of these ourselves! Since living in an RV, it doesn’t allow us a lot of wall or surface space to have photo frames. This cool gadget allows us enjoy family and friends photos on a timed sequence.
Our photos are stored on an SD card, inserted into the card drive and played continuously when turned on. It plugs into a standard 110 outlet. If we want to change or add photos, all we do is either change out the SD card for another or upload new photos to add to our existing one. Just ‘plug and play’! This isn’t really ‘solar friendly’ as it operates on a 110v outlet however, its still a cool tech gadget to have in your RV.
We hope that gives you some ideas on how you, as an RVer, can still enjoy being connected or enjoy your electronics but with energy conservation in mind. Ever since we’ve installed our solar project, we’ve learned that we still can be plugged in…just a little differently.