New Kid on the block ....

[Buddha Boy]

Hi Folks!

My name is Buddha Boy and I am very happy to stumble on Mr. Sharkey's site. I have read through the entire site and think that I can find a home here. I will need and would appreciate any advice you care to offer on the topic of buses. In any other topic area let's agree to at least keep it civil, lol.

By way of introduction I would like to share with you a brief biography and then outline my goals, short term and future.

Ah yes, back in the day... 1980... After completing 10 years in the Navy Seabees as a iron worker and VietNam Vet., I got out with the intention of saving the world by teaching meditation, yoga, and healing through living foods. Yes indeed, a keen eyed and idealistic young man, I hired on at a structural steel erection company as a welder and traveled throughout the South living on the job sites in my Econoline van. It was great. Well, until 5years later, divorce, no friends, no kids, ideals laying in tatters around my feet wondering what happened? First Clue: I clipped a Graffiti Corner from the local newspaper and kept in my wallet until it completely disintegrated. It read "A fanatic is like a forest fire... It tends to burn all that is green and tender in it's path." I later summed up that period in my life by telling friends " Ya know, I got out of the Navy to save the world and the World kicked my butt and said '"Save yourself first, Boy"' and I couldn't, lol.

Fast forward through years of Hell and I find myself as a ordained Tibetan Buddhist monk living in tents, vans, renting rooms from people while I travel through the US, India and Nepal, studying and meditating with different teachers. I supported myself by doing home remodeling and repair and building religious monuments at different temples.

Early 90's I bought a 35' school bus and moved it to the side a mountain in the Colstin Valley in the Siskiyou mountains in southern Oregon, walking distance to a Buddhist Temple. Having little money and teeth chattering at night, so much so I can't sleep, I borrowed a pickup and went into Ashland to a carpet company and bought used felt padding and carpet for insulation. I screwed drywall screws into the ribs and wired felt padding 2" thick completely around the inside of the bus. 3" inch padding and carpet on the floor with a small wood stove: very toasty! Wood racks along one side by the windows for growing wheat grass. I was parked on a unimproved future home site that had a temp power pole... One extension cord later I was on the grid to power my refrigerator.
A five gallon bucket with peat moss and lime takes care of solid waste. What a great winter living in my first retreat bus. I spent the whole winter meditating and eating wheat grass and sprouts. Very fond memories. I later sold the bus and it is still there serving as a place of retreat and meditation.

There aren't many job opportunities in the valley so I ended up starving by attempting to live on a $100.00 a month food stamps. Ha, I ate a lot of rice, beans and sprouts that year. A friend in Baltimore, Md. contacted me and asked me to come back to the East Coast to remodel his basement in exchange for a E250 van with a new rebuilt engine in it. Done Deal and I am back living in a van.

I ended up dropping my robes and spent seven years managing a 250 acre estate in horse country outside Baltimore. I talked the owner into letting me live in the barn. I took three stalls, tore down the walls and stacked hay bales. Stood paneling on end for walls, propane heater, Clorox the floors, used carpet, wheat grass racks with grow lights along on wall, lots of cold water from the spigot, home.

Back surgery, heavy labor no longer an option so I ended up driving motor coaches and school buses. An opening in Delaware for a transit bus driver for the state brings my saga to the present.

Goals: Short term: 2010, Build a camper shell for the back of my pick up. Long Term: Live in the camper dodging police, for two or three years, saving every penny to buy a school bus and convert it to a fiber glass double decker. Long Term: Retire in seven years, move to land near a temple and spend the rest of my life on retreat, meditating. Come on Government don't mess with my Social Security! I got plans! .

So .... I need to figure out how to heat and cool the truck camper. I was thinking of a solar panel on the roof with some closed cell batteries in the truck so no venting 'cause I will be living in there. I am wondering if a small ceramic heater could be powered by the batteries to heat the truck if I purchased a good inverter? Roof vent with a fan can keep the interior cool in the summer? Everything I purchase now for the camper I plan on installing in the bus and expanding because I will need more power and it will need to last for the rest of my life. I also need enough power to power my Champion juicer and wheat grass juicer as well as a small refrigerator.

Now Mr. Sharkey I read through your section on solar power, inverters and such and I have to say there was a great deal of good information in there. Unfortunately, I could not understand much of it. I know it was written in English but it read like Greek to me, lol. I need to educate myself so I don't make any mistakes. Any advice would most appreciated. Thanks and Be Well!

[dburt]

Your life story so far reads alot like the stories of some of the rest of us. Welcome to Sharkey's site!

I have often wondered if a person could install a solar hot water type heat exchanger on the roof of a bus, and use the hot water to heat something with some thermal mass inside the bus that would retain the heat thru the night. It could be a passive system, much like the larger systems you see folks use on thier stick built homes.

Of course you would not want alot of weight which thermal mass tends to have. For instance, in a greenhouse with a solar hot water heat exchanger on the roof, the water is used to heat barrels of water filled with rocks that act as the thermal mass to store the heat energy during the day and radiate it at night.

And of course on cloudy days, there would be little or no solar energy to capture.

[Buddha Boy]

I think this is a great idea and I would not have thought of it, thanks dburt! I will use this idea when I get to my permanent location. Hmmmm, metal 55 gal. drums filled with rocks and hot water might do the trick with a radiant floor system. I like it a lot.

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

Welcome to the neighborhood Buddha boy. There are some great folks hanging around here. As to heating your new rig, as long as your going to build it yourself make sure you spend the time and money to insulate well. There are some great products out there these days. There are some great little wood / coal stoves that can be had if you look around, the small one are ment for boats. Well anyway, It's good to have a new kid on the block.

[Buddha Boy]

Hey Dennis! Thanks for the warm welcome! Let me know if you want to show off your bus this May as my folks live in Schenectady and I frequently make the 5 hour trip up to visit them and can swing by for a brief visit.

As a old NY farm boy who grew up with a wood furnace in a drafty old circa 1888 farm house, I am a believer in wood/coal for heat. My concern is I have noticed that there is a trend now towards banning the use of wood for heat because of the smoke.

My sister in NY has mentioned Montgomery county/NY is moving in that direction. Also, my friends in Ashland Ore. have mentioned that there is movement towards a ban also. Air quality? Man I can't think of many smells more pleasant than the smell of wood smoke wafting through the air on a cold crisp day.

Insulation... I have been thinking of how I can insulate my windows in the wheatgrass growing area. During the day, even with full spectrum grow lights, I would want to leave the curtains open which will allow heat to escape. Hmmm... Perhaps I could fabricate a double set of windows for the growing area. At night I could use heavy thermal curtains.

As always I prefer function over form so it may be a little ugly but it will damn sure get the job done. Git-er-done!

[Mark B]

Insulation... I have been thinking of how I can insulate my windows in the wheatgrass growing area. During the day, even with full spectrum grow lights, I would want to leave the curtains open which will allow heat to escape. Hmmm... Perhaps I could fabricate a double set of windows for the growing area. At night I could use heavy thermal curtains.

As always I prefer function over form so it may be a little ugly but it will damn sure get the job done. Git-er-done!

Welcome, Buddha Boy!

Clear bubblewrap might work for your window. Cheap and will let light through.

Mark

[Buddha Boy]

Hey Mark - Thanks! Definitely a good idea! Now that you mention it I have a friend that wraps his green house in the winter with bubble wrap. I'll have to check with him to see just how effective it is and how long the bubble wrap will last.

I was drawing up plans for my camper shell this morning and I am thinking about how to insulate the walls and bed of the truck. I think some ridged 3/4" foam board with painted 1/2 plywood on top for my floor.

I seem to remember having seen insulation that was encased in plastic that I could use for the walls of the truck bed and perhaps even on the ceiling and walls of the shell. A Google search is in order...

Have a great day Mark and thanks!
~bb

[Mark B]

I believe you are thinking about Reflectix, which is basically a bubble wrap with reflective outside. I think it works best when coupled with rigid foam.

Mark

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

I used a product called Prodex in my solar trailer and this stuff is great

[Buddha Boy]

Thanks Dennis that looks better that anything I have seen so far and the comparison stats on their web site are very impressive.

As I was reading the information I recalled reading about the negative effects of aluminum on the human body. I think that I would like to find a insulation medium that does not incorporate so much aluminum.

I try to balance the crunchy granola side of my nature with practicality but in the case of aluminum I just have to error on the side of caution.