OK, Dr J., now there is no excuse to miss next years International Rally. It will be held in Sioux Falls, SD, right next to the border of Minn, and Iowa. Again, it will be held the last week of June and first few days of July. This year in Bismarck, because of he high gasoline prices, only 1290 units gathered for the rally. Next year, hopefully, the gas prices will have abated, and we might have up to 2,000 units. Dust off that old coach, and plan on the trip. It can't be more that a few hundred miles, and the weather should be almost like your Iowa farm. Bill Scott 61 Bambi, VAC & WBCCI #3221 1VP & Membership Chairman , WDCU http://www.servintfree.net/wbcci-dc/
True, I've not been to an international rally, but I live in the middle of Iowa which has similar characteristics and this old farm house has no air conditioning and a green roof to absorb solar heat quite well in the summer time. I do apply the techniques of drawing in cool air at night, then close up for the day. 7' tall windows on the south side do tend to negate that during a sunny day. I've lived here for 30 years. Need to build that super insulated pad soon! Air conditioning makes my hand and wrist joints hurt, has for about 50 years. They feel best when its warm, not air conditioned. Yet cool weather doesn't make them hurt. The worst encounter I ever had with air conditioning was drilling a 1" diameter hole through a 18" thick brick wall with hammer and star drill. I started on the air conditioned side (in St. Louis in July) then since the star drill was only 12" long I picked up my 3 pound hammer and star drill and went to the adjacent office (the hole was for wiring to install an air conditioner) and in the un air conditioned hallway it felt like someone was hitting me on the head with that hammer. I finished the hole after resting a couple hours becoming accustomed to the heat again. I've not liked air conditioning ever since. Its sure that an absorption unit will be quieter than an engine powered unit, though the domestic natural gas engine powered air conditioners must be as quiet as their electrically powered counterparts. Still noisy in a quiet boonie's campground. And one thing I notice, the use of isolated air conditioning, whether camper, house, or automobile adds heat to the environment outside those units which warms where I am. I remain to be convinced that I need or enjoy that extra heat. I suspect an old large sized absorption refrigerator would supply the parts for a 2000 or 3000 BTU air conditioner that would be silent except for the fans that probably would make it more effective. With enough care in insulation and solar gain that might cool an Airstream. Since air conditioning is very energy intensive, I don't think batteries and solar panels will do it. Using some other clean fuel, such as propane, will be far more practical. Gerald J.
