Living full-time in an Airstream has been the biggest adventure of my life (so far!). It’s also been the craziest/best/most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done. I don’t regret it. But George and I did very little research before we decided, hey, let’s live in an Airstream! If I had to do it all over again, I might be a little more prepared. Although, if I was more prepared I might have wussed out! There’s a lot of realities and obstacles to living in an Airstream. The buying process may be harder than you think. Our buying process wasn’t easy. We easily found the Airstream on Craigslist, but our trailer was acquired in a divorce and there was all kinds of legalese associated with the title. In the end we had to title our trailer in Maine. Well, they have looser titling laws and personal/commercial trailers can be registered in Maine regardless of where you live. Maine also has low-cost registrations! Things get dirty real quick I have a strict no shoes policy in the Airstream, but that doesn’t keep the dirt from sneaking in anyway.

It’s such a small space that if we miss even one day of cleaning, the place is a wreck. Which leads me to… Junk will look junkier in a small space You need less “things” than you think. But even the tiniest bit of junk will look junky in a small space. At first I wanted to have lots of open shelves for our things, but things looked too cluttered in such a small space. We did fix the problem with drawers, but I wish I had planned for more hide-away shelving in the beginning. If you are living in a vintage Airstream, things will break/go awry. Things might even go awry in a new Airstream! Just like owning your own home, things will break and go awry. Unlike a home, there are less people with special skills able to fix things. You’ll need to be handy. Or live with someone who is handy (thanks, George!). And you’ll need to be willing to experiment and learn. We’ve learned so much from online forums and YouTube videos. The bathroom situation gets ugly.

It’s going to get cold and hot. The temperature in the Airstream is super fickle. We stay relatively warm with two heaters and the air conditioning works well, but there are times when the weather gets so extreme outside that no space heater or mobile home air conditioning unit will do the trick. We also live in the south so it’s humid most of the time, we control this with a dehumidifier, but it will never be the perfect humidity and temperature in there.ac unit in spanish There will never be enough space for certain activities.heat pump window unit review Working out in the Airstream and cooking in the Airstream are both a struggle. parts of central air conditioning unitThere’s never enough room to chop or dice and create even a one-course meal.

And jumping around in the Airstream, forget about it. I can do a few push-ups or squats, but forget high intensity training in there. I tried it once. It was not pretty. I don’t think of myself as “homeless,” but others might. I was recently reading an article about homelessness. It described folks living in their campers at the beach. I don’t consider myself homeless at all. George and I chose to live this way for so many reasons. And yes, the main reason was financial, but I don’t consider myself homeless. The Airstream is my home. If something ever happened to the Airstream, we could find ourselves an apartment. Airstream livin’ isn’t out of desperation, but it is out of the desire to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. Some people judge us for our decision, but it’s proved to be one of the best decisions of my life. Got any questions about living in the Airstream? I’d love to hear them and answer them in the comments! How Does an Oxygen Concentrator Work?

What Is an Oxygen Concentrator? An oxygen concentrator (also sometimes called “oxygen generator”) is a medical device used to deliver oxygen to those who require it. People may require it if they have a condition that causes or results in low levels of oxygen in their blood. These oxygen concentrators are normally obtained via prescription and therefore cannot be purchased over the counter. Oxygen concentrators are powered by plugging in to an electrical outlet or by battery. If the concentrator is powered by an electric battery, that battery will need to be charged by plugging into an outlet. Several parts make up a concentrator, including a compressor, sieve bed filter, and circuit boards. An oxygen concentrator has a compressing element, but it should not be confused with compressed oxygen or an oxygen tank. Whereas a tank has a set amount of oxygen that it dispenses, a concentrator filters in air, compresses it, and delivers air continuously. The air supply will never run out.

Instead of refilling compressed air, the concentrator just needs access to power. An oxygen concentrator works much like a window air conditioning unit: it takes in air, modifies it and delivers it in a new form. An oxygen concentrator takes in air and purifies it for use by people requiring medical oxygen due to low oxygen levels in their blood. Taking in air from its surroundings Compressing air, while the cooling mechanism keeps the concentrator from overheating Removing nitrogen from the air via filter and sieve beds Adjusting delivery settings with an electronic interface Delivering the purified oxygen via a nasal cannula or mask Learn about the Inogen One G4, G3, or G2 portable oxygen concentrators: Inogen One G4 Oxygen Concentrator Inogen One G3 Oxygen Concentrator Inogen One G2 Oxygen Concentrator Still want to learn more about oxygen concentrators? Check out our infographic on the History of Oxygen Concentrators. There are all kinds of DIY air conditioners you can make at home.

Some are easier to make than others, but they all work quite well. The 5 we came up with will keep you cool, and they only cost a few cents per day to run. Most of them can be made for $15 or less. Here’s what one of our readers had to say about one of the AC’s below “I know from personal experience. Using this little contraption in place of our AC last Summer saved us $$200 a month” These are meant to be room, or space coolers. Some of them can be used in your car if the AC is not working, or to keep your pets cool if they ride with you. You could can even hook some of them up to a solar panel and save even more! We scoured the internet looking for the best of the best DIY homemade air conditioners that we could find. We came up with top 5 that we felt were the best. We based the selections on the following: We list them below in descending order (#1 being the best) with our comments, and the video showing how to make each one. We hope you can use these to keep cool this Summer, or drastically reduce your AC bill.

Please leave us your comments below as to which one is your favorite. #5-$8 Homemade Air Conditioner – Works Flawlessly! We really like this one. It works well, and is very inexpensive, and easy to make. You could substitute PVC pipe for the dryer vents and reduce costs even more. The video says $8 to make which is possible. We rated this one at #5 because it’s a little flimsy, and cutting the Styrofoam gets kind of messy. This DIY AC comes in 4th place. It works well and costs about $40 in parts to make. We ranked it in this position because it’s a little tricky to make if you’re not handy. While it can be moved from room to room you can’t put in in your car, or take it camping. It is pretty sturdy, and we’ve seen demos where some pretty cool air is thrown off by it as low as 58 degrees F. You will be incredibly surprised at how well this one works. Similar to number 5 above, except you use PVC elbow joints instead of dryer vents. It is not the sturdiest AC on the list, but it will due.

Very easy to make. You don’t need to be handy at all, and you only need a few simple tools.Produces very cold air 40F in a 84F room. Put a big block of ice in the chest, pour some salt over the ice block (to keep the ice cooler longer), and you’ll get hours of use. It was a tough choice between #’s 2 & 1. This 5 gallon bucket air cooler is the Grandaddy of all the DIY air conditioners. At the time this was made the house temp was 84F, and the air blowing out of this DIY AC was a chilly 45F. You do need some tools, and do need to be a little handy or know someone that is. You need to get a Styrofoam bucket liner which some people seem to have trouble finding. However a Google search for Styrofoam bucket liner will yield some results. Home Depot type stores normally carry them. Also your local Sherwin Williams paint stores have them. If they are out of them you can get them from their website. They are very cheap. This is a great DIY AC, and you won’t go wrong with it.