Fuel economy

[David Brady]

Gardner,

I'm a big proponent of a steam engine hybrid for
a motorhome. BMW recently announced the availability
of an adjunct steam engine for their gasoline cars. By
recapturing exhaust gas heat via a steam boiler, storing
the steam in high pressure vessels, and using it to propel
the coach from a dead stop or up the next hill, bmw
increases engine efficiency by 15%. In our case, we'd also
have all the hot water we need! We do do a little
of this in that the Aqua-Hot uses engine coolant to heat
the hot water and the house. Now we need to capture
that 1000deg turbo gas energy and store it! I think
it's a great idea. See:

http://www.gizmag.com/go/4936/

On the cost of ownership: I definitely have a higher rate
of depreciation, I keep my coach in a private garage, and
I do do almost all of my own mtce, but even then there's
big ticket items. This past year for example, I installed a
new A-H for $5000, then you need to budget for tires
and batteries, etc, etc. Even by doing the work ourselves,
it still ain't cheap.

David Brady
'02 LXi, NC


Gardner Yeaw wrote:
>
> David,
> I agree that with a 2002 coach you are still eating the
> depreciation at a high rate, but I am looking at mid 80's coaches
> where the depreciation is far less. 20k for storage and maintenance
> is a pretty big number. I pay about $800 for storage and maybe 1 or
> 2k for maintenance. I can do most things myself.
>
> Actually I thought the steam engine would elicit more of a
> reaction.
>
> Gardner
> 78FC33
>
>


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