It can be nice to know what the temperature and humidity is around us, so I added some smart thermometer/hygrometer units to our coach.

To see the current and historical temperature and humidity outside, I added a sensor unit under a slide-out, attached via Command Strips:

I also wanted to monitor the temperature in the wet bay; it has a heater to prevent it getting too cold, since having our plumbing freeze up would be bad, but I wanted to keep an eye on it, just in case:

Those sensors don’t have displays, but for inside I wanted units that not only have sensors, but also display the current values. So I got a couple of units with e-ink displays; here’s the one in the living room, below the smoke detector:

And the one in the bedroom, between the smoke detector and thermostat (the big temperature on the thermostat is the set level):

All of these sensors feed data into the Govee Home app, which can show the current values on its home page (along with ugly seasonal graphics):

The same screen after the holiday season:

Tapping on one of the thermometers shows historical data, so I can see how the temperature and humidity have changed over time:

Fun fact: that higher humidity was when we were on the coast at Corpus Christi, and the lower humidity was inland at Lockhart; makes quite a difference. And yes, the temperature inside can vary greatly throughout the day; we tend not to run the AC or heaters except for uncomfortably hot or cold weather, preferring to open windows for fresh air when feasible. (Not a cost thing, since we typically don’t pay for electricity at campsites, but it’s quieter, and fresh air is nice.)

Another essential gadget I’ve had for quite some time is the VIAIR 450P air compressor, to inflate the tires on our coach.

I already had a tire inflator that plugged into a 110V outlet, which I’ve previously used for truck tires and other tires. But it can’t quite handle the maximum 130 PSI of the coach tires, plus is very noisy. (I inflate the front tires to 120 PSI.)

The VIAIR unit is much quieter, and automatically shuts off when not actively inflating.

Unlike the old one, this one connects to a 12V source like a car battery. I hook it up to the truck’s battery; the truck needs to be running while in use, to avoid draining the battery.

I keep it in the back of our truck, so we’ll be able to use it while driving the truck around if needed.

It comes in a handy bag, and includes two long coiled hoses, so I can leave the compressor by the truck, and reach all of the coach tires:

Here it is in use; it’s easy to inflate by pulling the trigger, and release to read the gauge to check the static pressure:

An essential tool.

Fire safety is an important consideration for everyone, especially RVers, with lots of combustible materials in a small space. There have been lots of stories of RVs that have burned to the ground — usually cheaper trailers with propane fridges, but any RV is at risk.

Especially since RVs typically come with just one mandated fire extinguisher, by the door (which I invert and shake once a month, to prevent the contents settling):

If we’re in our bedroom when a fire starts, that extinguisher may not be overly useful — if we can get to that one by the door, we should probably just get out the door, unless the fire is tiny.

So a basic first step is to get a second fire extinguisher for the bedroom, which we keep in a cabinet above the bed:

But we can do better than that. We have purchased several quick can-style fire suppressors, which not only can put out fires, they produce a foam that we can spray onto ourselves if we have to go through flames to get out:

We have several of them all around the coach, including in a cupboard in the kitchen and under the kitchen sink:

In the bathroom cabinet:

And in several compartments in the basement area:

The coach came with a smoke detector in the cockpit area, but we felt that wasn’t enough, so we got some smart Nest Protect ones, that do both smoke and carbon monoxide detection, and talk to each other:

I mounted one in the living room area, and another in the bedroom:

Plus a third in the basement, to detect any fires down there:

The Nest detectors weren’t compatible with our Wi-Fi network, so I also got a Nest Wi-Fi router to help set them up (once set up, they communicate with a private network, so they’re not dependent on Wi-Fi):

The Nest router is installed in the internet cupboard, with an Ethernet connection to the Pepwave modem:

Our coach only has one entrance door. If we’re in the bedroom and a fire blocks access to that door, there is an emergency exit in the bedroom window; the red latches can be opened to swing the whole window up:

It’s a fairly small emergency exit, but better than being stuck back there. To make it easier to use, I got a pole that lives next to the window:

The pole can be used to hold the emergency exit open, for easier egress:

Hopefully we’ll never need to use it, but it should help if needed.

Vehicles nowadays are full of computers that control and monitor most operations. You may know about the data port that repair shops can use to diagnose issues. This port can be used by us, too.

The BlueFire data adapter connects to a different style of this port in large vehicles like trucks and motorhomes, and uses Bluetooth to communicate with an app to display this diagnostic information.

Here’s the adapter next to the case it came in:

Top of the adapter:

The connector on the bottom:

There are two data ports under the dash in our coach; the green one is the modern data port; I’m not sure about the gray one; might be an older port, or something else:

Removing the cap from the port, you can see the connector pins:

The BlueFire adapter plugs in, with a twist to lock it in place; it lights up with various colors and flashing patterns for its status:

The other essential part is the app. It works on Apple iPads and iPhones, and Android devices. It has a dashboard that can be configured; see the BlueFire site for more examples.

Here’s a dashboard layout I used initially on my iPad Pro (I’ve actually been using the BlueFire for months, but just got around to writing about it):

I later changed to a different layout that I got from someone online:

I have my iPad on the dash of our coach on travel days, along with the tire pressure monitor, and my laptop with the map:

I’m still working on improving the dash layout in the app; I’ve added a couple of gauges, but there’s room for more:

Here’s a screenshot for a more clear view:

Sometime I’ll spend more time customizing this further, but it’s a useful tool as-is.