Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-04-2016, 01:57 PM   #1
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Knowlton, Quebec, Canada
Posts: 42
Running LP furnace 1 night on 1 battery

We are spending the month of Nov. at Myrtle Beach Travel Park. We live in Quebec and plan on spending 2 nights on the road with our FR Surveyor SV210 trailer and would like to stay at Walmarts. On the way home, we will probably be staying in southern New York state (begining of Dec.) Temperature could easily be in the low 30's or high 20's overnight. Can I run my LP furnace plus 1 light plus the TV on my single battery ? (battery is 1 1/2 years old)
Also, if the answer is yes, will my tow vehicle charge the Trailer battery once we are on the road?
Barry1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2016, 02:14 PM   #2
AKA: 'tiredTeacher
 
awellis3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Posts: 1,045
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry1 View Post
Can I run my LP furnace plus 1 light plus the TV on my single battery ? (battery is 1 1/2 years old)
Also, if the answer is yes, will my tow vehicle charge the Trailer battery once we are on the road?
You can run your furnace on one battery if you set the thermostat to its lowest setting. One light? Certainly. You'll cut it off before going to bed, right? Your TV is out of the question unless you have a 12V telly. The tow vehicle charging circuit is designed to maintain a charged battery. It may not replace all the voltage you used running your furnace overnight.
__________________
Wright and Penny
(with Fitz and Lizzie, the camping kitties)
Richmond, Va.
2010 Tundra 4X4 5.7L V8
2014 Rockwood 2604WS
Life is a cruel teacher. She gives the test first; the lesson then follows.
awellis3 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2016, 06:02 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry1 View Post
We are spending the month of Nov. at Myrtle Beach Travel Park. We live in Quebec and plan on spending 2 nights on the road with our FR Surveyor SV210 trailer and would like to stay at Walmarts. On the way home, we will probably be staying in southern New York state (begining of Dec.) Temperature could easily be in the low 30's or high 20's overnight. Can I run my LP furnace plus 1 light plus the TV on my single battery ? (battery is 1 1/2 years old)
Also, if the answer is yes, will my tow vehicle charge the Trailer battery once we are on the road?

Your battery better have a lot of amps because a furnace is a hog on a battery. In the cold the battery suffers from the cold, it has less power when its cold. Your battery will not charge up hardly any running down the road , turn your vehicle lights on and you may get a little more power to the battery. I would suggest that you add another battery


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2016, 09:08 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,502
It will completely discharge your battery which may permanently damage it meaning it won't be able to hold as much/full charge as before.

An inverter generator will be very quiet and should be considered as a good alternative or you can buy another battery or get a pair of 132 amp-hour golf cart batteries from samsclub.
Skyliner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-04-2016, 10:00 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
indybp57's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 336
If your battery is nearly depleted the in-rush of current when you first connect to your tow vehicle could blow the fuse for the 12v trailer circuit in your tow vehicle. And if that happens and you're not aware of it then you may find your ice cream is melted when you stop for the night. Don't ask me how i know.
__________________
2013 Roo 183
Miles Driven/Nights Camped:
2012:1042/13 2013:2772/27
2014:2259/30 2015:1644/20
2016:1278/23 2017:2183/22
indybp57 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 05:56 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 354
I don't think it will make it through the night. On my last TH the furnace would run both group 27 batteries down to the point the gen would not start in the a.m. without a boost. This was a well insulated 31ft FW, temps were low to mid twenties, thermostat set to 60. The cold also takes a little bit out of the battery.
__________________
2016 Wildwood 32BHDS
2004 F-250 CC 4X4 V10
Mars is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 06:04 AM   #7
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Knowlton, Quebec, Canada
Posts: 42
Thank you for all the responses...even if I don't particularly like the general answers!!!
I now will be looking for a campground that may be open end of Nov. If all else fails, we can get a motel, like regular folk would do.
The Forest River Forum Website should be added to the Identification tag of every RV sold...it is as important as weight capacity info etc.
Barry1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 07:08 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
LandJ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 291
For the price of the motel rooms, you could get a small inverter generator to run through the night.... problem solved and batteries will stay charged. I have one in the bed of my truck for just such occasions.
__________________
John and Linda
2016 Rockwood 2604WS
2017 Ram 3500 CTD SRW
2016 - 47 nights
2017 - 47 nights
LandJ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 09:09 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
You could also buy a gas buddy and not run the furnace at all and turn the gas buddy off when you go to bed and carry some extra blankets. I'm kinda cheap myself. If you buy a new battery then you will have two 1 1/2 year old batteries


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 12:38 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
nikita's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Grand Island
Posts: 307
Forget Walmart!! Spend the money and spend the one night at a proper campground, KOA's are right on the major highways, on again, off again! Plug in to their electric and be stress free
__________________
Nikita
2020 Chevy Silverado Diesel 2500HD
2015 Sabre 33 RETS 5th Wheel
nikita is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 01:23 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 125
Furnace cut-out voltage

If your battery drops a little below 12 volts, a safety device in the furnace will kick in and the furnace will not operate.

This usually occurs about 3:00 in the morning!!!

You need 2 matching (new) batteries to make it thru the night.
Henboy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 01:56 PM   #12
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,556
Quote:
Originally Posted by spock123 View Post
You could also buy a gas buddy and not run the furnace at all and turn the gas buddy off when you go to bed and carry some extra blankets. I'm kinda cheap myself. If you buy a new battery then you will have two 1 1/2 year old batteries


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums
I think you mean a Mr Buddy propane heater.
Gas Buddy is an app for finding cheap fuel prices.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 02:12 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
I think you mean a Mr Buddy propane heater.
Gas Buddy is an app for finding cheap fuel prices.

You are right it's Mr Buddy. I never stay at Walmart. I find a campground close by the route I'm traveling and stay there. DW doesn't like to wake up cold


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 02:35 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Evereddie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Pfafftown NC
Posts: 2,353
And, if the temps drop to freezing you might need to winterize.
__________________
There are 10 types of people in the world.
Those that know binary, and those that don't.

2013:31 / 2014:51 / 2015:58 / 2016:37 / 2017:46
2018:16
Total 239
Evereddie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 03:50 PM   #15
Senior Gold Member
 
rthomaslyons's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Winnipeg
Posts: 213
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry1 View Post
We are spending the month of Nov. at Myrtle Beach Travel Park. We live in Quebec and plan on spending 2 nights on the road with our FR Surveyor SV210 trailer and would like to stay at Walmarts. On the way home, we will probably be staying in southern New York state (begining of Dec.) Temperature could easily be in the low 30's or high 20's overnight. Can I run my LP furnace plus 1 light plus the TV on my single battery ? (battery is 1 1/2 years old)
Also, if the answer is yes, will my tow vehicle charge the Trailer battery once we are on the road?
You should have two batteries and even better a small generator if you want to run your furnace more than one night. The furnace motor or any motors really sucks the juice.
__________________
rthomaslyons
2019 Sunseeker 3010 DSF
rthomaslyons is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 09:09 PM   #16
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Hantsport, Nova Scotia
Posts: 79
If your "one" battery goes dead, it will sound your CO2 detector. That's the las t thing you want to heat in the middle of the night.
Harvey9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 09:17 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Bluepill's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Pensacola, FL
Posts: 1,645
My 2 cents. If you envision more such winter camping events in the future, it would probably be cost effective to invest in the two 6 volt golf cart batteries and a 2000 watt inverter generator.

I don't mind paying for a camp site with electricity, but they are nowhere as handy as a Walmart lot. I really like the ability to just pull off the road whenever and wherever I like and set up for the night.
__________________
2019 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2015 T12RBST Flagstaff Hardside

Disclaimer: The actual value of my "Two Cents" of advice varies just like a bitcoin.
Bluepill is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 09:32 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
Crusadernoob's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 806
We must be the luckiest people around, we stayed overnight in a rest area in January in the mountains of NC/TN, no, not as cold as NY, but we had no problem with the heat or battery.
__________________
2006 2500HD CCSB 2WD 2014 Crusader 285RET
Nights camped in 2013 - not enough!, 2014 37, 2015 40, 2016 39, 2017 38, 2018 36, 2019 37, 2020 26, 2021 28
Crusadernoob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 09:57 PM   #19
Swift2
 
Swift 2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Concord
Posts: 150
Crack the window and the GasBuddy is the Answer for us.
Swift 2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-05-2016, 09:57 PM   #20
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
DW and I always stay in campgrounds, we have stayed at one Walmart one night. We didn't feel safe. I am set up to dry camp and we camp at campgrounds that doesn't have full hookups. I have two banks of four six volt batteries plus two Honda's, each 2000i


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
battery, furnace

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:04 AM.