No power at campground overnight. Can I run my heat with just battery?

[mblee21]

I just found out that the campground I am staying at this weekend is going to be without power from 10:00 pm Saturday night up to 6:00 am the next morning. The weather is calling for mid 20s that night. I have a 2018 272RL Hemisphere. Can I run my furnace off just the batteries? I do have two 12v. Going with no heat is not an option. Please advise.

[marinerjoe]

Yes.

[Broadway Joe]

Should be no problem, just limit your other drains on the battery. Make sure your batteries are fully charged.

[Briorick]

Originally Posted by mblee21

I just found out that the campground I am staying at this weekend is going to be without power from 10:00 pm Saturday night up to 6:00 am the next morning. The weather is calling for mid 20s that night. I have a 2018 272RL Hemisphere. Can I run my furnace off just the batteries? I do have two 12v. Going with no heat is not an option. Please advise.

We are going camping this weekend as well and the temps are to be in the low 30's here. The CG sites "with electrical hookups" are already full, Halloween weekend celebration here, so we are dry camping instead. Therefore we are taking along our Mr. Buddy Heater and going to utilize it instead of using the furnace, mainly because of the draw the furnace has on the battery. This little heater really kicks out some heat. We only have 1 battery, but do have 200 watt solar panels we will use as well, but still need to monitor closely this time of year with less daylight.

We purchased this Mr. Buddy heater a few years back when we had the Pop Up, and camping in cooler weather. Works great, and a good overall investment.

I added a link just to show you what it is, if you aren't aware.

Enjoy your "brrrrrr" weekend!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mr-Heater-P....c100011.m1850

[david_reaves]

I agree with the "Joes" above. As long as you aren't running a lot of other 12-volt draws you should be okay. You will want to set the temp as low as you can stand (use warm blankets!) because the furnace fan will draw a good bit of current. If your batteries are charged at 10:00 when you lose power, then you should make it until morning when the power is restored.

[mblee21]

Thanks everyone. I will check out the Mr Buddy also.

[TheWolfPaq82]

Lightweight and easy to carry with fold-down handle for compact storage
Uses 1-lb. or 20-lb. propane tank (neither included)
Provides 3 to 6 hours of heat with 1-lb. propane cylinder and 48 to 110 hours with a 20-lb. tank
Swivel out feature for easy connection to liquid propane cylinder and hose
Automatic low oxygen safety shut-off
Accidental tip-over shut-off for added safety
CSA certified
Not for sale in MA and Canada
I like the red highlighted. That is exactly what happens to your brain when using heaters like this without proper ventilation.

[KyDan]

I always recommend flannel sheets and either a down comforter or an opened down sleeping bag used as a comforter. You can set the T-stat on 55 and sleep like a baby and save some LP and battery power. My only concern would be that they "run into trouble" and the power does not come back as expected....
Good luck! We love to camp in frosty weather at least once or twice every year!

[dcheatwood]

It'll be doable if you're conservative with 12v power. Do you have residential frig? That'll affect battery a lot. I'm thinking . . .be fully charged when power goes out, kill power to all non-necessities including gas water heater, use more covers than normal, and set furnace to a lower setting like 55-60°. Wife and I love sleeping in cold as long as we can wake up to warmth. Lol. Sounds like an adventure. Please report back so we know how it went. Enjoy.

[KyDan]

One of my favorite things about cold weather camping is lighting the stove to perk coffee in an old fashioned stove top percolator and lighting the oven to cook biscuits or sweet rolls. This also helps take the chill off the rig.
We're planning our next outing as we write this.

[youroo]

I would not rule out a Small Generator,that way a person could "Watch TV,use lights,run the Furnace,run the Exhaust fans,computer,phone,Refer,water heater,water pump,Slides,awning! Not all at the Same Time,but at least it can be done,since you will have 110 Volts,can't do that with a Buddy Heater! Youroo!!

[mblee21]

Well the campground is 30 minutes from my house so if it gets to cold I will just load up and go home. Lol. But I really don't want to. I am really hoping they decide against the power grid maintenance since it is going to be so cold. I am from TN and 25 is cold.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by mblee21

Well the campground is 30 minutes from my house so if it gets to cold I will just load up and go home. Lol. But I really don't want to. I am really hoping the decide against the power grid maintenance since it is going to be so cold. I am from TN and 25 is cold.

That is an odd time to me, to do maintenance. Also on a weekend, when you would have the most customers.

[mblee21]

Originally Posted by wmtire

That is an odd time to me, to do maintenance. Also on a weekend, when you would have the most customers.

It's not the campground. It's TVA and the electric company.

[Maman325]

Go for it! You'll be fine. Your batteries should be fully charged before they shut off the power. Plan on taking showers or washing dishes before or after the power outage & turn off the gas water heater (in ours, the water stays plenty warm for hours, even if you need to wash your hands or do something quick). Get her all nice & toasty before they shut off the power and you should have no problems running the furnace overnight to keep it comfortable. And like you said - if you're 30 minutes away and can leave if it doesn't work out - great. But you should be fine - and it'll be a good test of what your camper can do. :-)

[JJaxon]

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, be sure to use surge protector at the pedestal, or disconnect the cord until you know power has been restored. A line surge from the power company is possible and you don't want that experience in an RV. Also, keeping plugged into your tow vehicle might give you extended battery use, but at the risk of draining your truck batteries too. Sleep close to her. If she is like my wife, she won't dare mention she is cold...

[Stormrider151]

While you’re thinking about heat, if it’s going to be that cold you might want to consider your plumbing as well. It kind of depends on the length of time your trailer will be exposed to those temps.

[Briorick]

Originally Posted by TheWolfPaq82

Lightweight and easy to carry with fold-down handle for compact storage
Uses 1-lb. or 20-lb. propane tank (neither included)
Provides 3 to 6 hours of heat with 1-lb. propane cylinder and 48 to 110 hours with a 20-lb. tank
Swivel out feature for easy connection to liquid propane cylinder and hose
Automatic low oxygen safety shut-off
Accidental tip-over shut-off for added safety
CSA certified
Not for sale in MA and Canada
I like the red highlighted. That is exactly what happens to your brain when using heaters like this without proper ventilation.

Exactly! Common sense is a necessity when using these heaters....and it also states on the Mr. Buddy to "DO NOT USE WITHOUT PROPER VENTILATION".

[UT_Grandpa]

Most of our camps are outside a campground or without hookups. I measured my furnace draw at 8 Amps so a Group 27 battery should be good for about 9 hours run time (furnace on). A Group 24 for about 7 hours run time.

Assuming 10 minutes per hour of run time (we run at 60 F at night) with a 12 hour night you will use 16 AH of your battery. Bottom line, no problem. Your solar panels should be able to recharge them in a few hours.

[jimmoore13]

Rather than focus on whether you CAN, this is more about how you can figure out IF you can. If you develop a taste for boondocking, this info might be quite helpful. If you're not one to pull the plug, this won't interest you.

I assume your RV is equipped with "enough" battery storage to manage one overnight of dry camping. It would be strange if it weren't.
Since you'll have shore power until TVA shuts down for maintenance, your battery or batteries should be fully charged when the lights go out. If the assumption about your battery storage is correct, you'll have no trouble at all.

NOTE THAT I AM USING ROUND NUMBERS.
Your battery storage is rated in "amp-hours." The simplest battery installation is a 12-volt, group 24 deep cycle. Fully charged, it starts with about 80 amp hours. Routinely, you should use only about 50% of that (a rough estimate). So one of these fully charged begins with about 35 to 40 usable amp-hours.
Depending on your battery storage, your "mileage will vary."
For example, 2 group 27 12 volt batteries will start you off with roughly 100 amp-hours of usable capacity.

Next, check the owner's manual for the furnace...or get the make and model number and look for an owner's manual online. The manual will tell you the power draw of your furnace. In my PUP, the furnace draws 5 amps. Your furnace will likely draw more. Once you know how much power it uses, then estimate how much of the time it will be on. On a cold night in a PUP, the furnace might run 50% of the time...or more. So, from say, 10 PM to 8 AM, the furnace will run 5 hours (50% duty cycle) at 5 amps per hour. It will consume 25 amp hours out of the 40. That illustrates how you can come up with a reasonable estimate of power consumption.

This is a very handy calculator to let you plug in your variables.
In my illustration above, you don't need the calculator, but it's useful for many applications of dry camping.
For example, I use a 400 watt inverter to run my electric blanket for about 30 minutes to take the chill off the bed. How much does that use?
Enter: 12 volts and 400 watts, and you get about 33 amps. Running the blanket for 1/2 hour means I use about 16.5 amp-hours. Combined with my furnace, I'm pushing the limit of my single group 24 battery's capacity. In trade for the pre-warmed bed, we are very frugal with power. I use a mantle lantern and several LED lanterns for lighting. We don't listen to the stereo (a power hog), and so on. Fortunately, I have solar and live in sunny Colorado. My 100 watt/8 amp solar easily tops off the battery with power to spare each day.

I agree with the recommendation to get a small inverter generator. We have one, and we use it to run the microwave and espresso machine. While it's running, it also gives the battery a little boost. A 2 KW model from Champion is about $600, but it won't run your air conditioner. You need about 3500 watts for that. In your situation, however, you'll get no benefit from a generator, because campground quiet hours prohibit using a generator when you'll need it. And even if you're boondocking, running a generator overnight is an invitation to neighbors to vandalize your generator.

If you really develop a taste for boondocking, solar is wonderful...especially when backed up with a generator.

Regardless of your power source (other than shore power), you need "enough" battery storage for how you plan to camp. My little PUP gets away with a single group 24 and a single 100 watt solar panel. I have gone 4 full days and 3 nights boondocking, and when I get home and plug in, the battery is nearly full. With you're rig, I'd suspect that the minimum you could get away with is two group 27's, or even better, two 6 volt golf cart batteries wired in series to deliver 12 volts and LOTS of amp hours.

My solar system is this one: Windy Nation solar kit.
My kit has just one x 100 watt panel, but the charge controller can handle up to 4 panels. There are similar kits already configured with 4 panels. In full sun, they will charge at the rate of 30 amps per hour! And they perform well from sunup to sundown, even in the shade. Think of your solar powered calculator and the fact that it runs in virtually any amount of light. I've checked my charge controller in the rain, and it shows the panel delivering a small amount of charge.

If you look at the panels, you'll quickly see that most brands use the exact same panel (manufactured in China), and they just put their name on it.
According to Windy Nation, there is virtually no difference between a mono-crystalline (once superior) and poly-crystalline panel.
But the important item is the charge controller. The one in my kit can handle 4 panels, and it's more than adequate quality to not fail and to properly manage charge controlling without overcharging. Get a decent charge controller. Windy Nation and Renology are both respected brands. I'm sure there are others. Then connect with HUGE wire. #6 or #8 AWG from the solar array to the charge controller and from the charge controller to the battery bank. Don't cheap out on wire, because thinner wire wastes energy in heat.

No...you didn't ask. But if you ever want to go more than overnight running on batteries, hopefully this has been helpful.