Running heat while boondocking

[bhersh]

So, I've never really boondocked. We may go to a college football game next month. I have a 356qbq and a Honda 5000 watt generator. I have to turn the generator off from midnight through seven am. Will the battery run the fan for the heat for seven or eight hours with nothing else using the battery? What are my options? More batteries? Thanks in advance.

[Bluepill]

Most batteries have enough power to run the blower in the heater for 7 hours without a problem. To be sure that the battery is fully charged before turning off the genny, it is smart to use a portable battery charger for an hour or so. The factory converters are famous for not fully charging the batteries.

[bikendan]

It's best to have at least two deep cycle batteries for dry camping or boondocking.
Also depends on what you set the thermostat at.
If it's cold and you keep it set at 75, the battery may not last all night.

[Golfnbike13]

I've used one battery for a night of heat before. It does depend on the temp and your setting but it's possible. Set the temp low and throw extra blankets on bed.

[Bluepill]

Also, be aware that the CO alarm will go off when battery voltage gets too low. Some people have been rudely awakened in the early hours by this.

[benagi]

Originally Posted by Bluepill

Also, be aware that the CO alarm will go off when battery voltage gets too low. Some people have been rudely awakened in the early hours by this.

Tell me about it. Anyway to turn that alarm off when going off at 3 am. Don't want to run the generator that time of the morning just to charge the batteries back up .

[stoppercamper]

Until our 23ikss gets here, we have a popup (where the windows don't fully zip) and all we do is boondock camp. We have a very nice lightweight fleece blanket that we throw over top of us that is warmer than a big sleeping bag (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and trust me I researched a lot of blankets.
The second thing is we use a heater buddy!!! Love Love Love it!!! it uses space technology to put out a lot of heat using very little propane. It's safe, shuts off if bumped. So we turn it on and warm up the camper before bed, that way the heater doesn't turn on for a couple of hours. and it heats up the space way faster than the camper furnace does.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mr.-Heate...setts/19294100

[rthomaslyons]

You can run a Mr. Heater Buddy or whatever catalytic heater in the trailer with a window cracked open to keep the heat up in the trailer during the day when your not in the trailer so much to save on furnace run time. The furnace motor is the single biggest draw on your batteries so if your gone for more than a few nights you will soon run out of battery power and the generator will not be able to keep the charge up using the built in converter unless you hook the generator to a battery charger with 10 or more amps of output and connect direct to the terminals of one batteries. I dry camp every year for 3-4 weeks when the furnace is usually still required and this seems to do the trick even though I do not have solar panels with this trailer. Even with solar panels dry camping in cooler weather will result in you needing to run a generator eventually every day to keep up the house batteries.

[ben31]

Our Heater Buddy works very well! We got it during our PopUp days, but have kept it as emergency heat ever since. It will heat the camper with no problem. The propane lasts surprisingly long. How long, depends on how hot you want your living area. Just keep a window cracked to allow some oxygen into the room with the heater.

[mtnlvr]

Originally Posted by Bluepill

Also, be aware that the CO alarm will go off when battery voltage gets too low. Some people have been rudely awakened in the early hours by this.

X2- And dogs too. Mine have flipped out when the alarm goes off. Once I tried to tie them up outside quickly, while I tried to turn the alarm off. They broke loose panicky and bolted in a very dark and nearly deserted State Park. I had to look for them for 20 minutes. I was beginning to panic at that point worrying about coyotes and the nearby hwy.

[waiter21]

The furnace sucks up a lot of battery power (the blower), but your furnace should last at least one night, depending greatly on outside temperature and winds.

Like several others, I run a vent-less heater (Mr Buddy). These require additional measures to mitigate the added dangers, but if mitigated properly and operated with extreme caution, they are a good source of heat.

Our Mr Buddy has been modified to plug into the house propane system (uses coach LP instead of the small bottles)

We have a propane and a CO alarm.

The Mr Buddy has a knock over shutoff and low O2 shutoff.

We leave one or two roof vents open an inch or so, depending on the Mr Buddy setting. (3k or 9k)

We make sure that nothing can fall on top of the Mr Buddy, it sits in the middle of the floor, and no towels, cloths, blankets, etc are within falling distance of the heater.

[hunterrick]

I boon dock regularly in cold weather. I have no problem running the heat on battery power. I have no generator, but do have a solar panel to supplement battery charging. The way I deal with the drain is to have a second battery. I don't connect the second one in parallel since I want to be able to change to it and have a full charge at my disposal. I then bring an actual portable battery charger and take the discharged battery to the rest room, or anywhere that I can find an outlet, and charge it during the day. I then have another full battery to switch in as needed. Rinse and repeat.

[Kanga99]

Originally Posted by benagi

Tell me about it. Anyway to turn that alarm off when going off at 3 am. Don't want to run the generator that time of the morning just to charge the batteries back up .

Tried duct tape -nope - but square drive screwdriver and a pair of wire cutters works at 3 AM. I was pleasantly surprised it is not tied into any other system.

Next mod is a switch to bypass the alarm for those times I risk running the batteries too low. Been camping for 60 years most without a propane alarm and have lived to complain about it. Before the safety police start up, I do recognize the wisdom of them in the winter when there is less ventilation and probably a furnace running.

[Flybob]

If you plan on cutting the propane alarm power, while running a buddy heater, at least get a stand alone CO detector from a big box store and add that.

When you charge the battery using the generator, use AC from the generator to power the converter. Do not use the 12V power out of the converter is it has that option.

Edit: I am not recommending disabling the Propane /CO alarm at all. There are several threads on the forums where it saved a life.

[Kanga99]

I would not recommend disabling the propane alarm when running a Buddy heater. That may be asking for trouble. I believe the OP was using the installed furnace which is venter outside.