Dry camping power

[dieseldad55]

We will be dry "camping" in our 29ft. bhph 5er., for the 1st time this Thansgiving in Yosemite Nat. Park. Just my wife, myself and our daughter. I will be using a generator but very sparingly as the park frowns on gen. usage. What I need to know is, how many batteries would be a good number for a weeks worth of camping? I have found the thread on how to properly wire 4 batteries. So, is 4 enough, and what CAH should I be thinking on ? I would like to be able to have enough juice to run the furnace and a few lites at nite. And only use the gen. for recharging & occasional TV, or computer.

[Herk7769]

Without knowing the type of battery(s) you have it is impossible to tell.
Here is an article on 12 battery usage.

Just remember that AMP HOUR CAPACITY divided by current draw will give you hours of use at that draw.

So, the original Deka DC-24 12V Battery installed in my 5th wheel has 75 Amp Hour Capacity. If you are drawing 25 amps it will last 3 hours to dead. If you are drawing 3 amps it will last 25 hours till dead.

Current Draws:

LPG detector draws .2 amps
Single dual bulb light (198 bulbs) 2.3 amps
Single dual bulb light (LED panels) .1 amps
Light fixture over dining table (4 198 bulbs) 4.5 amps
Single reading light over bed (1 198 bulb) .8 amps
Recessed Halogen lighting, living room (6 lights) 8.4 amps Full on
2.1 amps Fully dimmed
Recessed Halogen lighting, over sink (1 light) 1.4 amps Full on
.4 amps Fully dimmed
Recessed Halogen lighting, over couch (3 lights) 4 amps Full on
1.2 amps Fully Dimmed
Refrigerator 1.2 amps
Furnace (Suburban SF35) 7 amps
Water Pump (Shurflo Smart Sensor 5.7) 11.9 amps running, 12.6 max
Exterior porch lights (3 incandescent bulbs) 2.8 amps
Exterior Porch Lights (3 LED bulbs) .8 amps

[Mr. Black]

You might be a good candidate for a solar panel.

[dieseldad55]

Thanks herk7769, for the reply. I have 1 battery now. We have never dry camped in our trailer before. So, what I was hoping for is just an idea from someone who has dry camped and could give me a round-a-bout idea as to a good number of batteries and amount of amperage to aim at. No one can know exactly what we need because,no one knows, not even us, how much power we will actually use. I thought that someone out there has dry camped for a week & maybe could tell me that they made do with, say, 4 batteries, with, say, 100amps each, (just an estimate).

[dieseldad55]

Originally Posted by Mr. Black

You might be a good candidate for a solar panel.

Thanks Mr. Black. But a solar panel investment would be overkill as we are only dry camping maybe once a year, if that. a good solar panel would cost in the neighborhood of at least a few hundred dollars. A generator could be used for other things besides the trailer, and the batteries could be low cost batteries because of the minimum useage.

[Herk7769]

If you invest in a generator make SURE its a low noise one. No more than 65db. Most campgrounds have noise standards now. If you camp on military campgrounds you can be booted if your generator is too noisy. The Honda 2000's are very nice at about a grand a pop. Get one to start. It won't hold your Air Conditioner, hair dryer/curler, or Microwave but it will handle everything else and charge your batteries. If you need AC get the companion unit and 30Amp parallel kit.

The TV and computer draw will depend on your Inverter. Your camper did not come with one so you should invest in a good 1500-2000 watt inverter. I hard wired mine in but ran an extension cord to the entertainment center. When I am running off the batteries/inverter I just unplug the power strip from the GFCI socket and plug it into the extension cord.

rebuilt compartment pictures from travel photos on webshots

[Mr. Black]

To answer your original question, I have spent as long as 10 days dry camping on two good health batteries using a generator for 1 hour a day to maintain a charge.

This would run lights when needed and about an hour of satellite tv at night.

Your time may vary.

I can't comment of low noise as I have never been in that situation and likely never will be.

[dieseldad55]

Thanks herk 7769.
My trailer does have a factory installed inverter. And no, I don't intend on camping in a military base anytime soon.
You are correct, I have used a generator on other RV's before and noise is always an issue, even with the quietest generator. I would invest in a Honda 3000, or even an Onan, if I planned on dry camping a lot.
However, the minimum amount of times I will ever use it for dry camping, just doesn't justify the expense of these generators. I plan on adding an exhaust extension up over the roof and adding an inline muffler as well. So, the noise issue won't be a problem I can't take care of. That's why I was wondering about using batteries. This is all very new to me, (dry camping that is), and I don't intend on doing very much. My wife & daughter like having hookups when we "camp".

[dieseldad55]

Originally Posted by Mr. Black

To answer your original question, I have spent as long as 10 days dry camping on two good health batteries using a generator for 1 hour a day to maintain a charge.

This would run lights when needed and about an hour of satellite tv at night.

Your time may vary.

I can't comment of low noise as I have never been in that situation and likely never will be.

Yes, thanks. That's what I was wondering. I'm thinking of getting maybe 2 more batteries to match the one I have and seeing how that works out. I bet after the first day or 2, we will become very frugal on how we use the power, Ha Ha. I'm really more concerned about keeping the trailer warm at night. It can get very cold in Yosemite Nat. Park in November, and it rains a lot, (usually no snow, but that could also happen).

[LadyWindrider]

One night of furnace, water pump for showers, a few lights, the computer and the television. I would guess a a battery a a day, without a recharge. The furnace and the water pump are current hogs.

One other question you may not have considered, 3 people, that's 15 showers, at one per day. toilet, dish washing, etc., have you got enough fresh water, and a place to dump the tanks? Just a thought. You may be going where there are heated bath houses and hope the showers are warm.

[dieseldad55]

Yes thanks windrider. We are going to a National Park. They do have showers, dump stations and water for refilling the tank. My trailer has a 45 gal fresh water, 50 gal. black, and 70 gal gray. So I know we can make do for 2 to 3 days before we will need to dump, if not longer. We will be eating at the park restaraunt on occasion and we will have other means of lights; lantern, battery powered lamps, flashlights, etc. So, the furnace is the only real concern, and that's only for a couple hours just to remove the chill. The fridge runs on propane, and the water pump will only be used for morning washup & very few dishes. And, really, I could run the truck every day for a while to recharge the batteries as well, if needed.

[MikeA]

Check the current draw of the fridge. I had thought that the fridge in our last trailer used no power when running on gas but discovered in the middle of the night while dry camping otherwise. The control circuit of the fridge uses power.

I had not brought my generator. We though we had booked an electrical site. I used booster cables to charge the battery from my TV for about a half an hour a day.

Mike

[Herk7769]

When on Propane, our fridge uses 1.2 amps of DC power from the battery.
That draw is 24/7 since it powers the panel and the aux cooling fan in the stack.

[Herk7769]

I have been meaning to go out and experiment on DC draw on my inverter with the TV, Concertone, computer, and various combinations thereof. I will let you know tomorrow what my units pull.

[trailraider]

All we do is dry camp , as stated before very minimal generator use(if kids stay off the t.v).
I run two 6v golf cart batteries and can last a week easily. the cart batteries have great reserve capacity. 280 amp/hours each.

[kz08h5]

I just spent a week in the campground in Big Horn National Recreation Area. No hookups. I have a V-Lite with an Adco converter. I have a single deep cycle battery. I also have a Honda 2000i generator. I used the furnace every night set on 60* with a bump to 65* when I got up. It was just me and the dog. Fishing most of the day so the fridge an LP detector were the only day time users of power. I needed to recharge my battery every morning for about 2 hours. That would keep the battery charged up enough to get me through a 24 hour period. It got down in the high 30s and low 40s each night. So the furnace ran a lot. Using either a generator or your truck will take quite a bit of time to completely recharge. One thing you might look into is charging your battery while driving around during the day. It would be a pain to remove a battery but doable. That way you won't offend the anti-generator crowd. Have fun

[Yankees]

Here maybe this will help you Technical Support