battery life/dry camping

[scbee]

Hello.

I am planning my maiden voyage in the new Roo. The places we are considering all lack hookups.

This time of year, it would be nice to run the heat, and it would also be nice to plug in the heated mattresses.

I added an extra battery from the dealer, so I have 2 12v 85 amp hour units.

Does anyone know if the batteries are reasonably charged (say 80% ish) would they be sufficient to run the heat and or the mattress heaters all night?

Thanks.

[Mountndream]

mattress heaters will require being plugged in or a invertor.

Remember that you will damage your batteries if you take them under 50%. So effectively you have 85 amps. Its also worth noting that in cold weather your batteries are less efficient.

[Rich.M]

A generator and 2 large dogs should do it.

To answer your question, the heater fan plus other 12 volt uses may limit you to one night if it is cold , 2 nights if not too bad. Then you will need a day of shore power for the next day or use a generator. The 12 volt trailer line will never get those batteries up fo another stop. The mattress heater is probably out, just too many amps overnight on battery like the arctic pack.

[scbee]

Thanks.

I have a solar charger and a generator for the daytime, so I think I can get the batteries back up during the day.

Sounds like the heated mattresses wont even work unless I am on shore power?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by scbee

Thanks.

I have a solar charger and a generator for the daytime, so I think I can get the batteries back up during the day.

Sounds like the heated mattresses wont even work unless I am on shore power?

Correct, mattresses need 110V AC power to work.

Having camped in California state parks for over 30 years, we had to become experienced dry campers.

We also have two 12v deep cycle batteries with a Honda 2000i.
If we had to run the furnace at night, I only needed to run the Honda for 2 hours the next day.

You'll still need to deal with gray water and fresh water. We have a 15 gallon blue tote tank for gray water and a 6 gallon water jug for shuttling fresh water.
Also installed a 400w inverter to run tv, DVD and electronic devices.

Be sure to get Popup Gizmos and Reflectix for the tent ends.

[scbee]

thanks Dan.

I have the honda 2000i as well. I also just got the popup gizmos, but didnt get the reflectix. I figured I would try it once before getting those too.

I need to look into getting a couple totes. That seems like a great idea.

[FreeDivr]

Originally Posted by bikendan

Correct, mattresses need 110V AC power to work.

Having camped in California state parks for over 30 years, we had to become experienced dry campers.

We also have two 12v deep cycle batteries with a Honda 2000i.
If we had to run the furnace at night, I only needed to run the Honda for 2 hours the next day.

You'll still need to deal with gray water and fresh water. We have a 15 gallon blue tote tank for gray water and a 6 gallon water jug for shuttling fresh water.
Also installed a 400w inverter to run tv, DVD and electronic devices.

Be sure to get Popup Gizmos and Reflectix for the tent ends.

Does the inverter allow you to run the tv/dvd on battery? If so, how long before your outta juice?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by FreeDivr

Does the inverter allow you to run the tv/dvd on battery? If so, how long before your outta juice?

Yes.
Those things are low drain items, especially the tv and electronic devices.
We rarely use the dvd, which would be the biggest drain.
But they've never come near to emptying the dual battery setup.
We have no problem watching 3-4 hours of tv each night.
Just run the generator for an hour or two when the batteries get down to 75%.

[CNYCamper]

We dry camp about 70% of the time, since 2008. We had 2 batteries, but were always dual purpose. This year we switched to 2 new dedicated deep cycle and it made a big difference. Also, I had always known that the furnace draws a lot of power. What I had not been aware of is that the water pump also draws a bunch of power. We then started taking showers during the times we run the generator (except when it is just too inconvenient for DW). This has helped quite a bit.
When we have a CPAP visitor or wish to watch TV, we bring a 3rd, older battery to run a 750 W inverter and charge this battery off a charger concurrent to charging the house batteries thru the converter.
Congratulations on the new camper.

[slider in CT]

https://www.target.com/p/element-19-...5/-/A-14715463

This is a 12 volt tv that will run off battery...no need for an inverter. And I use the DVD player built in the radio.

[Summer2Go]

How to you plug it in? I thought all of the outlets required shore power.

[slider in CT]

It is 12 volts...
came with the large transformer brick that plugs into the wall 120 volts...
it's actually a tv/computer monitor for home use.

I just cut the cord and attached a 12 volt car-lighter plug.

[Summer2Go]

I still have a small TV that I could plug into the car lighter for the kids to watch on long trips.... I wonder if it still works....