Overnight Boondocking

[Mdmoore76]

My family has a Rockwood 2509s. 90% of the time, we camp with full hookups. But as we progress in Rv'ing, we want to expand our boondocking capabilities, slightly. We also want to be prepared, should shore power go out for an extended period of time.



We are planning on roadtrips where we would stay one night off grid maximum. (A Cracker Barrell, Harvest Host, etc.) Right now, that's about the extent of what we are looking at doing.


I don't see that adding a lithium battery justifies the cost right now. I did pick up a Weize AGM 100AH battery. I could add a second, or I could pick up an inverter generator.



Thoughts?

[ependydad]

I don't recommend lithium unless you have a specific need for it - need the weight savings or plan on longer-term boondocking. Bear in mind that AGM batteries, you can only use 50% or so of their stated capacity so that 100 ah Weize only has about 50 usable amps.

And then when boondocking even on overnight stops, I find a proper battery monitor is helpful. I personally like the Victron BMV or Victron SmartShunt:
https://learntorv.com/victron-battery-monitor/

[BehindBars]

What are your boondocking power needs? I don't know what appliances are in your RV. Running a few LED lights and a 12 volt TV is one thing, but running a 12 volt refrigerator and a furnace blower overnight calls for a lot more battery capacity. Consider the power needs before choosing a battery upgrade.

[jbflag21ds]

A second matching battery in parallel will help a bunch but likely is not required for simple overnights as long as your TV's charging system can keep up during the drive to the next stop. The biggest draw overnight will be furnace fan but more blankets and a lower setting on the t-stat will minimize the total draw.

Get a battery monitor.