Days with out electric hook up?
My wife and I are doing the trip to Alaska this year. I'm try to decide about batteries and solar for the trip. Part of the equation is how many days with out being in a campground with hook ups. F...
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A lot depends, not so much where you plan to stay but how long to you plan to stay at one location. We seldom spend more than a couple of nights when boondocking so the drive the next day will have our house battery recharged by noon time. Our longer stays are in places like Whitehorse, Fairbanks, Valdez, etc so we are plugged in on those locations. On our last trip north, I fired up our generator, built in propane 2.5 KW model, one time for about 15 minutes. This was to thaw some food from the freezer, that someone had forgotten to take out and place in the sink earlier in the day. LOL
I carry a Sears jump start device and it will run my CPAP breathing machine for about three nights before needing to be recharged. As Suzie said, not much to use electricity for in a northern summer. Very few lights needed, we run the fridge on propane, if we need to move some air we use the Fantastic fan for a few hours. The domestic water pump gets very little use as we carry gal jugs of water for coffee/tea, teeth brushing, etc. Sponge bath out of the sink works for a few days before I start getting too many complaints. LOL
If my generator wasn't built in to my TC, I doubt I would take it.My 2000i Honda only gets used as a standby here at the house for storms that shut down our power. I have a 1,500 watt inverter with alligator clips, that I can connect directly to one of my truck batteries if needed. Used it a couple of times last trip to grid coffee beans for the French Press coffee pot (water heated on the propane stove. I carry a Keurig coffee pot for when we are plugged into power.
My Chevy tow truck has twin 135 amp alternators, and I replaced the charging wires that run back to the camper. Used either 4 or 6 gauge cable for both the positive and negative, coming straight off the alternator system with a 50 amp automatic breaker in the positive cable. I replaced the TC house battery with a group 31, AGM (low to no maintenance) as that was all I had room for in the original compartment. Think I paid about $250 for the battery as Sears. Haven't had any issues with the electrical system yet.
I carry a Sears jump start device and it will run my CPAP breathing machine for about three nights before needing to be recharged. As Suzie said, not much to use electricity for in a northern summer. Very few lights needed, we run the fridge on propane, if we need to move some air we use the Fantastic fan for a few hours. The domestic water pump gets very little use as we carry gal jugs of water for coffee/tea, teeth brushing, etc. Sponge bath out of the sink works for a few days before I start getting too many complaints. LOL
If my generator wasn't built in to my TC, I doubt I would take it.My 2000i Honda only gets used as a standby here at the house for storms that shut down our power. I have a 1,500 watt inverter with alligator clips, that I can connect directly to one of my truck batteries if needed. Used it a couple of times last trip to grid coffee beans for the French Press coffee pot (water heated on the propane stove. I carry a Keurig coffee pot for when we are plugged into power.
My Chevy tow truck has twin 135 amp alternators, and I replaced the charging wires that run back to the camper. Used either 4 or 6 gauge cable for both the positive and negative, coming straight off the alternator system with a 50 amp automatic breaker in the positive cable. I replaced the TC house battery with a group 31, AGM (low to no maintenance) as that was all I had room for in the original compartment. Think I paid about $250 for the battery as Sears. Haven't had any issues with the electrical system yet.
