A new perspective on generators
Over the weekend we used a dry campground on a lake instead of our usual boondocking off by ourselves. We have never heard a generator other than our own near us and I have to tell you it was a real e...
Forum Discussion
Less Stuff wrote:
Staying inside an air conditioned small RV is better than staying in one without it.
But if that's camping I don't like it.
We don't usually "stay hour after hour" in our generator powered air conditioned Class C motorhome. What we primarily do in ours is:
- Take an afternoon nap in the RV when drycamping on a scorching day.
- One of us rest in the RV if not feeling so good when drycamping on a scorching day.
- Leave the dog in in the RV in a parking area when visiting a tourist attracton on a scorching day during a regular RV trip.
- Come into the RV for a respite to keep from getting heatstroke when out rockhounding on a scorching day in the middle of nowhere.
- Not have to cut an RV drycamping trip short when unexpected scorching hot weather hits in an unexpected place.
- When in extremely humid drycamping conditions use the air conditioner at the same time as the propane furnace to remove humidity inside the RV when the ouside temperatures are not really high enough to use just the air conditioner by itself - say when outside temps are 75 degrees but the humidity is 80% or higher. Using the air conditioner by itself just to remove humidity would freeze us out in outside temperatures this low - hence having the propane furnace on at the same time gives us a combination of RV devices that together function just like a regular compressor-based dehumiifier would function.
- Stay warm and keep refrigerated food from spoiling by using the big generator if the propane system should ever fail when drycamping.
Whenever we find ourselves in drycamping situations like those above, the air conditioner plus built-in generator combination is a priceless setup. Hence, IMHO, solar cannot substitute for a big built-in generator fueled from our 55 gallon main tank. We use a Honda 650 watt ultra-quiet generator for periodic battery charging when drycamping during clear skys, cloudy skys, or at night. Eventually we'd like an automatic fuel cell for battery charging.
