Battery questions for boondocking
Hello all, Per my other posts, we started getting heavier into boondocking this year. As such, I quickly noticed the importance of good batteries. We always bring a portable inverter set but when w...
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kfp673 wrote:
Hello all,
Per my other posts, we started getting heavier into boondocking this year. As such, I quickly noticed the importance of good batteries. We always bring a portable inverter set but when we are deep in the woods we really prefer to use it as little as possible. This past weekend the nights got down to upper 30's and apparently the furnace fan eats a lot of battery because it was dead by morning. Currently we have the battery that came on our camper 2 years ago which is a single deep cycle. I have read many threads about batteries including 6v vs 12v, Optima / high end battery, etc etc. My question, specific to boondocking is bang for the buck. I'm not interested in spending $700 on batteries at this point. So would I be better off buying 2 12V batteries from Wal mart (or wherever)to replace my single, or a single "high end" battery such as Optima or similar? Or, is the 6v difference so big that it makes it worth it? My guess for next year is we will boondocks 5 or 6 weekends total (2 or 3 nights each time). With that said, what would you do keeping cost in mind? Not trying to find the literal cheapest way, rather I'm looking for "bang for the buck".
Thanks!
You’ll need a pair of batteries. Marine/RV deep cycle. Mine are 12V. And a way to charge, too.
A battery status indicator will help. Solar panels help, too, but you’ll need to run your generator every day. Up to 4 hours total based on experience. A couple of hours in the morning and another hour and a half in the evening got me through a 6-day camp 10 days ago with nighttime lows ranging from 20’s down to 10. I have a pair of deep cycle Interstate batteries and a 15 watt solar panel. Champion remote start generator took care of the morning coffee and burned through most of a 5gl jug of gasoline. I emptied a full 7gl, 30 lb, propane tank and went through most of the second setting the furnace thermostat at 58 degrees overnight. I was surprised and happy that nothing froze up in my 5’er.
Good luck, safe travels and have fun!
