Boondocking at a National Forest

rodnelana wrote:
We are renting the RV so they are charging us .35 cents per hour for the generator.

You'll spend that on gasoline driving down the road in a few minutes, so I wouldn't let that cost determine its usage.

As noted many RV refrigerators also run on propane. Cost-wise, propane is a very efficient way to cool a refrigerator.

If you drive the RV much at all during your boondocking days, the house batteries should be charged by the engine. (Check with the rental outfit just to make sure). Even if you don't move, your battery usage won't be that much, unless you run the furnace quite a bit at night. If cold weather is expected, take some extra blankets and keep the thermostat low -- makes for some great sleeping! We typically run the generator for an hour or so every other evening, coinciding with our showers. That tops off the batteries, gives us good water pressure in the shower, and allows Allison to dry her hair. Now we aren't big energy users as we have LED lights and don't have any electronics like a TV or CD player.

Hope you really enjoy your trip and want to do it again often. When I'm stuck at home because of the weather, I spend a lot of time researching our future camping adventures.

Thank you all very much. This information was exceptionally helpful. :)

In November at Pisgah I should think your furnace will be the bigger drain on the battery than the fridge which, as has been stated, will run on propane using very little battery. I use a propane catalytic heater when 'boondocking' which uses no battery power at all but this wouldn't be practical for just a single outing in a rental RV. For four or five days, your batteries should have adequate charge. At most, you may have to run your generator for a few hours.

You could bring foods for the boondocking part of your trip that are non-perishables. As a backpacker and RV'er I always take freeze dried meals, MRE's and even some canned goods with me. You can have onboard water, though I would filter it before drinking it. You can either have a case of bottled water or a half dozen Nalgene bottles full of water in a cooler. And if you really want to rough it, you can use a water filter and filter water from streams and lakes. You can always boil water with the propane stove on your RV. Or you can bring a backpacking stove and small propane canister.

Once you experience roughing it, you will appreciate the luxury of a full hookup at a campground! Good luck.

put the fridge on LP aka propane
run the generator for 2hrs in the morning, during breakfast, just don't do it before permissible "generator hours"

run for 30minutes at lunch
again in the evening during supper "permissible hours"

the $2 or so a day generator charge will be nothing, compared to the rest of the trip

don't wait for the batteries to be dead to run the generator
the few hours a day regime is less costly and more efficient,
the TV or other devices should work from 12v or from a built in inverter which converts battery power to 120v
turn off the inverter function when not needed, be sure the charge function is ON
just remember fridge on LP, also some water heaters are LP&electric
use LP unless parked in a campground with hookups

For boondocking, as has been said, most RV refrigerators are designed to also run on propane as well as electric. As also said, if you are trying to limit generator time then you need to conserve battery power. The fridge will use a very small amount of battery power but not enough to worry about. If it gets cold and you have to use the heater it uses propane also but it uses lots of battery power to run the blower. You can recharge during the day using the generator but you may have a dead battery by morning if you use the heater all night on just battery power. If at all possible, limit battery use to just the basic systems and a couple of lights when you need them, and you could actually last most of your boondock time without running out of battery.
By the way the battery to start the vehicle is separate from the batteries that run the rest of the RV so you don't have to worry about not being able to start the RV when you are ready to leave.

While the fridge is working, I keep 3 or 4 bottles of water in the freezer.
When I have to turn the fridge off - then I move the frozen bottles into the
fridge - this keeps the fridge cool for almost 24 hours.

Having said that - in your case, why would you have to switch the fridge off?
It can work off propane with the battery connected.

Most RV refrigerators will run on propane, electric and some even run on 12 volts (battery power). So be sure to have the rental place show you how to switch from electric to propane and 12 volt.

The propane lasts a long time unless you use the heater a lot.

Your goal will be water and battery conservation while boondocking. The generator can be used to recharge the battery or batteries. Ask the rental what the average number of days the batteries will last if you conserve usage. It should be 2 to 3 days.

Read through the posts to learn about battery conservation tips as well as water conservation.

The refrigerator should only be run on 12 volts while your are driving down the road to prevent the battery from dying.