Staying in Yellowstone for a few days witth our travel trailer and they do not have hookups. There is water at the campground and a dump station. We currently only have one battery and II was thinking of adding a second battery? I have a wagon to take care of the dumping. Should I get a generator to charge the batteries or should they last the three days? Also, not a fan of the loud furnace. Would I be able to run a ceramic heater off the batteries if needed? First time camping without full hookups and want to be somewhat prepared. Any advice would be appreciated

A small generator is a good idea. we even carry one.

What time of year are you at Yellowstone? How cold do you expect it to be?As a very, very rough rule of pinkie, one battery equals one night of furnace usage, at least in my mind. Obviously that depends a lot on the battery and the temperature; if the furnace is running more or less constantly it will use a lot more power than if it comes on for a few minutes every half hour or hour.I would suggest getting the second battery, though it may well be possible to manage decently without it if you don't need too much power and the weather cooperates. You still may need to use the generator to recharge once or twice. If you don't have a multistage converter, that can be a quite slow process.I also suggest getting something to monitor the battery state that's more accurate than the typical three light indicator panels most RVs come with. A panel mount voltmeter is a very big improvement; a trimetric or similar is even better but also a good bit more expensive.

You definitely can't run a ceramic heater off a battery.You'll need to use the furnace, like it or not. It takes 1200-1500 Watts to run a ceramic heater. That's a minimum of 100 amps per hour at 12 volts. How many amps in your battery? Remember also you can only really get 50% of the rated deep cycle anls out of a battery. Based on everything in your post, you should get a Honda EU2000 generator. Yo can run the ceramic heater off that. Plus charge your battery. And it's fairly quiet.

Ceramic heater run off an inverter will deplete the battery very quickly. The only heating option that will potentially last a night would be the propane furnace. As for a generator, all Yellowstone campgrounds restrict generator hours at a minimum, and some do not allow them at all. You will want to be sure you get an inverter style generator because they are much quieter than an open frame contractor style.

We will be there july 3rd. Prob still cold at night. I wil def add the second battery and have been looking around for a Yamaha or Honda generator. The furnace will suffice as heat source. Excited for the trip but a lot to plan for. Three days in Yellowstone and three in grand Tetons. All part of a 21 day trip from RI

Yellowstone with no hookups? | Good Sam Community

Pbois334
Explorer
Feb 13, 2019
We actually have reservations for Grant so I will keep those tips in mind. We also have three days booked in the Gand Tetons but we will have power there.
RGar974417
Explorer
Feb 14, 2019
We stayed at Madison Campground in May 2016. Daytime temps in high 50's,low 60's. At night it dropped to high 30's.We had 2 batteries and used our Honda EU 2000 generator to charge the batteries every day.Many other trailers in the campground did the same.
GoHorns
Explorer
Feb 14, 2019
It it's really cold I carry a "Mr Heater Buddy Portable" (they sell them at WalMart). It is safe for indoors and uses the propane canisters. It is a great backup plan in case I run out of propane, or run out of battery. We've even used it to supplement the furnace to help out in really cold conditions.
2oldman
Explorer II
Feb 16, 2019
Pbois334 wrote:
If money allows then I will try and pick up a generator as well
Please don't buy a cheap loud contractor generator. Please??
Braces
Explorer
Feb 17, 2019
If you are there during real cold weather there are commercial campgrounds in Gardiner 1 mile from the northwest gate which is close to the northern part of the park and in West Yellowstone which would be closer to the southern parts. Better than ruining a lot of your time trying to keep everything going.
RGar974417
Explorer
Feb 21, 2019
One more tip for camping in cold weather. When we are in the camper,we always put a big pot of water on the stove. Bring it to a boil then turn down to simmer. The water puts humidity into the air which makes it feel much warmer. Of course you can't do it when you leave the camper or when you go to bed. But it's nice when you're there.
Pbois334
Explorer
Feb 22, 2019
Just scored a Buddy heater for cheap so I will bring it just incase. Still trying to figure out extra battery setup and will prob borrow my buddies 1000 Honda generator to save money, I can only assume the 1000 watt will be enough to run an external battery charger to top batteries off

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