A few months ago, I boondocked for a week in Chicago in the middle of the summer. The biggest problem I had was the amount of electric used for the air conditioners.I've got 16 large coach batteries and a 12.5 KV generator plus 600 watts of solar (that I never get over 250 watts out of) but at the end of the day, Summertime is hot and my RV got very hot during the day when I was out and stayed hot in the evenings where the low was around 75 degrees.Clearly, if I wanted to boondock in a hot environment, I'd need a lot of diesel fuel to recharge the batteries every day and run the air conditioners at night. Is my only choice to buy 5 gallon fuel tanks and re-fill the main tank or do you guys have any special magic for keeping cool in the summer-time? It seems to me that the fuel costs would be more than the cost savings of a full-hookup site.Is summer-time boondocking a high altitude activity only?

Drive to the gas station? My RV has a 200 gallon tank so I can run the genny for quite some time before needing to refill. At 1 gallon per hour (or less) you have more than a week, running 24/7, before you need more fuel. I can testify to this as Janet and I went to the New Orleans area after hurricane Katrina. We had one stint where the generator ran for 9 days straight as no campsites were available (dump and fill at the Flying J!). We paid the unbelievable price of $3.19/gallon so we could do what we were doing. Dry camping folks and bookdocking folks seem to have very different ideas about what camping without hookups mean but, in reality, it's all the same stuff with different objectives.

We often go to Colorado in July or August at 8,500 ft and sometimes run the furnace!

1) Windows closed2) Curtains closed ( all of them 100%)3) Genset running ( and it should take 5 gallons of fuel for all day..???)4) AC units set on HIGH and full bore fanIf that dont bring it down to livable temps...you got a problem

Holstein, I'm a little confused from your post. Did you leave the generator running so that the air could cool the coach during the day? Or did you wait and try to cool a hot coach?It is definitely cheaper to stay at a full hook-up site vs. running the generator all day. The genset will use almost a gallon a hour under full load (although the generator loves to run). I know that you have a large fuel tank. If you start off full, in a weeks time you might use 140 gallons if you run the genny 20 hours a day. I can tell you that I'm not going to be hot.... I'll run that baby!!You have a top-of-the-line coach with good insulation, double paned windows, etc. You should be able to handle hot weather pretty good.MM.

Running the genset is not cheap but when no other option is available it is a great option to have!. At $3.19/gallon we estimated that it cost us very close to $75/day to dry camp in the devastation that was New Orleans. When we did get a day or 2 in a campground we grabbed the opportunity and then moved on. While we were making money doing what we were doing, it was very rewarding to be able to help those that we could with the services we were able to provide. Without the genset we could not have survived. I have no apologies to offer to anyone who is offended that I run my generator be it on BLM land or in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Can you really boondock in the Summer? | Good Sam Community

32 Replies

Skid_Row_Joe
Explorer
Nov 05, 2015
Two Jayhawks wrote:
I despise boon docking when it is very hot. We will camp when it is hot but we need to be plugged in.
Absolutely agree !
barmcd
Explorer
Nov 05, 2015
BB_TX wrote:
We often go to Colorado in July or August at 8,500 ft and sometimes run the furnace!

We were at Jackson Hole in 2006 and it was unseasonably hot--over 100 degrees. Our 5th wheel's air conditioner couldn't keep up and it never got below 80 inside. We never had an issue with it in Texas. I think it was a combination of radiation heating from the altitude and reduced efficiency of the unit because of the thin air. None of he stores or restaurants even had AC so everyone was hot.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Nov 05, 2015
Here is "innovative" idea that will help you a lot with gray tank limit

Energy as well
zman-az
Explorer
Nov 05, 2015
So why did you not hook up to the church power and donate them some cash. You should be able to run one AC on a 15/20amp circuit and still keep your batteries charged. When I stay at someone's house with 15amp I just run the bedroom AC with the door closed.

BTW, My wife and I like the sleeping temp at 66*.
holstein13
Explorer
Nov 05, 2015
rolling_rhoda wrote:
Our biggest problem for 6+ days is gray tank space, not power.
In my case, my buddy gave me a key to the church and they had a shower in it. At the end of the week, my gray tank was only 20% full and only because I did a load of laundry. But under any other circumstance, I think you are correct. The tanks would fill faster than I could burn the fuel.

From all the responses I've seen so far, it looks like summer boondocking is not going to be a very economical endeavor. Worth it for other reasons perhaps, but not simply to save money.
rolling_rhoda
Explorer II
Nov 04, 2015
We've boondocked at summer events for a few years. Half the time, daytime highs are over 95 degrees. We don't have solar. We run the genny 18 or more hours a day to keep the inside cool. It helps if you can put out your big awning facing SW, though wind usually doesn't let us. Our biggest problem for 6+ days is gray tank space, not power.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Nov 04, 2015
I live in CA and very seldom need AC.
Usually we camp at 4200' elevation where is colder and lot of shade, so no AC needed.
Even in the seasons when we water-ski at the lake with 110F, the RV was used for refrigerator and we have been entering it for sleep when it cooled down to 80F.
After spending most of the day wet, the 80F is appreciated.
Lastly my Honda3000EU is using less than 0.25 gal/hr powering 15k AC continuously.
Funny where I like to camp, they don't offer any hookups and when I find campground with hookup, I don't care about staying there.
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Nov 04, 2015
smkettner wrote:
holstein13 wrote:
I've got 16 large coach batteries and a 12.5 KV generator plus 600 watts of solar (that I never get over 250 watts out of)
Maybe we need to look at this solar set up to clear some electrical road block.
Will not solve the issue but should reduce generator time to recharge.

I agree. Should be seeing better output for the wattage.
rekoj71
Explorer
Nov 04, 2015
holstein13 wrote:
It seems to me that the fuel costs would be more than the cost savings of a full-hookup site.

This I believe, unless you can get away from needing the air conditioner as in high altitude or high longitude.
msturtz
Explorer
Nov 04, 2015
OLYLEN wrote:
Check out Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington State, BC, Vancouver, northern California.... All gorgeous places where you will not need AC, besides the aforementioned Colorado

WOw that is a sweep! I live in Western Wa and the air runs a lot during the spring through fall, then the heat comes on. Was in Or, Idaho and Montana this year spring and summer times and I would have died without A/C. Did two months in Alaska a few years ago and ran the Air there as well. I guess if one is from the out back 85 to 90 in a room is air conditioned. JMT

LEN

Sorry but I live in Western Washington and my house has AC and all of my vehicles do as well. I just switched over from AC to heat in my house late last month.