Generator vs. 2nd Deep Cycle Battery
Newbie Beth here, and when I ask this question you'll say "yeahboy she's a newbie!". Here goes -- last week reporting my purchase of a 91 Toyota Dolphin, 20" long has everything in good working order...
Forum Discussion
We have a small motorhome with a 4000 watt built-in generator that was decent enough installed by Winnebago so as to actually be usable without being too irritating to us when boondocking not in a campground or too irritating to other campers when drycamping in a primitive campground. We use it for a hair dryer, a microwave, the air conditioner, the full-pressue high-volume air compressor for emergency tire inflating, and can even use it for emergency electric heating, electric cooking, and electric refrigeration if the propane system should ever let us down during an RV drycamping adventure.
However, for routine charging of our two Group 29 AGM batteries every 2nd or 3rd day we use an ultra-quiet (54dB sound level at full power output) little four-stroke ~25 year old Honda 650 watt portable generator that consumes 1/2 gallons of gas about every 5 hours.
We find that the combination of a 4000 watt generator, a 650 watt generator, and the main engine's 130 amp alternator is all we ever need for camping power. We do not have solar, but if we did it would be a Plan D alternative for us and we would always have at least one generator or fuel cell along as backup to any solar system. A propane or methanol fuel cell would be my preferred choice over even a small generator to replace what a solar system provides.
It's all about having options on an RV trip: Time is too precious and gas is too expensive to get out a long way from home with an RV and have to return home early due to a system failure that one did not have a backup for.
However, for routine charging of our two Group 29 AGM batteries every 2nd or 3rd day we use an ultra-quiet (54dB sound level at full power output) little four-stroke ~25 year old Honda 650 watt portable generator that consumes 1/2 gallons of gas about every 5 hours.
We find that the combination of a 4000 watt generator, a 650 watt generator, and the main engine's 130 amp alternator is all we ever need for camping power. We do not have solar, but if we did it would be a Plan D alternative for us and we would always have at least one generator or fuel cell along as backup to any solar system. A propane or methanol fuel cell would be my preferred choice over even a small generator to replace what a solar system provides.
It's all about having options on an RV trip: Time is too precious and gas is too expensive to get out a long way from home with an RV and have to return home early due to a system failure that one did not have a backup for.
