For renting an RV, how does the heat/stove/fridge work?

I'm sure the rental place will walk you through all the systems since they have a vested interest in having them returned the way they left. But its always a good idea for you and another person to both take notes during the walk through for comparison. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

Once again, you are talking about a rental in Iceland, European motorhome technology, most responses you get here will be about how things work in North America.

How long you can go on battery power will depend on use. Much of European RVing is dry camping, no water, power, sewer hookups, so systems are designed to minimize use of electrical power, and you rebuild that running the engine if you don't have a plug in.

The RV you rent will not have a permanent LPG tank. Bottled gas is handled as removable bottles (different from our BBQ tanks but same idea) and usually on a tank exchange basis. Refrigerator, cooking, heating, and heating water will use gas. Refrigeration uses little gas. Cooking and heating water uses moderate amounts of gas, a 10 Kg tank might last a couple weeks. Heating can use huge amounts of gas, as much as a tank a day if temperatures are near freezing and you try to keep the RV warm enough for living in your underwear. Depending on size, heating might be forced air (uses battery power) or might be convection or radiant (uses LPG only).

For charging phones, the standard is a USB adaptor from a 12V outlet, or if you have mains power, a 240V to USB power supply off the mains outlet. USB power supplies for mains are readily available in Europe, I was able to replace all the stuff I left in the seat pocket of the plane at CDG with pieces from a phone store in the mall at Ploesti.

"Other stuff" scares me. Tablets are generally USB power, but higher ratings, 1-2 amps rather than the 500 milliamp rating in the USB standard. Many of our 12v adaptors can handle the extra current a tablet wants, you have to pay attention when you buy. I buy Apple USB chargers to stay safe on my Apple devices, have an international kit that covers almost any outlet I find, 100-250V, 50-60 cycle AC.

Laptop computers are more of a problem, most need more than 12V for charging, thus special converter/inverter power supplies for 12V sources going up to 14-20V for the computer. On the other hand, every laptop AC power supply I've had in the past 10 years has been "universal" i.e. 100-250V, 50-60 cycle or broader. You just need the adapter for the plug. I suspect Iceland (will be 240V, 50 cycle) uses the DIN two prong plug widely used in Western Europe.

This is a tricky place for asking these questions, many people are not catching on to the fact that you are renting a Euro RV in Iceland, with different systems than are used in North America, and are giving answers that might be more useful if you were renting in Las Vegas to tour the SW United States.

Your YouTube link takes me to an array of about 40 different places, none looking relevant.

www.rvtechlibrary.com

great site to learn from .jmo

You may find RVs in Iceland have slightly different operations than our US models. Our refrigerators use LP (propane) and 12V electric to keep cool. They don't use a lot of propane. The water heater is usually propane as well as the furnace. The two that make heat will use a lot more propane. If the furnace has a fan that will help to draw the battery down faster. The dealer should fill you in because they don't want things damaged. Travel in an RV in Iceland sounds interesting. I understand they have many woolen goods for sale there.

Petrol station should be your first clue that this is not a US rental. It's going to be cold in Iceland and all of the items you asked about us propane to operate... even the refrigerator plus 12V power for the controls. Doubt you will have a generator so going to a Camp Ground will be needed every other day to charge the battery for the camper, different from the engine. With a generator you can go several days before needing a CG to dump and get water. Stop worrying and go have a great trip and the dealer will be able to answer your questions. I would not worry about toilet chemicals.

Most rental companies also want you to return the propane tank full and the waste tanks empty or they will charge you to do to do it for you.

Battery...Here are some quick and basic answers in laymen terms. Yes. You will need to charge that battery sometimes daily with 4+ people unless you are hooked up to power at a camp site. You can charge the battery sufficiently by driving/idling for 30-60 minutes, by running the generator ( basic charge in 6 hours on my Onan gen), or from being hooked up to shore power (camp site hook up).

Fridge....needs propane to cool off and takes several hours to do so. This is not your house fridge. Can run on shore power or the battery. Most need to be pretty level to work or you have no fridge. Rental units generally don't come with levelng blocks. Small 2x4's work nicely in a pinch. That said, the fridge could run for a few weeks (on low) and never drain the propane.

If you run the furnace too hot the blower/fan will run continuosly and eat the battery dead in a few hours. That means you wake up freezing.

Like Mitch said, conserve and plan if you aren't hooked up. Turn off lights. Don't run the hot water heater until you know you will need it in say 15 minutes. Take navy showers.

The genorator....usually not free. It will run the microwave and/or the ac when it is running as well as lights etc...Don't open windows when it is running, The gen uses the gas from your engine/chassis. Mine uses about a gallon an hour. When the gen is on, maximize your power. Now would be a good time to plug in and turn on a small electric heater if you need it. Good time to cook with a microwace or run the ac if needed.

Toilet chemicals....you may ned to buy some.

Dumping...best to watch some how to videos on you tube. Those were a big help for me. Buy some disposable rubber gloves. Take your time. Don't rush this part even if you have people behind you. They will thank you later if you take a little more time and don't leave poo all over the place. ;)

Ask other RV'ers. I have found all of them to be pretty nice people. They were all new once too and they all seem to like to help the newbies gladly. Just ask! :)

All those appliances run on propane for the main 'heating' element. But, they also need basic 12v power to run the circuit board that controls them.

In the case of the furnance, the fan or blower will use 12v power to run and that will drain the 12v system pretty fast if you don't have a way to recharge the batteries.

I didn't look at your U tube link, but I assume you are renting a class C or class A motorhome? If that's the case, they will usually have a built in gas powered generator that will provide 120v power. But, when renting, they charge EXTRA for generator hour use, so it's up to you how much you run them.. ;)

When you are camping with no hookups, you can't just use power, water and sewer like you were at home, so there has to be some changes made to your routine.

If you stay at full hook up sites, and know how your hookups work, you can waste all the resources you want! :)

You'll get a full lesson from the rental place on the utilities of the RV, but it'll still be a learning experience to go thru if you've never used them before and once you do, that's when you'll figure things out.. Maybe too late, but you'll figure it out one way or the other! ;)

Good luck!

Mitch