kyle86 wrote:
Actually I just checked champion's website and the 3100 WILL actually fit under a toneau in my truck and the 2000 will fit in my tool box hahahahaha I'm back to square 1!!!
Good to hear that. Also good that you have decent charging equipment. When you do a battery charge check your battery terminal voltage for loss as compared to your converter terminal voltage. You may want to upgrade or "Piggyback" that circuit with additional wire.
The voltage will be low when it starts charging and the heavy amps are going in. The high volts will happen when it goes from bulk mode to acceptance or absorption mode. The converters that only reach 13.6 are the ones that will take forever to charge. You are on the right track overall with your led bulbs and all but like the others, I will stress again how bad a noisy generator will sock. If you buy one that is too noisy and decide to sell it later for a quieter one that will also be wasteful.
You said you will be doing 1/4 to 1/2 your time dry camping. While doing this you will probably want to be moving just slightly ahead of the season. You can get by with the weather being just a little too cold but it's much more difficult to get by when it's too hot.
It's easier to stay warm than it is to stay cool. In the cooler climate you wont have to run the ac but your needs will shift to staying warm. If you run the house furnace like we do, it will probably pull 5 amps. That's a big DC load but it's easier to create than trying to create cold with an ac unit. Some people sleep in far colder temps than we like but everyone is different. Some go without heat just about all the time by wearing hats and having extra blankets.
I and others repeat this in this thread because you will become your own power company. It's not hard but it's also not easy. It's easy to walk in the door of our house and flip a light on but far different in an RV when creating the power. .12 a killowatt hour is dirt cheap and easy.
You will develop your own "Energy Management" plan and having any noisy generator is going to be a real pita. We have all gone before you. I'm not being a smart a but get an extra part time job for a while or do something but put together a good energy management plan with a quiet generator. It can be done with a generator but you have to start out with shooting for the quietest one. That is the heart of being on the generator program.
Just my opinion but if you are running the air go with a Honda 3000 if not go with a 2000. I know, I know, but I have never had anyone ticked at me and as I said before, people comment to me that they didn't know I used a genny. Just saying.
You also mentioned desert. Many people move down to the desert in November and leave by March or so. One guy told me when he see's three 90 degree days it's time to head north.
