SoonerWing03 wrote:
valhalla360 wrote:
Big question: What do you plan to run when off the grid and how long?
Odds are the charging unit (converter) isn't a big issue worth addressing right now.
Do you plan to run air/con off grid? If yes, that means the generator will be running and charging isn't a major consideration. This is typically the turning point between operating off battery power vs running the generator.
If you are just running a few lights and maybe the TV off battery, you batteries should get you at least a couple days and then an hour or two running the generator (which powers the battery charger) should keep you going.
For this trip I doubt we will need the AC but if I am going to purchase a generator I might as well get one big enough to run the AC in the event that we want to go off the grid in lower elevations. Going off grid just opens up sooooo many more opportunities and is really at the essence of what I want our family camping experiences to be. However my wife is more of a "glamper" so I will have to meet her in the middle.
We like our coffee in the morning and the kids will want to be able to charge their phones at night. We would probably watch 1 maybe 2 tv's for an hour or two in the evening and may play a movie on 1 of them requiring a DVD player. If the phones have much of a signal at al, they will opt for playing around on them rather than the TV once the sun goes down. 1 or 2 lights max would be all we need and they are already LED's.
"We Like our coffee in the morning..." It is really easy to make great coffee on the stove top with a percolator or use a quality drip type unit you pour water through. If you can....the less items you run off 110v, the easier it is to keep the 12volters up.
