Forum Discussion
SteveAE
Oct 25, 2013Explorer
rvgrammady,
You have been getting some good answers, but I will toss my hat in the ring as well.
A nice way to monitor your batteries is via a battery monitor. I use this one, but there are others to choose from as well. It works like a gas gauge for your batteries, displaying a percentage of full charge. It will take someone with some understanding of RV electrical systems to install it however.
Good job on the LED lights. That will save you a lot of power.
Your wiring and outlets are "supposed" to handle that load, but you may find that the outlets (esp. if they are low cost) get hot. If they do, you might want to replace the ones that would have the heater connected, with a regular household units (about $1.00 each) from Home Depot (or similar). This is something you can do yourself, just make sure to disconnect all electrical power and keep the wires to the same terminals on the new outlet as the original ones.
If you are frugal, you don't need to spend that much on solar now days. As suggested by another, this topic would be better in a different thread. There will be no need to climb up on the roof once the panels are installed and there are companies to install them for you if you need.
When camping where there is 120 power (or generator) available, I like the oil filled radiator heaters.
When camping without power available, you will have to use your battery and propane. Your choices here are: The built in RV furnace (uses lots of battery power to run the fan), a catalytic heater (lots of folks use them, but there are safety concerns...i.e., they burn oxygen), or a hydronic (hot water) heating system (very nice, but expensive).
No need for a tester to find out which outlets are on which circuit. Just plug in a lamp and turn of the circuit breaker. When the light turns off, you got the right circuit. Repeat for each outlet.
Hope this helps,
Steve
You have been getting some good answers, but I will toss my hat in the ring as well.
A nice way to monitor your batteries is via a battery monitor. I use this one, but there are others to choose from as well. It works like a gas gauge for your batteries, displaying a percentage of full charge. It will take someone with some understanding of RV electrical systems to install it however.
Good job on the LED lights. That will save you a lot of power.
Your wiring and outlets are "supposed" to handle that load, but you may find that the outlets (esp. if they are low cost) get hot. If they do, you might want to replace the ones that would have the heater connected, with a regular household units (about $1.00 each) from Home Depot (or similar). This is something you can do yourself, just make sure to disconnect all electrical power and keep the wires to the same terminals on the new outlet as the original ones.
If you are frugal, you don't need to spend that much on solar now days. As suggested by another, this topic would be better in a different thread. There will be no need to climb up on the roof once the panels are installed and there are companies to install them for you if you need.
When camping where there is 120 power (or generator) available, I like the oil filled radiator heaters.
When camping without power available, you will have to use your battery and propane. Your choices here are: The built in RV furnace (uses lots of battery power to run the fan), a catalytic heater (lots of folks use them, but there are safety concerns...i.e., they burn oxygen), or a hydronic (hot water) heating system (very nice, but expensive).
No need for a tester to find out which outlets are on which circuit. Just plug in a lamp and turn of the circuit breaker. When the light turns off, you got the right circuit. Repeat for each outlet.
Hope this helps,
Steve
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