Questions about power for overnighting

The OP asked, "Running the 13.5 BTU AC in the bedroom overnight plus the coffee maker the next morning would be even better, so what setup would I need to be able to do that?"

For the price of a couple of batteries, which will not run the air conditioner, you can purchase one of the popular Chinese 3,500 watt generators that will.

NinerBikes writes "The stated goal in overnighting is to be unobtrusive to all, including fellow overnighters. No different than camping. Including quiet hours from 10 pm to 6 am. Why would it or should it be any different, unless you are a selfish bore.

The issue isn't noise being created by your AC unit, the issue is if you make noise to generate electricity to power up your AC unit, when your AC unit and whole Rv was designed from scratch, to be hooked up to a pedestal, not a generator, to power the AC. RV parks and RV builders are in bed together, they have a symbiotic relationship.

As for me, I plan my trips to make stops, even in the summer time, such that I have enough elevation, where it cools off at night, at any given overnight spot so as to never have to run the AC unit, let alone the generator. This means climbing up out of the desert southwest onto a 5000 ft elevation plateau around or north of Cedar City, UT before stopping, about a 450 mile one day drive. Or else, I pay a fee at an Indian Casino to plug in at a pedestal overnight and cool down."

Everyone has "different ideas" as to what "overnighting" may mean.

There is huge difference when one is "overnighting" in a public or state CAMPGROUND vs a "public/private" PARKING LOT.

You are very lucky to have access to a "Indian Casino" to plug in or even 5000 ft elevations to pull over and park without some need to run a A/C.

MANY don't have such luxuries.

There is no reason to be shouting about one using a generator in a Walmart parking lot. Heck I would rather hear a gen than a trucker idling their rig all night (ever try to sleep with a reefer truck parked beside you?) I have.

In a place like Walmart you are a "guest" of Walmart, they have no "rules" about who can run a gen or not. They have no "quiet" hrs posted to abide by.

Yes, I have overnighted at Walmarts and yes, it is anoying when a Motorhome parks and starts a gen for all night.. BUT, I PAID NOTHING for that parking spot..

I overnight at Walmart because I do not want bothered driving miles and miles out of my way on single lane dirt roads up steep mountains only to find they they are closed (I have lots of those stories from my childhood of my parents HAVING TO BACK THEIR WAY OUT FOR MILES more than once).

I am not going to go and pick a fight with another fellow camper over a generator, EVEN IF I WAS THERE FIRST..

That would be a very childish and not to mention potentially deadly game to play to make your point.

I myself HAVE fired up my gen in the back of truck, but I only run it long enough to cool down the trailer to a reasonable sleeping temp.. Kind of hard to get to sleep when you have a trailer inside temp of 80F or 90F..

So, I will run mine for a 1/2 hr which gets the temps comfortable.. and often since one of my stops is in the mountains of West Va it sometimes cools down outside quickly and trailer stays reasonably cool all night.

Personally, I just don't sleep all that well around a lot of noise so I break out some nice soft hearing protectors.. Those work wonders on muffling traffic, gens and truckers. Best $.50 that anyone could spend if noise bothers them..

obgraham wrote:
We're off the OP's original question a bit here.

The question is - WHAT was their question?

They asked - What setup is needed to overnight in parking lot, while running A/C and microwave. They also stated that they don't have a generator.

Obvious answer - impossible without a big solar or tons of batteries. (Assuming it's too hot to try any fans already, otherwise no need to talk A/C). Did they ask - what generator to buy or how to make it tolerable? Does their idea of "setup" even include a generator? NOBODY KNOWS.

My take is - they've stopped reading already. Time to move on.

We're off the OP's original question a bit here.

I've got portable fans in all voltages: 110, 12, battery. For me the best solution was one of those small 12 volt clamp-on fans from the auto stores. I can aim that right at my face while sleeping, without it feeling like a gale blowing through the rig.

Lantley wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:

pnichols wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:
Sometimes you just gotta quit being such a cheapskate, and just go spend the money and get an air conditioned room. It's the nature of trips through the midwest and south during the hotter months of the year, budget accordingly.

Cheapskate has nothing to do with quick overnight stops in Walmart parking lots (with permission), church parking lots (with permission), Port-of-Entry parking lots (with permission), Cracker Barrel parking lots (with permission), out in back by farmer's barns (with permission), and truck stop parking lots (with permission).

Convenienceskate is what it's all about. When we're shooting for making time on long RV excursions, I'll be dead and gone before I drive all over the place in maybe late afternoons trying to find a "hookup" campground when the places I just mentioned are close to main travel routes. And this includes touring the Southern U.S. in August. We don't want to have to camp for comfort at high altitude or only in places with temperatures below 75 degrees - that's not what self-containment and the money you spend for it is all about.

As for as staying in an air conditioned room with one's $$$ RV sitting outside unoccupied just because of generator paranoia - one has to be kidding. Not in a million years would we do that - assuming that the RV's built-in generator and air conditioner(s) are high quality, well installed, and fully operational!!

BTW, bedbugs can be an expensive nightmare to get out of an RV or stick house once a person has stayed in the wrong rented room on the wrong night.

No point in debating with someone as self centered as you... you seem to believe you can do no wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A sure sign that something is not right is if you do a search for it, and nothing comes up on the Bulletin Board. If you have to ask if you can, something internally is probably telling you that you shouldn't do it, you are seeking validation from a few selfish like minded individuals as you. If it's acceptable to do it, you wouldn't even consider asking the question... it's a given. Consider it an application of common sense, unless you are a narcissist.

Running a generator when you are camping is acceptable, generally you are far enough away from fellow campers that noise pollution and exhaust fumes are not a problem. Running a generator when you are overnighting disturbs everyone. I have no hesitation when I am there first at a WalMart to ask someone to shut their generator off, as I don't wish to hear it or smell it. Recharge while you are driving down the road with your alternator, and no one is offended by it.

Do you go up to the 18 wheelers and ask them to turn off their engines and/or fridge units.
On a few Wal-Mart overnights there have been trucks present making more noise the my genset.
If it were a hot July or August night, I seriously doubt I would turn off my genset per your request.
Especially if I where there first before you arrived.
I would obey if asked to turn off by Wal-Mart,neighbor or LEO.
But being ask to turn off by a camper that just arrived would just end up with me suggesting you park farther away or deal with it

Pay attention, and re read. I clearly stated I was there first. I don't park in truck stops, ever. So that is a non issue in your debate.

The stated goal in overnighting is to be unobtrusive to all, including fellow overnighters. No different than camping. Including quiet hours from 10 pm to 6 am. Why would it or should it be any different, unless you are a selfish bore.

The issue isn't noise being created by your AC unit, the issue is if you make noise to generate electricity to power up your AC unit, when your AC unit and whole Rv was designed from scratch, to be hooked up to a pedestal, not a generator, to power the AC. RV parks and RV builders are in bed together, they have a symbiotic relationship.

As for me, I plan my trips to make stops, even in the summer time, such that I have enough elevation, where it cools off at night, at any given overnight spot so as to never have to run the AC unit, let alone the generator. This means climbing up out of the desert southwest onto a 5000 ft elevation plateau around or north of Cedar City, UT before stopping, about a 450 mile one day drive. Or else, I pay a fee at an Indian Casino to plug in at a pedestal overnight and cool down.

Hee hee hee, try sleeping in a roadside rest stop where RV's are forced to park in the big rig parking area. What? Sleep in a Wal-Mart parking lot? Lessee only a 39 mile diversion off the interstate or is that 390?

Generator/AC camping is EXPENSIVE. Down here when diesel was FIFTEEN CENTS a gallon, I had to drive 82 miles round trip to Chetumal, to fill up drums.

I found it FAR cheaper to move to an RV park in Chetumal where the daily rental with hookups cost $11.00 (dollars). This is based on 24/7 operation and being an MBA I am partially convinced I can use a calculator and track all expenses.

Except for the neighbors and noise issue this is a pretty cut and dried calculation. No way on earth is generator A/C camping inexpensive, then or now. If the object is "No Money" that's one thing, if "Money is no object" that's quite another. Another skew is the number of hours accrued annually. This is not a cut n dried "Yes/No" decision.

NinerBikes wrote:

pnichols wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:
Sometimes you just gotta quit being such a cheapskate, and just go spend the money and get an air conditioned room. It's the nature of trips through the midwest and south during the hotter months of the year, budget accordingly.

Cheapskate has nothing to do with quick overnight stops in Walmart parking lots (with permission), church parking lots (with permission), Port-of-Entry parking lots (with permission), Cracker Barrel parking lots (with permission), out in back by farmer's barns (with permission), and truck stop parking lots (with permission).

Convenienceskate is what it's all about. When we're shooting for making time on long RV excursions, I'll be dead and gone before I drive all over the place in maybe late afternoons trying to find a "hookup" campground when the places I just mentioned are close to main travel routes. And this includes touring the Southern U.S. in August. We don't want to have to camp for comfort at high altitude or only in places with temperatures below 75 degrees - that's not what self-containment and the money you spend for it is all about.

As for as staying in an air conditioned room with one's $$$ RV sitting outside unoccupied just because of generator paranoia - one has to be kidding. Not in a million years would we do that - assuming that the RV's built-in generator and air conditioner(s) are high quality, well installed, and fully operational!!

BTW, bedbugs can be an expensive nightmare to get out of an RV or stick house once a person has stayed in the wrong rented room on the wrong night.

No point in debating with someone as self centered as you... you seem to believe you can do no wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A sure sign that something is not right is if you do a search for it, and nothing comes up on the Bulletin Board. If you have to ask if you can, something internally is probably telling you that you shouldn't do it, you are seeking validation from a few selfish like minded individuals as you. If it's acceptable to do it, you wouldn't even consider asking the question... it's a given. Consider it an application of common sense, unless you are a narcissist.

Running a generator when you are camping is acceptable, generally you are far enough away from fellow campers that noise pollution and exhaust fumes are not a problem. Running a generator when you are overnighting disturbs everyone. I have no hesitation when I am there first at a WalMart to ask someone to shut their generator off, as I don't wish to hear it or smell it. Recharge while you are driving down the road with your alternator, and no one is offended by it.

Do you go up to the 18 wheelers and ask them to turn off their engines and/or fridge units.
On a few Wal-Mart overnights there have been trucks present making more noise the my genset.
If it were a hot July or August night, I seriously doubt I would turn off my genset per your request.
Especially if I where there first before you arrived.
I would obey if asked to turn off by Wal-Mart,neighbor or LEO.
But being ask to turn off by a camper that just arrived would just end up with me suggesting you park farther away or deal with it

pdogg wrote:
As for coffee, we go for simple solutions... like a stove top percolator, or even easier are the Starbucks VIA powdered coffee packets.. Just add boiling water and you're set.. cheap and simple. All you need is a kettle.

Others have covered the AC topic to death..

I'm old enough to remember stove top percolators. And I also remember the mess they could make if you didn't use them right. Coffee grounds everywhere! Don't want to go back to those days!! Lol!

As for coffee, we go for simple solutions... like a stove top percolator, or even easier are the Starbucks VIA powdered coffee packets.. Just add boiling water and you're set.. cheap and simple. All you need is a kettle.

Others have covered the AC topic to death..

pnichols wrote:

NinerBikes wrote:
Sometimes you just gotta quit being such a cheapskate, and just go spend the money and get an air conditioned room. It's the nature of trips through the midwest and south during the hotter months of the year, budget accordingly.

Cheapskate has nothing to do with quick overnight stops in Walmart parking lots (with permission), church parking lots (with permission), Port-of-Entry parking lots (with permission), Cracker Barrel parking lots (with permission), out in back by farmer's barns (with permission), and truck stop parking lots (with permission).

Convenienceskate is what it's all about. When we're shooting for making time on long RV excursions, I'll be dead and gone before I drive all over the place in maybe late afternoons trying to find a "hookup" campground when the places I just mentioned are close to main travel routes. And this includes touring the Southern U.S. in August. We don't want to have to camp for comfort at high altitude or only in places with temperatures below 75 degrees - that's not what self-containment and the money you spend for it is all about.

As for as staying in an air conditioned room with one's $$$ RV sitting outside unoccupied just because of generator paranoia - one has to be kidding. Not in a million years would we do that - assuming that the RV's built-in generator and air conditioner(s) are high quality, well installed, and fully operational!!

BTW, bedbugs can be an expensive nightmare to get out of an RV or stick house once a person has stayed in the wrong rented room on the wrong night.

No point in debating with someone as self centered as you... you seem to believe you can do no wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.

A sure sign that something is not right is if you do a search for it, and nothing comes up on the Bulletin Board. If you have to ask if you can, something internally is probably telling you that you shouldn't do it, you are seeking validation from a few selfish like minded individuals as you. If it's acceptable to do it, you wouldn't even consider asking the question... it's a given. Consider it an application of common sense, unless you are a narcissist.

Running a generator when you are camping is acceptable, generally you are far enough away from fellow campers that noise pollution and exhaust fumes are not a problem. Running a generator when you are overnighting disturbs everyone. I have no hesitation when I am there first at a WalMart to ask someone to shut their generator off, as I don't wish to hear it or smell it. Recharge while you are driving down the road with your alternator, and no one is offended by it.