furnace/heater question

Great info.. thank you! I do not have a generator yet.. been agonizing and putting it off for awhile now. I did just pick up a Genius 3500 charger tho.. A couple of questions.. if/when I do pick up a generator.. do I just plug in my 30 amp cord to charge batteries.. or should I plug the Genius into a 120v outlet on Gen and charge that way?

Hi,

You need to think about the duty cycle. If I leave my taps open the water pump takes about 25 minutes to drain the tank. I normally get about one week per tank of fresh water--so 3 amp-hours per week. That is insignificant.

The fridge, on the other hand, may draw 0.5 amps when not actively cooling and 1 amp when the gas valve is open. Duty cycle is 2:3 so demand may be around 1.5 amps per hour. That works out to 36 amp-hours per day.

The furnace at 5.7 is the "king" of demand--but to find out what it draws you need to know the duty cycle. Of course, that depends on the ambient temperature--and how low you are willing to set the interior thermostat.

I can tell you that in mid October, I use 70,000 BTU's per twenty-four hours, and in November with an ambient of -25 C I use 408,000 btu's per twenty-four hours.

mdprowash wrote:
Thanks for the help! I just finished measuring.. to start I have a .59A parasitic draw. Is that extreme and where could it be coming from? One led light.. .69A. Water pump 3.5 and heat with blower running on low setting.. 5.7A <--- yikes!

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mdprowash wrote:
Maybe the .59 was fridge..

More likely the propane detector. They'll kill a battery on their own in under a week.

Maybe the .59 was fridge..

Thanks for the help! I just finished measuring.. to start I have a .59A parasitic draw. Is that extreme and where could it be coming from? One led light.. .69A. Water pump 3.5 and heat with blower running on low setting.. 5.7A <--- yikes!

With 2 fully charged 6'rs your fine for a week, 5 days. Do you have a suit case generator? If not buy one....

Problem solved....

At the temperatures you describe with two 6 volts and LED lights 2 nights easily three nights stretching it anything more with battery damage from drawing too low. If you have a way to put some power back in during the day they will obviously go longer.

In a pinch you can always turn the tow vehicle around and use some jumper cables and your alternator to add charge. Don't bother with trying to charge through the trailers umbilical, there's too much resistance through the small wires to give much of a charge. Oh and be mindful of your fuel level to make sure you can actually get back home when the trip is done.

Rule of thumb is one battery one night.

Recharging takes longer when the battery bank is cold, even if there is temperature compensated charger in use.

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