We have our first dry camping trip planned for Memorial weekend. Arriving at campsite early evening Friday and leaving early afternoon Monday. We just bought a new Jayco 23B with 48 gals freshwater and 22.5 grey and black tanks. Our rig has LED lights and 6.3 cu ft fridge. It will be my husband, 11 yr old daughter and I camping. We plan to cook some meals on stove and some over the fire. With our fridge and water heater on propane (dual 20lb tanks) and water pump and lights on battery, will be ok without needing a genny to recharge the battery? We don't plan on showers and we will be using paper products to conserve on water. If we do run out of water there is hand pump directly across from our campsite we can fill our 5 gal containers and fill up again. We also have a tote to dump our grey water in if necessary. The only downfall is there are no dump stations in the campground so I'm not sure on how to transport that heavy tank to dump it. We have always had shore power so this will be a new, exciting, and long awaited way of camping for us. If it gets cold we won't be running the furnace either. Just bundling up! Thanks for any input.

It depends on the battery -- how many amp/hours is it rated at? It will say right on the top. There are group 24, group 27, group 31, and so on -- the capacity goes up and up. A group 31 (which is what I have) is rated at 110 amp/hours, which lasts us about three days of dry camping. (I have two of them, and I swap them out after three days.)A simple multimeter, very inexpensive, is a great tool -- you can monitor the voltage in your battery. When fully charged, it reads 12.7. When it gets down to 12.1, you are at 50% state of charge, and it is time to re-charge the battery -- otherwise you could damage the battery and shorten its life. Please don't ask me how I learned this painful lesson.You are doing exactly the right thing -- a short dry camping trip to see how it goes. Once you get a handle on your consumption patterns, you can try more adventurous trips.Be sure to ask questions -- we were all "boondocking newbies" at one time, and we are happy to share our hard-earned tips on how not to make the misteaks we made!

Battery is going to be your biggest concern. Conservation is the key. Do not leave lights on more than necesary. We used to fill our water tank all the time using a 5 gallon water jug. We took showers every day. Dumping gray water will be your second big concern. If there is a place to dispose of gray water, its no big deal. Either a 5 gallon bucket or one of the tote tanks work well. I always made it part of my morning routine to fill the potable water and dump the gray each morning. Depending on age/type/condition of your batteries you should get one day per battery easily.

Don't worry about your holding tanks., just find a dump station enroute home. You can google that information.Make SURE the coach battery is at 100% before leaving. Do not rely upon the monitor panel, it's not accurate.Conserve the battery power as much as possible, but as a last resort if the battery gets too low, just hook up to the tow vehicle with it running for a while. It's not the best method, but it will work.

3 people for 3 days might be pushing the black tank unless you use campground toilets some of the time.Remember that it takes electricity to pump water. You don't say how many amp hours your battery bank can store, but my guess is that you ought to be conserving electricity wherever you can. You probably have plenty of propane, but you might want to consider turning off the water heater. If you won't be showering, you could heat just enough water for dishes on the stove.If you end your trip with a bit of water, a bit of tank space, and a bit of electricity left, you will have been successful. Going over - not good!Have a great trip!

Keep it short the first time. One night maybe two. This gives a taste without all the issues. Something will come up short and you will need to conserve and you will make do just fine.

New to dry camping | Good Sam Community

profdant139
Explorer II
May 03, 2015
It depends on the battery -- how many amp/hours is it rated at? It will say right on the top. There are group 24, group 27, group 31, and so on -- the capacity goes up and up. A group 31 (which is what I have) is rated at 110 amp/hours, which lasts us about three days of dry camping. (I have two of them, and I swap them out after three days.)

A simple multimeter, very inexpensive, is a great tool -- you can monitor the voltage in your battery. When fully charged, it reads 12.7. When it gets down to 12.1, you are at 50% state of charge, and it is time to re-charge the battery -- otherwise you could damage the battery and shorten its life. Please don't ask me how I learned this painful lesson.

You are doing exactly the right thing -- a short dry camping trip to see how it goes. Once you get a handle on your consumption patterns, you can try more adventurous trips.

Be sure to ask questions -- we were all "boondocking newbies" at one time, and we are happy to share our hard-earned tips on how not to make the misteaks we made!
donn0128
Explorer II
May 03, 2015
Battery is going to be your biggest concern. Conservation is the key. Do not leave lights on more than necesary. We used to fill our water tank all the time using a 5 gallon water jug. We took showers every day. Dumping gray water will be your second big concern. If there is a place to dispose of gray water, its no big deal. Either a 5 gallon bucket or one of the tote tanks work well. I always made it part of my morning routine to fill the potable water and dump the gray each morning.
Depending on age/type/condition of your batteries you should get one day per battery easily.
Dakota98
Explorer
May 03, 2015
Don't worry about your holding tanks., just find a dump station enroute home. You can google that information.

Make SURE the coach battery is at 100% before leaving. Do not rely upon the monitor panel, it's not accurate.

Conserve the battery power as much as possible, but as a last resort if the battery gets too low, just hook up to the tow vehicle with it running for a while. It's not the best method, but it will work.
Tiger4x4RV
Nomad
May 03, 2015
3 people for 3 days might be pushing the black tank unless you use campground toilets some of the time.

Remember that it takes electricity to pump water. You don't say how many amp hours your battery bank can store, but my guess is that you ought to be conserving electricity wherever you can.

You probably have plenty of propane, but you might want to consider turning off the water heater. If you won't be showering, you could heat just enough water for dishes on the stove.

If you end your trip with a bit of water, a bit of tank space, and a bit of electricity left, you will have been successful. Going over - not good!

Have a great trip!
time2roll
Nomad
May 03, 2015
Keep it short the first time. One night maybe two. This gives a taste without all the issues. Something will come up short and you will need to conserve and you will make do just fine.
Tom_N
Explorer
May 03, 2015
If your battery becomes low just plug into your tow vehicle and run the engine. Your engine will charge your RV battery.

Or use a set of jumper cables from the tow vehicle battery to the RV battery with the engine running.
Sourdough_Biscu
Explorer
May 03, 2015
We have only slightly larger black and gray tanks and two of us can go 7-10 days.

Fresh water and propane should not be an issue at all.

Depending on size of batteries, and your personal power useage, three days is doable. (We can go three days on 2 12v batteries.) Your led lights will help a lot with that. If we run the generator during times like that, its usually shortly after we get up while we're running the furnace to take the edge off and running the pump for brushing teeth, morning bathroom chores and maybe cooking breakfast. In other words, a half hour of generator during the time you're using the most power will also go a long way toward conserving batteries.

PS In this same section, it might be interesting for you to read the thread on "how long can you dry camp?". :)

But, your mileage WILL vary. Everyone's personal habits and useage will vary. But this will be a good " test" for you. Enjoy!!
korbe
Explorer
May 03, 2015
When the 2 of us are in conserve mode, we use about 18ah per day. We went out and camped until the systems became either full, empty, or drained, and then we had it figured out the answer to that question of "how long".
amandasgramma
Explorer
May 03, 2015
As for water and the holding tanks. We, the two of us, can go almost 2 weeks on tanks that were just a little larger. You should be fine. Teach the child to NOT run water for hours on end.......to brush teeth or flush the toilet, for example. use campground bathrooms if possible.

Spend your time outside, your batteries will be fine if you make sure they're topped off and good before leaving. :) Seriously....spend your time outside...it's the best!!!!
handye9
Explorer II
May 03, 2015
If you haven't already done so, changing your light bulbs to LED's, will save you a considerable amount of battery power.

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