batteries

[ramblin_ronny]

does anyone out there do some dry camping with a large 5th wheel and use the fireplace - refrigerator - lights - phone chargers - two tv's etc.
all at the same time (or so) -----and if so how many 6v batteries do you need to stay for say about 2 weeks ----- i plan to use a solar (150w) charger when feasible but dont know if i will need 2 or 4 batteries
thanks for the help
new guy

[ramblin_ronny]

thanks for the inputs

[JiminDenver]

An electric fireplace? With a 1500w heater? That isn't going to last long on two batteries unless they are huge like 4 or 8-D's. I would suggest replacing the bulb in it with a LED and using the furnace for heat. It will use a fraction of what a 1500w heater will.

Last year we had 490w of solar and 345 Ah of battery and could do pretty much anything but run the air conditioner. This year we wil have 750w of solar and 675 Ah of battery and will be able to even more electrically including running a small window air conditioner and even cook with electric when the sun shines.

So you can set up a system do do just about anything but you have to know what kind of power you need, have the battery to hold it and the solar to replace it. You may have more room on the roof and definitely more storage than I do in my trailer. Set up a system that meets your needs.

[Bumpyroad]

I think a fireplace would be the last thing I would operate if I was at all concerned with adequate juice.
bumpy

[azrving]

I missed an important point. What is your solar charging voltage? It will make a big difference as 13.6 wont work well. Mine is set at 14.8

[rjsurfer]

4 six volts and at least 400 watts of solar, 150 ain't going to cut it.

I have 4 six volts and 400 watts solar and I just bought 300 more watts.

Ron W.

[Crazy_Ray]

2X on rjxj set up

[azrving]

If you run 150 panels in full sun in theory you should get 12 amps. Realistically and depending on your system voltage losses (mainly wire size)you should get 9 or 10 amps. Multiply by 5 good hours of sun yields about 35 to 50 ah. So, if you have 2 sixes for a total ah rating of about 200 with 100 available and you pull 40 or 50 you should be ok but any short days will put you in crisis mode. These are just my guesstimates as I'm new to solar and have 3 back up gen charging sources. if you depend on your converter for back up charging check the voltage as some only do 13.6 and will take forever to charge.

If that is what your converter does it will be better than nothing if you do have to use a generator but again, it will be slow.

[CarlT100]

I dry camp and run my generator for ac. That recharges my batteries. I have gone a week without recharging in cooler weather.

[azrving]

4 -six from sams club. My FW, frig on propane just sitting uses about 12 amp hours a day. Using it with no furnace time it will use about 30 ah per day. Throw in nights in the 50's and it will use about 50 to 60 ah per day. So during warm weather I can probably go 3 days and be down about 120 ah and be sitting at 12.2 volts. Batteries are 420 ah but I stay above 12 volts.

We dont invert the heavy stuff. We use a 600 w inverter for our 40 in led tv, 24 in tv, ceiling fan, phones and laptops. Also have all led bulbs which use far less battery. about 1/5th if I recall correctly.
Honda 3000
Bogart solar and Trimetric
520 watts Cynergy panels

[2oldman]

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