Generator in Class C Rental

[jimlouisesophie]

I am renting a Class C Motor Home for 2 weeks, and the generator on board burns 4 litres (aprox. 1 gal.) per hour. I think this is very high, so thought about renting a Honda 2000W for $225 for two weeks.. I will be dry camping with no hook ups. Comments, please?

[Mobilesport]

jimlouisesophie wrote:
I am renting a Class C Motor Home for 2 weeks, and the generator on board burns 4 litres (aprox. 1 gal.) per hour. I think this is very high, so thought about renting a Honda 2000W for $225 for two weeks.. I will be dry camping with no hook ups. Comments, please?

The Honda 2000i uses about 33 cents per hour in gas @ current gas prices

[Grit_dog]

Are you flying up or driving? If driving, bring all the "gear" that you can. Even furnished rentals are typically pretty sparse and it'll save big $ at the Canadian Superstore stock up shopping in Whitehorse.

[Grit_dog]

For the geographically challenged, the OP said they're vacationing in the YUKON. Long ways from US gas prices.
To the OP, couple-3 hours of generator a day goes a LONG ways if you don't need AC, which you won't. I'd be surprised if you need to put more than 20-25 hours tops on it in a couple weeks. You'll WANT to turn it off, onboard generators in low end RVs are annoying when you're in the Rv.
You can use the heat as much as you need. You won't need "that" much in June.
Seriously generator gas will be about the least expensive component of the trip save for liver n onions. That costs $0 cause I hate liver n onions. Bait n tackle will cost more than genny gas.
You will want to dump your black tank probably once in the middle of 11 days unless you don't use it much.
Black tanks have a way of getting ripe if they're pretty full and you take a little bouncy trip down a frost heaved road.
Most importantly, sounds like an awesome trip!
Have fun!

[jimlouisesophie]

Delete

[Chum_lee]

As a reference point, the generator in my Class A, a 4000 watt Onan, uses about a 1/2 gallon per hour on the average, even when using the single roof top 13,500 BTU AC unit while boon docking.

Charging the batteries and running the refrigerator (Dometic 2652) in electric mode is childs play for my Onan 4K. It wastes a lot of fuel if that's all I do with it.

The Onan manual states that the fuel consumption at full load is about .75 gal per hour.

Chum lee

[Lwiddis]

I wouldn’t want 14 day old poop in my tank...or my rental’s.

[Lwiddis]

“I only plan on dumping the tanks once, at the end of my RV rental return”

Why? Dumping and refilling the fresh water is easy as you know. No need to ruff it that much.

[ron_dittmer]

Another consideration is if your 2 week vacation is a road trip traveling to a new dry campsite daily, or even every-other day. Your house batteries will charge nicely while the vehicle is being driven. You may never need to think about your house batteries.

The only time you would run the generator is when you want to run the microwave oven or other 110V appliance.

[midnightsadie]

and remember this most rv built in gen set will shut off when the main fuel tank get to a a quarter of a tank. so if your using the gen set and it shuts down? check your main fuel tank level/

[jimlouisesophie]

OK everyone....your recommendations r valid and I have decided to use the on board gen to keep my battery charged up and to use the microwave...lot easier, and really not that much more expensive. I only plan on dumping the tanks once, at the end of my RV rental return, as I am traveling solo and have had extensive experience in dry camping, using very little water (navy showers), not using the microwave for long periods of time, dressing in layers instead of using the furnace, etc. Thanks everyone for your input....really appreciate it.

[way2roll]

4k Genset is actually small and tells me your rental is 30 amp. Not sure what the temps will be when/where you travel but it sounds like you won't need heavy AC usage. Sounds more like you want to keep the batts charged etc. Most big box rental companies don't have TV's so I am really not sure what you will use all this power for. Your water heater is LP, heater LP, stove Lp, refer LP, etc. Your AC will need electric, and your batts will need to be charged. Even if you ran it the prescribed 4 hours a day, I would bet that will burn less than 3 gals of fuel. 3 gals over 11 days is 33 gals. At USD $2.50/gal you will spend $82 USD. You would have to actually run the onboard generator 120 hours, or 10 hours a day to equate to the cost of your generator rental. And your generator rental also needs fuel. Add to that, your onboard generator uses the motorhome's gas tank. How are you going to transport all that fuel for the Honda generator? in summary, it's just plain easier and cheaper to use your onboard generator. That's why it's there. The ONLY variable is what they will charge you if you go over the generator usage limit. Probably something like $.50/hour - unless the $100 fee is unlimited usage. Then it's a no brainer.

On Edit;
I don't now where you are camping but you mention dry camping in campgrounds - unless I mis-read that. Is there a reason you aren't camping with electric hookups? And you will need hookups eventually if anything to dump your tanks and replenish water and probably LP. Is the cost of hookups at a CG more than the money spent on gen usage? Not sure I fully understood the dynamics of where you are staying.

[chinrv]

First of all, the use of the generator in June should be minimal, no matter what the rental company suggests. Secondly, the ease of use with the built in generator versus some external unit really can't compare. Lastly, the cost of renting an RV has some expected expenses, but a few dollars worth of the gas used to run the generator would be very low on the expenses list compared to the other costs, i.e. campground fees, fuel used in traveling, etc. Of course looking at the big picture, enjoy the trip and experience, and don't sweat the small stuff.

[Mr_Mark1]

J, L and S,

When you look at the whole picture and the amount of trouble carrying that extra genny and fuel, I would think it's too much trouble even it costs a few extra bucks.

And, you will most likely be buying fuel in the U.S.A. which is way cheaper.

But, everybody has their comfort level, you should do what works for you.

I am also surprised at the 'a gallon an hour' usage. I wonder if the rental unit has a solar panel to help charge the batteries?

We rented three times before purchasing our own RV (a gas class C, and two diesel class A's). It was not cheap but gave us tons of info on what we wanted if/when we bought.

Good luck and safe travels!
Mark

[Lwiddis]

OK...a $125 difference is still almost nine bucks a day...your gasoline savings will be that much? Not IMO.