New topic for newbies: Furnace know how

Yeah, sounds like you're a quick learner.
Solar is a great option for charging your batteries (which power most of your essential devices). Here is a thread with Forum member installations. Also, a downloadable Solar and battery calculator to assess your needs. If you install enough solar power and have enough battery capacity, you may leave the generator at home (if you get good weather). There are a few members that do exactly that, some using a generator only as a backup for continuous bad weather. I would be part of that "some".

Here is an article that might help you understand the 12 volt system in your RV. The 12 volt side of life.

danoren wrote:
The generator will charge your batteries that will provide the power for the fan.
To run one A/C you will need at least 4000W generator.
I do not use one but I am sure that guys that boondock will give you the right figures.

My AC runs just fine on a 3KW Honda.

danoren wrote:

To run one A/C you will need at least 4000W generator.

I have a 13,500 BTU air conditioner that is successfully powered by an Onan 2800 watt generator!

Based on advise and budget we opted not to include the AC in our power calculation. I think we are also adding to the battery bank and with a solar charger we will have some interesting learning experiences in power management. Thanks

Size the generator to run: Charger section of your converter, the microwave, the A/C unit, the TV, a 1500W electric heater.

The battery(s) will run everything else: Control circuits for fridge/AC unit/water heater/furnace plus run the furnace and lights

We have a 50A 5th wheel......we have a 4000W generator with a 30A output.
It handles everything with a little bit of load management (don't run microwave when running A/C unit or swap fridge and water heater over to propane vs electric)

My furnace fan draws about 8 amps DC (from the batteries).
This is roughly 0.8 amps (round up to 1 amp) AC needed from your generator to run the converter (charger). Nothing to worry about especially if you sized your generator to run the air conditioner. However, to minimize the generator run time necessary to recharge your batteries, you will want a good converter (charger), along with correctly sized wire, to charge the batteries at close to maximum capacity.

When the generator isn't on, your batteries will provide the power to run the furnace fan. If you figure on using up 50% of the capacity of one battery (maximum recommended draw for most batteries) per night in cold weather, you will be pretty close. So two batteries (doesn't matter if they are 6 or 12 volts) will last you about two nights (4 batteries = 4 nights, etc.).

There is a lot more to it, but this should get you in the ballpark.

Steve

newcomers wrote:
So more than just the lights for the genney?

Lights are also 12v.

FYI.. if you're planning on using a generator for things like computers and TV watching (small loads), you'll be better served by a couple good batteries and an inverter.
Don Rowe site Inverter FAQ
Inverters by Phred

The generator will charge your batteries that will provide the power for the fan.
To run one A/C you will need at least 4000W generator.
I do not use one but I am sure that guys that boondock will give you the right figures.

Be careful on the furnace and batteries. The fan can run the battery down fairly quickly at night if it is running most of the night.