Veebyes wrote:
StirCrazy wrote:
Veebyes wrote:
Cost much more than wet cells but much less than lithium.
This isn't true anymore and hasn't been for a long time. sure there are some outliers like battle born and such that are way over priced still, but if you look at your battery for example it's what 215AH, so that is about 110AH usable for the longest life. a single 300.00US LFP will replace that and do the same job for 20 years. when you work out the usable capacity over the life span LFP are actually very cheep.
my 5th wheel has four 6v batteries which cost 1200 bucks (cdn) for me to do a couple years ago. This gives me 460AH total but 230 Usable, for the same price I could have three of those batteries (Canadian price is around 400) and have more usable power that would probably outlast three sets of GC2's easily. instead I am building three of my own that will cost me about 2000.00 cdn , but give me 840 usable AH.
Steve
There are loads of variables to consider when choosing a battery bank.
If you are a weekend warrior, always using a FHU site, it makes little sense to spend the money on a battery bank system best suited for dry camping.
If you have an old rig, mine was built 2007 and has had more than 2500 nights on the road, it makes little sense to spend the money on a battery bank that will last 20 years. The trailer will be gone long before that, unless it goes to a seasonal CG for it's retirement years, in which case it won't need lithium batteries.
If my rig was ten years younger and my plans were to keep it at least another ten years doing my current travel habits, which include a fair amount of dry camping, I'd be giving lithiums a serious consideration.
I don't question that lithiums are the best right now. But best for who and in what application?
Hmm my rig that is on LFP right now is 32 years old, I fail to see how the age of the rv fits into this scenario. in fact, the older rigs are the ones you will get the most benefit from as it is a huge space and weight savings as well. Take mine for example, they had a battery door on the outside of the camper that was made for 1 12v battery. I took up a storage space on the outside to fit two 6V batteries and when I went to LFP I made a false bottom in the hall closet (right beside the power center and furnace) and put the LFP battery in there. It was a bit of wasted of space to begin with, only reduced the height of my closet by 8" so it still functioned well, and those two outside spaces are for storage now. The other benefit is I reduced the overall weight of my camper by 120lbs and went from 105 usable AH to 280 usable.
the only time age would come into the equation would be your age not the units. me, Im 56, so I probably have about 30 years of camping left. and treaded right my battery might last that long. so, what do I do if I buy a newer camper, I keep the battery that's in my old one and put it in the newer one. a LFP battery could go through 3 units or even 10, the way some people buy new units every few year.. every time you get a new RV you spend money on new batteries, now I can tell the dealer to keep that crappy 80ah battery they are overcharging me for and I'll bring my own.
as for not needing a battery if you're in a park. That's a load of bunk, you still need batteries and that's all LFP is, a battery. There is a reason why most solar battery banks are moving to LFP now. how long they last is one, and size constraints is another. You still get power outages in trailer parks, so you still need batteries. This gives you more capacity for when that power is out, which you need because everything you put in those units is 110V normally.
