Yellowstone in September

[RacerX10]

We're about to head for Yellowstone National Park, have reservations at Madison for 3 nights.

Being mid to late September, it's gunna be cooooooold at night, low 30's. Rules say you can only run generator between 8 AM and 8 PM, so I'm hoping somebody here knows if my propane heat will run on battery power all night, after a good charge for a few hours during the day.

House battery setup is (2) 6v Interstate batteries.

RV is a 2013 27 foot Fleetwood Jamboree 25k.

Any thoughts appreciated !

Thanks.

[ktmrfs]

Bobbo wrote:
We went in September 2011. Put the thermostat on 50 or 55 at night and you will be good. The first one to get up can put the thermostat back up and jump back in bed for 15 or 20 minutes.

Trying to leave the thermostat up all night will run your battery down about halfway through the night. I know. We could get about 2 nights per charge after learning that lesson.

and, when the furnace comes on, it will wake you up if your like me and end up with not much sleep. So..... I turn the thermostat down as low as it will go, 45F and use a quilt on the bed. Thermostat is a setback type and turns furnace on in time to get the temp to 68 by 8 am.

so, trying to keep the inside at say 65F all nigh will
1) keeps you awake
2) gobble up propane, figure 1/3 gallon/hr run time
3) gobble up AH, furnace typical draw is between 8 and 12A.

Down quilt
1) sleep well
2) stay warm
3) saves propane
4) saves battery.

[RacerX10]

bobsallyh wrote:
Dunraven Pass was closed last night. This AM. (Thursday) Beartooth Hiway is closed at least till noon. Blowing snow. Will be re-evaluated at lunch time.

How exciting ! Hope it blows a little snow when we get up there Sunday / Monday. My daughter will LOVE it 🙂 Toad is a Jeep Wrangler so we'll be able to get around OK.



Thanks ...

[TenOC]

Get a good sleeping bag. Unzip it and use it as a quilt on the bed. A sleeping bag is MUCH warmer than a normal quilt. Some are rated for -20 degrees as a one person sleeping bag.

[bobsallyh]

Dunraven Pass was closed last night. This AM. (Thursday) Beartooth Hiway is closed at least till noon. Blowing snow. Will be re-evaluated at lunch time.

[RGar974417]

Good advice so far.Here's another suggestion.When you get up in the morning,instead of running the furnace,put a large pot of water on the stove.This will put humidity in the air which will make you feel warm without running the furnace.Just crack a window so you have a source of air for the stove.

[Artum_Snowbird]

Best thing to do would be to monitor your battery voltage with a voltmeter. You might find that you really only need a couple of hours or even less daily to recharge.

On board generators for Class C units are not very friendly to be around, so learning about your batteries and usage can really be nice for you and your neighbors.

[AH64ID]

You should be fine as long as you realize it will take more than a couple hours of generator operation to recharge the batteries if they get down to 50% SOC.

[RacerX10]

That's great info, thanks guys !

[CloudDriver]

We have been in Yellowstone and Grand Teton a number of times in early June when it gets down to the 20's at night. We run the heat at 65 degrees at night. We don't have a toad so we drive the MH around the Parks during the day, which recharges the house batteries from the alternator. We have 2 Trojan T105 6 volt batteries that are over 8 years old and still take us through the night on heat.

We seldom use the generator except for A/C and the microwave.

[Bobbo]

We went in September 2011. Put the thermostat on 50 or 55 at night and you will be good. The first one to get up can put the thermostat back up and jump back in bed for 15 or 20 minutes.

Trying to leave the thermostat up all night will run your battery down about halfway through the night. I know. We could get about 2 nights per charge after learning that lesson.

[Itchey_Feet]

All will depend on how warm you decide to keep inside temp at, Let temp drop inside to the low 50's @ night, cover up in bed and in morning bring temp up to what you like. When you leave during day, let temp drop again till you return.We have spent time there in mid Sept. and have had no problem with batteries or propane usage. JMHO