Battery and solar ?

Westend, there will be other heaters. I was just trying to think of something that would run the Reznor until i get power. I have poured in 20 below so i know about keeping it warm

pianotuna wrote:
I think the fan draws the 700 watts--not the heater part.

Ok.. now I know what a Reznor is.

Hi 2oldman,

I think the fan draws the 700 watts--not the heater part.

2oldman wrote:
Sounds like a big job for only 700w of heat.

Depending on ambient temps, I'd get a heavy duty propane heater(s) and 100 lb. bottles. You will be waiting until Spring to defrost frozen soil with that Reznor and placing concrete is not the time to have little heat. I've done this very job and you will want the base dry and up to temp. Placing concrete on a cold base or mush is an invitation to have problems down the road.

As my old time Mason buddy states,"the only guarantee with concrete is that it's guaranteed to crack". Taking all the steps for a good installation will prevent a lot of that.

Sounds like a big job for only 700w of heat.

Hi,

I would go with a hybrid system. Get a good sized AGM battery bank and an inverter. Choose the batteries so they will fit the RV.

Add a transfer switch so that if/when the generator runs out of fuel the furnace will default to the inverter power.

That small a load on the Honda will probably only require filling it once at night and then again in the morning.

Your situation is really not practical. Quite possible, but not practical.
If you're drawing 700 watts at 75% duty cycle during a 10 hour day, that's 5,250 watt/hours. You probably get around 3.5 sun hours per day in the winter in your area. That means you would need a 1,500 watt solar array not taking losses into account. Realistically, about 1,800 watts would be about right.
That assumes every day is perfectly sunny which may be the case in Nevada. Normally, you would want your battery bank to be able to ride thru one cloudy day at least. That would mean you would need 5,250 kWh of storage. If you do that with a 12v battery bank that's well over 400 Ah.

I guess i will just run the generator. I have a Honda EU3000 and i will run it for a weeks nonstop. Be a good durability test. I wont need the power the whole 8 weeks. I need to thaw the ground so i can get concrete poured and then a few days so the concrete doesnt freeze.

I would either go all in with battery/solar/inverter or just use the generator 24/7.
For eight weeks I would just use the generator and focus on an extended run fuel tank.