campgroung...

How long and how successful the OP will be dropping camping for the first time will be more about the OP's experience and knowledge vs. the weather.
None of us can predict the weather or the temps. None of us know the parasitic draw on the OP's battery.
Wwe all know it can be done successfully however there is a learning curve the OP will have to adapt to
TO the OP you will have to monitor your 12 volt use very closely. I assume you only have 1 battery? You will need to avoid using unnecessary interior light if you do not have LED lighting. Use water pump sparingly.
Consider recharging battery via the truck but that is not a foolproof method.
It can be done, but your first time without a dedicated method to recharge you will very likely run out of power over the course of the long weekend

When we dry camp, we very rarely run the furnace. When we get up in the morning (usually me first), I start the percolator coffee maker on the stove top and about 1/2 hour later the coffee is done and the camper is heated up. Then when everyone is up, making breakfast usually requires us to open the windows to cool down the camper! (of course, keep in mind making sure the camper is ventilated with vents and/or windows cracked open)

Sleep with warm quilts and/or sleeping bags for comfort.

Or... have a quiet Honda or similar generator, and run it during the day to recharge the batteries.

You may very well find that with careful use, your battery power will be fine for a weekend.

Well being from IL and RV`ing for the last 13 years, I can tell you, you may need the furnace or you may need the A/C! you can run the furnace just make sure you have a good battery installed and keep it charged. you can recharge it from your truck.

However you may want to reconsider your campground choice! I haven`t stayed there but I know people that have! Also, check out the reviews! Bad reviews of Pine View campground!. plenty of other options for the area!

So much depends on what you require for your comfort. At night even when getting up to potty, the DW and I find 40 degrees or more just fine.

We sleep snug under our quilts and covers.

How warm a nest do you need?

If you only need to warm the camper up in the mornings then the Buddy Heater suggestion is a good one. That way you don not use the furnace at all.

But, if you have a lot of Phantom Loads and run the lights a lot a single battery still may not make the whole weekend.

There is a lot to learn about this sort of thing and we do not have all of the information we need.

It kinda depends on you as a individual too. If you only want to do it this one time and never plan to do it again you might try bringing along a second battery and some jumper cables in the back of your tow vehicle. Set the second battery on the ground when you get to the park and then use the jumpers to hook it up to your camper battery and it will give you more hours.

It's messy looking but, I have done it in the past. (But, I'm a Caveman and I do stuff like this )

Make sure both battery's are really fully charged before you leave home.

After awhile I decided to just get 2- 6 volt Deep Cycle golf cart batteries. I also changed all my light bulbs to LED's because they use so little power. I also shut off some of my phantom loads. Now I can do a weekend easy. Including running the furnace in the mornings.

This one???

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/illinois/amboy

Wouldn't be my first choice!!!

It won't last the whole weekend. I just spent a night in a Walmart parking lot and it got down into the low 40's. My battery was almost dead after all night use, and it was full charge to start out. Furnace ran about once an hour, maybe a little less, and it was set on 60. My stat only goes down to 55. I guess we should have snuggled up a bit closer and set the stat at 55 for all the good it would have done. You might want to look into a solar charger.

rockhillmanor wrote:
For those that don't live in the Illinois Midwest area....
May is VERY unpredictable in Illinois, been there done that. :B

The month of May is not an end all be all for what is called Spring in Illinois. Actually very 'few' Memorial Day weekends have weather that is ever a pleasure to be camping.

Illinois isn't any more of an exception that here in S Ontario where the weather on average is quite similar and yes, it's been an unusually cool spring here with varying days of quite nice weather to really cold and damp. So what, a short burst from the furnace and the camper's interior temp will be quite pleasant with no need to run that furnace endlessly. Yes, also been there, done that many times myself. :R

For those that don't live in the Illinois Midwest area....
May is VERY unpredictable in Illinois, been there done that. :B

The month of May is not an end all be all for what is called Spring in Illinois. Actually very 'few' Memorial Day weekends have weather that is ever a pleasure to be camping.

That said. The batteries will go dead before sunrise and the furnace in a TT is a HOG on propane. Do you have one or two tanks on your TT??

Many RV'ers do use the MR. Buddy Heaters, propane heaters designed/rated to be safely used indoors.

This small one is ok but I worry about the tip over factor from the small base. Used with caution away from kids and pets it should work for you.


This is the most popular model for RV's

Found at any big box camping store. Gander Mountain, Dicks, Bass Pro etc and Tractor Supply.
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=715121&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FproductId%3D745033%26type%3Dproduct
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Mr-Heater-Portable-Big-Buddy-Heater/745033.uts

They both run off those small propane bottles used for camping stoves. IMHO I would still always leave a window open when using it inside an RV.

Good Luck. Happy Camping! And here's hoping for a good weather Memorial Day weekend for you! :C

rbpru wrote:
The biggest issue is the phantom circuits that run the frig, detectors, TV booster and etc. I have measured over 1/2 amp of these sneak currents depending on which device was turned on.

It really helps to install a kill switch in any of these circuits other than the propane/CO detector and make sure the fridge climate control circuit is turned off. If the fridge doesn't have a switch to turn this off it's easy to install your own, the object being to eliminate all unnecessary draw down on the battery when dry camping.