HELP! Needed to know this yesterday

Can I ask what park?

OTOH.....the RV campground at this state park - probably the smallest SP in
TN is very wooded, only 25 sites spread nice distances, there are plenty of trees between sites so you hardly know there is anyone else. Really, we have been THE only ones in the RV campground on several occasions....kind of a strange feeling. It was the first place we camped with our ROO back in '06 and it has a feeling of home away from home. You can literally feel the stress leave your body when you turn into the entrance. The primitive is gorgeous, but it's also the boat launch area so you have a large parking area and at certain seasons it's FULL. This occasion is very different than a regular weekend camping trip, so we're good with it, but gotta love our W/E.

dadmomh wrote:
The primitive campground is in a gorgeous cove off the TN river with woods all the way around. It's really awesome.

And therein lies the reason many of us go on batteries. Get me out of the FHU parking lot and into some scenic camping. You might find that it's not really that bad to camp on battery and even start doing it more. :)

The Golf Cart batteries sounds like a winner. DH has a connection at a battery store....these, I believe, are the same ones used in power wheelchairs. They are replaced yearly and he gets ones in perfectly good condition for his RC use, so that would be a good back up.

We intended to convert to LED in our ROO and never did, but bought a supply to have on hand the same as OEM. Our luck, we still have about 80% of the box left, so they'll do for some time. We truly never, never, never dry camp and if it were not such a unique situation this time, you'd find us up on the bluff in the RV section rather than the primitive. We've already made the stop at Dollar Tree for some decorations for Rocky - battery operated - and I know we can make it festive.

The key here is that September shot the H*** out of the budget, plus we're in the midst of installing new flooring, so Lowe's is our BFF. Right now, if it costs much above nothing it isn't going to happen. We can do this and have a fun time + help the new Ranger get some fresh things happening. The primitive campground is in a gorgeous cove off the TN river with woods all the way around. It's really awesome. But scout troops aren't known for their great RVs, so we'll be one of very few, but still have a good time. After the sad news last trip, we all need something to feel good about and maybe start a new tradition.....and maybe they'll add it to the RV campground if it's successful.

THe lights and the furnace as the two biggest power consumption devices in an RV - not much you can to so reduce power from the furnace, aside from not running it, but you can convert to LED Lights, which many of us do.

I converted to LEDs from from this vendor back in 2009. Here's my write-up

WayneAt63044 wrote:
I do have a 12V 6A charger that I power from a 400W inverter that I use from my tow vehicle power outlet (cig lighter) and top off the batteries every couple of days.

Running a battery charger through an inverter is very inefficient. Stepping the voltage up to 120 through the inverter, then converting it back to 12 volts is a net loss, aside from "robbing Peter to pay Paul"
by charging your RV batteries from the tow rig battery through an inverter then to a charger.

The addition of a programmable digital thermostat helps to conserve 12V power. The digital keeps the temperature within a degree or two of what you set, the furnace cycles more often, but runs for much shorter periods of time. Add that to being able to turn the heat down at night and you are going be able to save a fair bit of power.

I believe there is a thread on the Mods board, it's a fairly simple procedure and it is well spelled out.

Our camper is much more comfortable with the stable temps that digital gives.

Accomplished a couple of things re this today.....gen is perfectly ok up until 10:00 PM and after 7:00 AM. The site we picked is a bit out of the main line of traffic and only 2 other sites on that side of the road with a good spread between. Definitely we will be aware of the noise factor.

Re tent camping....neglected to mention that we were in our early - mid 20's then....tack on 50 years and it has a different slant. In our HTT we camped into the 20's and even with the PUGs it got a bit chilly at times, so socks and sweats are a priority. We're well supplied with blankets and really don't think we'll freeze to death....hope. BTW, with the tent, we did use the propane lantern as long as possible and it was helpful. That was in the time of the HEAVY green canvas tent. Ours was something like 12 x 16 and weighed a ton! Lots of happy memories from that time, but not gonna give up Rocky for that green monster.

The issue some missed is that this month everything that could possibly break down or go on the fritz did so which = $$$$$. UGH! Somehow I just don't see DH getting excited over another battery for his birthday when we never - except this time - camp without W/E. The budget just is not going to cooperate. He was thrilled with the portable ice maker a few months ago, but a battery.....not so much.

Weather in West TN......your guess is as good as mine. Some years it's shorts and a t-shirt, other years it's sweats and a jacket or raincoat. The way the weather is bouncing all over the place, we'll just take our chances. "They", meaning TWC, says we're in for a colder and wetter winter than usual and in West TN that = ice.

It's a bit too early to try Camp Driveway and have a good chance of being close to accurate, but we're going again in a 3 weeks and that will probably give us a better idea. Thanks for all the ideas.

AH64ID wrote:

TenOC wrote:
Even two batteries will not run the heater all night on a cold night.

Your camper must be HUGE, poor insulation batteries weak, or you keep it at 75°+..

With 2 G24's we could keep out camper at 55-60° on a 25° night and wake up with a 55-60% SOC. That's on a camper with ~230 sqft and a 4 season package. Now with 2 300A 6's we can go 2 nights in the 20's before hitting 50% SOC.

I'd say the same thing. I keep my rig nice and toasty at 65 degrees and my heater only kicks on about 2-3 times a night when it's 30-40 degrees outside. The next morning my batteries are about 75%

Wear sweats to bed instead of regular pj's. That's what we did in our Pup when we were camping near Carlsbad NM over Thanksgiving on year. We had sleet and freezing weather a couple of nights and were OK. Also wear FRESH socks to bed, not the sweaty damp ones you wore that day. You'll be fine!