Gjac wrote:
CavemanCharlie wrote:
Gjac wrote:
If you boondock 30% of the time I would stick to the el/propane refer forget the solar for now and get 2 6v GC batteries. You will have more than enough power for 3-5 days dry camping if you just camp in the NP's. If you have don't have to watch TV our play video games or use electric devices while dry camping. As a data point I dry camp only and in 7 days my 2 Sams club batteries are down to 50% SOC without solar or genset usage. .
I am just a weekend camper but, with my 2 6V GC batteries and Propane fridge I can go 4 days, easy! And have power left over. I changed all my lighting to LED's and I use the television for about 1 hour a day in the morning to watch the local news and weather. The furnace is the big power hog ! I just rarely use it. Sometimes I turn it on in the morning to take the chill off.
Since 2004 I only used the furnace maybe 6 times. In the fall I use a Buddy Heater and it uses no 12v power. I camp in the woods so solar would do little good, I have never needed to recharge with my genset in 7 days of dry camping and have never understood any of the solar or Li battery recommendations for week end campers. I understand many on here full time and others have much more electrical requirements than I do, but for people that just like to dry camp for a week without electronic devices 2 6VGC batteries are fine. I always run out of water before battery power.
most of us would never use a buddy heater in an enclosed space, not the safest thing to do. when they are working properly and you have a window cracked there ok, but as soon as somthing changes in them as they age they can throw a lot of co2.
so ya I camp a lot in the spring and fall when you need the heater, I also camp a lot in the forest and I still get enough light for the solar panels. I used to weekend camp ost of the time, and ya I still do.. in my old trailer I didnt have solar and I could go over night with the batteries that came from the rv place. as in one car type battery. so I went out and bought four 6V batteries and found in the summer I could go for over a week if I was carfull and winter I could do a long weekend, so when I got the 5th wheel I kept the same batteries and added a substantial amount of solar. now there is no limit in the summer and the same in the winter if it is sunny and depending on how cold and how much the furnace is running but generaly if its real coold I can go for a long weekend anyways. I find the older I get I do fewer but longer trips.
Steve
