Batteries and Electricity (Newcomer Question about basic power)

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May2015

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Say a family of four was living in a fifth wheel. The husband likes to watch tv, and needs the AC running in hot weather. We are driving from Mississippi to Colorado. I understand we can stay at Wal-Mart for one night, so how many nights do you think it would take before we needed to stay at a place with electric hookups? We will have two small children, so not looking to drive 14 hours in only two days. Will probably need to break the trip up over a few days at least. I don't have an rv yet and not looking to take this trip for another year or two, but I am still learning about rv electricity, batteries, and generators. To save electricity, I know it is beneficial to use flashlights, rechargeable batteries, and lanterns. Are there any other ways to save power? Also, how often would we need to go to the dump station? That's a lot of questions, but I don't have the funds to invest in an rv handbook and I'm waiting on some books from a library. Thank you in advance for your advice! :)
 
How long you can go between campgrounds will be more dependent on your holding tank sizes and water conservation.  With a generator to recharge your house batteries, power is not a consideration.  With 2 children and 2 adults, I would guess 2 to 3 days is going to be your limit.  Of course, you can find dump stations and fresh water in many places so don't need a camp site with full hookups but it's nice to stop every few days and just relax in a campground.
 
If you dont have a generator, you wont be turning on the a/c at all without an electrical hook up. T.v. you might be able to watch for a while off house batteries. Do you have  the trailer or are you planning to buy one. Most trailers dont seem to come with generators, so youT will likely need to buy one of those as well. There is a wealth of knowledge in the forum, so dont be afraid to ask as many questions as you like. The more details you can give, the more people will be able to help you. Good luck
 
Welcome to the group!!

It will depend on your particular RV. Most class A's and many class C's have generators equipped so battery charging is not a problem for boondocking (camping with no hook-ups) or running an AC. On the other hand, most trailers (either bumper pulls or 5th wheels) do not have that facility so your time between charging batteries is necessarily limited. For TV, most are equipped with a small 600-800watt inverter that permits the TV to operated from the house batteries or 12V DC operated TV's can also found in some units. Of course, with trailers, AC is out of the question unless you have a generator big enough to handle the needs or have hookups. 

On the question of dumping, tank sizes come into the question but places like Flying J etc. sometimes have a dump facility available for a fee. Highway rest stops can help in that regard  as many are equipped with restroom facilities that can be used while traveling instead of the trailer facilities.

One of the better books out there is Bob Livingston's RV repair and Maintenance Manual by Trailer Life and available, cheaply enough, on the internet. If you cannot afford that or a similar book then I think you will have a hard time justifying a 5th wheel trailer and a truck adequate enough to handle it when the time comes. Remember, not any truck will do, but you will need a big enough unit to safely handle the trailer you are considering.
 
Thank you, that helps me get an idea about what we will need. We don't have a trailer yet. Just trying to get an idea about budgeting and trying to figure out if we can do this with savings and only a VA disability check coming in. 
 
In your budgeting, don't plan on saving anything by staying at Wal-mart if the weather is hot enough to need air conditioning.

Generators use about 1/2 to 3/4 gallons an hour.  At $4 per gallon for fuel, that means it costs $2-3 an hour just to run a generator.

If you stop for 10-12 hours and have to run the A/C to be comfortable, you might as well pay for a full hookup site.
 
If you are really concerned about running an A/C in hot weather, then one of your primary questions about ANY RV will be whether it has a generator.  As mentioned, many trailers do not come equipped with a generator and many of the portable types will not be suitable for running an A/C.  Lou made a valid point about the cost of running a generator at Wal Mart vs. going to a campground.  Campgrounds have quite a price range with some being very expensive, some being very inexpensive, and most somewhere in between.  A copy of the Trailer Life Campground Directory will give you a better idea of how much campgrounds cost.  It's arranged by state and includes both private and public campgrounds.  Each entry provides the amenities provided, site sizes, type of roads (dirt, gravel, etc.), and the like.  By, the way, I strongly suspect that most of us find a campground when it's really hot outside.  In a trailer you won't be running the generator while driving so the interior of the trailer will be pretty warm at the end of the day.  With a motorhome we can run the generator and A/C while driving down the road so that keeps the temperature reasonable during the day which in turn makes it easier to cool the walls and contents after driving all day in the heat.

I would suggest you start a criteria list with three columns.  One column will be "must have" features (such as a generator), one will be "don't need" features, and the middle one will be features that you can live with or without.  Your list will grow and change (use pencil!) as you look inside various RVs.  For example, some RV bathrooms have an enclosed toilet while others have it out in the middle of the bathroom.  You might not care one way or the other so that would go into the middle column.  But, with young children, you might want at least a minimal bathtub (not generally available in RVs but a shower can be used to "hose off" a sick kid).  Think about how you believe you'll live on the road and what you'll need or not need and that will lead you to your various criteria.

ArdraF
 
Wow I really appreciate all of the advice. After driving around with the kids today, and especially after reading your comments, I'm definitely considering the motorhome over the fifth wheel. It will also be better for us just to keep an eye on the weather- staying north in the summer and south in the winter.
 
I'm one of the odd ducks in the family here...

First off I live in Idaho and kind of live off the grid. (Solar and Hydro powered sticks & bricks). So there is no TV here, we do have city power, phone and DSL internet. But when I pack up the RV I typically get in it to leave behind all the requirements of home and live very simple. So all I need is a place to sleep and food and water. Those are my basics. Now I do have a TV in the RV, I can bring along my laptop, I've got my cell phone, even a DVD player. So now I could living better in the RV than I do at home. I've actually manage to live for 24 hours on 2 deep cycle batteries and 400w inverter for most thing. Once again now my TV for the inverter is a tiny 6" black and white (very little power usage). My laptop and cell phone can be recharged from the inverter as well. DVD player draws very little as well with the TV (less than 100w). So I still get to have some special luxuries but down scaled for my limited power. 90% of the time I'm dry camping without hookup so I'm very used to being without power, water or sewer hook ups.

Now throwing in the kid factor might add some curve to your planing. You might do a few test runs at home without hook ups and se how long you can make things last. Sometimes you got to down scale a bill to make small amount of battery power last longer.
 
Sounds like you have plenty of time to research and think this thru. Maybe others who travel with kids will stop by and share their experience too.
By all means, check out topics on all subjects here on the forums....there's a wealth of great info at your fingertips. Join the conversation with a related question if you don't 'get it'. Make notes and use your camera when you look at a rig.

If motorhome is your choice, how about a toad (car in tow)??
Not ALL Walmarts have overnight camping due to local laws. You can't 'just park anywhere' anymore.

Don't let this stuff discourage you from realizing your dreams.
We went fulltime last year and are very happy. We live simply and save a buck whenever we can. The big rigs sure are nice, but ours is fine for us 2 and a mini dog.

Hope to see ya on the road one day.
 
If you are going to be doing a lot of driving and one night stands it would pay you to join Passport America. It is a club for $44 a year and you save 50% on selected campgrounds.

https://www.passportamerica.com/

I joined last month just prior to a trip across the US. I stayed at 4 campgrounds along the way that cost me $10, $10, $13 and $17.50 for a total of $50.50. That paid for my one year membership. I will be returning next month and I expect to save even more.

I personally feel a class A is a much better living situation for anyone who is full timing. Have you read my article on Full Timing 101?

http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=435:fulltimeprep&catid=29:fulltiming&Itemid=45
 
There are Passport America campgrounds in Canada.  Just check the PA website.
 
How many nights before you need to plug in (Shortened a bit)?  Well, depends a bit on the weather but 1-2 tops.

Suggestion is a portable generator.. Costco has some very nice prices on assorted INVERTER generators just now.. Low enough that if they do not go up by fall I may snag one,  EVEN though this motor home has a very nice ONAN already.

Why the portable.. Well a small inverter generator can power my battery charger for roughly one FULL charge per tank (less than a gallon) of gas.. That is several gallons on the ONAN.  And they have other uses as well.

NOTE that television watching will reduce the time you can spend without power.

But a small INVERTER type generator can keep things charged no problem.  I used to carry a small generator but alas... It grew legs.
 
muskoka guy said:
do they have a Canadian equivelant to the passport america. We are going from Ontario to NFLD in July. thanks
They sure do, it is called Passport America. There are campgrounds in Canada and Mexico.
 
Thank you so much for the information about Passport America. I definitely will be using it when we begin our journey. It looks like even if we stayed at a hook-up site every night, we will spend around the same amount of money as we do on our apartment right now (using Passport America). This is really helpful. If I can buy an rv in cash, then our budget will be pretty much the same as it is now. Maybe we really can do this! :)
 

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