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Old 11-30-2019, 05:27 AM   #1
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Boondock question

I'm about to embark on a two night trip. With temps dipping into the 40's at night can I expect my single battery to run my furnace fan all night?I have a 2106ds with an 18000 btu furnace and usually set it around 65 degrees. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
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Old 11-30-2019, 06:05 AM   #2
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Probably. You haven’t told us the age of your rig and or condition of your battery. You shouldn’t have any issues but it all depends on how well charged and the condition of your battery.
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Old 11-30-2019, 06:43 AM   #3
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I have a 2018 TT 2106ds. The battery is original and in good shape. I just had the auto parts store test it.
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Old 11-30-2019, 09:29 AM   #4
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At 65 degrees, I doubt it, especially if you've been using your interior lights, etc. Personally, I'd turn the thermostat down to 55 or so and pile on some extra blankets.
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Old 11-30-2019, 10:23 AM   #5
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The fact is... you'll have to learn over time what you can expect from your battery. No one can tell you. My motorhome has 4-100 ah batteries. I've learned what to expect from them over night when boondocking, but I have a generator to back me up. No Worries.

On 40 degree nights, we set the thermostat to 57 degrees. It's mostly a back up. If the inside of the RV gets real cold during the night I know that my heater will jump in and keep us warm. But we have a good comforter and extra blankets at the ready.

Those are usually good sleeping nights. The cold outside the covers and the weight of the extra blankets make for a good nights sleep. It's mostly just hard to get out of bed.

Expect for everything to be fine and see how it goes. But you'll sleep a lot better if you pick up an inexpensive gas generator to have on hand just in case. Just get the quiet type, not the open frame construction kind. They cost more but lots of places, even boondocking, frown on open frame generator usage.
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Old 12-08-2019, 04:07 PM   #6
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Back up

To warm things up a little and not use battery..... a medium size My Buddy heater...... make sure CO detector is good but they are made to use inside with several safety features
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Old 12-08-2019, 04:36 PM   #7
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We have a 2250DS and our furnace fan uses 7.1 amps when it's running. I just found a note that showed we used 21 amp hours on a night when the temp got down to 39° and our furnace was set to 62°.


You didn't mention what size battery you have. We use two 100 amp hour AGMs wired in parallel for 200 amp hours total of which I'll use not more than 50% or 100 amp hours. If you're running a small group 24 starting battery that only has 75 or so amp hours, you should be okay as long as you're either fully charged or nearly so.
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Old 12-08-2019, 04:42 PM   #8
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One of the most important things when boon docking is to minimize your power use. Think camping instead of RVing. Don't leave all your lights on and try using a small battery-powered lantern for ambient light. Minimize or eliminate inverter use, read instead of watch TV, etc. Turn your water pump off and only turn it on if there's not enough pressure in the system to meet your needs.

The Buddy heater recommendation is a good one but, although they are supposed to be safe, I'd use it in the daytime and evening but not while sleeping. Since they're radiant heaters, they also work well outside. I suggest getting the hose kit that allows you to hook them up to a standard size propane tank.
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Old 12-08-2019, 04:48 PM   #9
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Don't know the answer to your question but-
Compare the energy used to run the heater blower and LPG usage with the energy used by an electric blanket plus the energy loss of the inverter to determine the most efficient method for boon docking nocturnal temperature control (BTU vs BTU). It may be better to use the blanket for total energy efficiency but may exceed battery capacity in which case the optimal answer would be to increase battery capacity (more AmpHrs).
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Old 12-08-2019, 04:50 PM   #10
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Used in a tent many times
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Old 12-08-2019, 05:51 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stoney1 View Post
I'm about to embark on a two night trip. With temps dipping into the 40's at night can I expect my single battery to run my furnace fan all night?I have a 2106ds with an 18000 btu furnace and usually set it around 65 degrees. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
If you have just one battery, then I doubt it. If you had 2 batteries, then probably, but there are a lot of factors.
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Old 12-08-2019, 06:25 PM   #12
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Lots of factors - Agree!! I just returned from 3 days at 10,100' foot elevation in Colorado, night temp about 20 degrees. RV LPG heater set at 60 degrees, had sleeping bag and 2 heavy wool blankets. Put cushions in overhead vent covers and slept in the elevated cab over. Left under sink cabinet doors open, LPG hot water heater on.



I switched out the 2 12V original batteries for 2 6V to increase AmpHrs a couple of years ago. Heater ran all night no problems. Started the engine to charge the batteries in the morning and run the engine heater. Always carry a "Hot Shot" auxiliary start battery plugged in the outside TV compartment with a timer switch (60 min per day) so that it is always charged. Never know!
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Old 12-08-2019, 08:48 PM   #13
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A really good reason to buy a battery monitor system. You need to be able to discover your actual battery drain under normal usage for various appliances. See how many amp-hours it takes to drop your battery's voltage to a "standard" voltage level which translates to approximate state of charge (SOC) percentage. The rest is simple math to calculate your actual amp-hour capacity to get to no lower than 50% SOC for lead-acid or 10-20% for lithium batteries. This will keep you from permanently damaging your battery(ies).

I use a Victron BMV-712, purchased a few years ago for a little over $200. Installation was not too difficult and data from it really helped me size up usage for a solar/lithium/inverter upgrade. Well worth the money. Know where you stand and prevent becoming a victim.
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Old 12-08-2019, 10:41 PM   #14
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Here's a reasonably priced battery monitor: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-Ba...y/173058142084

One nice thing is that, aside from being easy to install, it has a remote, wireless display.
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Old 01-03-2020, 07:57 AM   #15
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Unvented Combustion heaters

Unvented Combustion heaters are great in a very well ventilated location but even there with one of the byproducts of combustion being steam or H2O the humidity creates an issue. Been camping with one of those Kerosun catalytic heaters in a tent. We even left two tiny openings one at near ground level and another at the top of the door. The temps out were below freezing, in the tent on the cot it was comfortable, till wakeup time.

In the morning, ice was everywhere on the walls, rumpled sections of tent floor not in contact with the ground, ceiling etc, the moisture had settled on all the cool things in the tent, in an RV the moisture will seek all the cold things like walls, ceilings etc and warp stuff and condense. Though even people create moisture laden air, the amount due to combustion was ungainly and overwhelming. Best solution is where combustion gasses including the water vapor are vented directly out that way the moisture gain is averted, only the people driven moisture gain remains, which can still be palpable as we have all experienced on some date nights eh. We resorted to using the Kerosun as a porch heater or campfire substitute if you will, but had to protect it from breeze for it to do its thing therefore mostly on calm days! Graduated to a hippie van and installed a small suburban RV furnace way back in the early 70s, it was the cats meow. Kerosun still came along for outdoor use, an intricate shroud and chimney of sorts was Mcguivered for it to make it as windproof as possible. If you root around on this site, there are some tiny wood stoves (vented out) if one brings in combustion air as well right into the firebox now you are talking. On the boat we have used a vented diesel stove, when its running right its awesome, but sometimes the fumes become an issue. Webasto has heaters that mount outside the vehicle passenger area but provide either hot air or hot water heat. Lots of solutions out there, pellet stove being another option.
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