Thanks Darol for the ideas for cold weather battery tips. We just spent a night at -26 in our stationary 79 Sovereign and the (new) 40K furnace had to run all the time, never would have made it through the night without the Honda 2000. There are a few air leaks, mainly around the venting for the Univolt box. The Univolt wasn't working anyway and got removed a while ago, but the box was still in. After sealing the drafts my plan is to put the 2 group 24 batteries in sealed and vented boxes inside the heated area, and look for a small Toyo or similar that will draw a fraction of the 9.5 amps that the furnace uses. Of course we would need a true sine wave inverter to power a Toyo. Might even go with a non-electric LP heater. Have you heard of anyone else using an alternate heat source like this? We plan to use the trailer all winter and this seemed like a way to minimize need for battery draw. We are using the TT a few days every couple weeks and take the batteries home when we leave to keep them charged. We don't use the water system so don't have a need to keep pipes warm.
I have questions about the heat output of the furnace (85 degree air at -15 outside/+60 inside) but still have to research if that is normal.
Thank you, Rodney, Bryan, Darol and air2...for all this great information. There is much of it that I don't understand being a relative novice to this stuff, but at least I know who to ask and where to go for answers if i get stumped.
One thing that I learned that is comforting: I am not the only thing that changes as it ages...batteries do too!
Really, though, thanks for all this. We are not heavy into boon docking at this point, but it is calling, and the more I can learn the more comfortable I will feel when we go off the grid.
TB
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TB & Greg...Cockers Annie & Sadie...and Homer the Desert Tortoise
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