Post by: HuntandFish on January 12, 2022, 07:00:36 PM
Being that it is a park model, it has a house fridge, full size microwave, electric fireplace, TV (x3), well pump, on demand water heater (propane) and furnace (propane) along with all the led lights, etc.
Ideally I want to be able to buy 5-10 deep cycle batteries and an inverter, and hopefully run the generator for a few hours every couple days?
I would love input on how to do this, or comments from those that have? Number of batteries, hook up a couple solar panels to trickle charge? Probably don’t need a huge generator to charge the batteries?
Solar I don’t think will work great as we are in NW Montana…
Thanks all!
H&F
Post by: Zardoz on January 12, 2022, 07:15:36 PM
If you have the dollars available, hire a LOCAL (experienced, 5+ years in business) Solar company to work it out for you. You trade dollars for headaches..
Post by: lewy on January 12, 2022, 07:37:25 PM
Post by: Iveexcaped3 on January 12, 2022, 07:51:22 PM
As far as transformers go I call BS. Go cut down a power pole and see how fast one comes available :chuckle:
Zardoz hit it on the head though call a local company to spec out what you need and maybe talking to them about just specing out the house so you don’t even have to deal with the power company again
Post by: NRA4LIFE on January 12, 2022, 07:55:49 PM
However, just my novice opinion here. If you need to buy 10 quality Deep Cycles, all the connecting hardware and wiring and inverter, you'll be in for $2K or very close. What type of generator do you have? I can run my 2400W Yamaha 24/7 for probably $10-$12 a day. 6 months puts you at $2K or very close. You could run everything on that generator (not all at the same time obviously).
Solar, I don't know squat.
Post by: HuntandFish on January 12, 2022, 08:10:14 PM
H&F where about? we were looking at kalispell but unsure due to home school curriculum. Lived in Thompson falls for a year.Our property is in west valley off Farm to Market, backed up to forest service on one side and state land on the other. Just West of Whitefish in the county.
As far as transformers go I call BS. Go cut down a power pole and see how fast one comes available :chuckle:
Zardoz hit it on the head though call a local company to spec out what you need and maybe talking to them about just specing out the house so you don’t even have to deal with the power company again
My wife homeschools our kidS…
H&F
Post by: HuntandFish on January 12, 2022, 08:13:58 PM
Me neither. They could get one if they were out of them. That seems almost ridiculous to me.
However, just my novice opinion here. If you need to buy 10 quality Deep Cycles, all the connecting hardware and wiring and inverter, you'll be in for $2K or very close. What type of generator do you have? I can run my 2400W Yamaha 24/7 for probably $10-$12 a day. 6 months puts you at $2K or very close. You could run everything on that generator (not all at the same time obviously).
Ya I am having a hard time believing it myself…I build homes for a living and have two other houses they are telling me I have to wait to get lite up because they have no transformers…neighboring power companies yard is full of them…not sure what’s going on, but not good!
And yes this was the type of input I am looking for. Maybe a few batteries that charge during the day, run the generator most of the day for normal use stuff, than let the batteries run the furnace all night and kill the fridge at night? Kinda a pain for a few months….
I am hopefully talking to the operations manager tomorrow and get to the bottom of this! Gotta keep the wife happy…
H&F
Solar, I don't know squat.
Post by: Iveexcaped3 on January 13, 2022, 06:22:03 AM
H&F where about? we were looking at kalispell but unsure due to home school curriculum. Lived in Thompson falls for a year.Our property is in west valley off Farm to Market, backed up to forest service on one side and state land on the other. Just West of Whitefish in the county.
As far as transformers go I call BS. Go cut down a power pole and see how fast one comes available :chuckle:
Zardoz hit it on the head though call a local company to spec out what you need and maybe talking to them about just specing out the house so you don’t even have to deal with the power company again
My wife homeschools our kidS…
H&F
I looked around whitefish, but figured there’s more clientele in kalispell. Remodel contractor tough to buy over there right now though. We might end up in Idaho due to the requirements for homeschooling. MT vs ID Idaho has more relaxed requirements, the way WA is going we need to get out quickly.
Post by: CP on January 13, 2022, 07:55:09 AM
Calculate how much power you need, the maximum to run everything that will be on at the same time. The inverter that you pick will have to handle that power load.
Calculate the energy that you will need over a given time period between charging. That will size your battery needs.
Your generator has to be at least powerful enough to run the battery charger. I wouldn’t bother with solar.
There are lot of products out there that will handle your needs. For example:
https://www.bluettipower.com/products/ac200max-power-station
Post by: Iveexcaped3 on January 13, 2022, 07:59:31 AM
Post by: MR5x5 on January 13, 2022, 08:07:47 AM
Post by: andersonjk4 on January 13, 2022, 10:01:36 AM
Getting a pair of generators with a paralleling kit is likely the quickest and easiest solution and would offer some redundancy. The generators would also likely have pretty good re-sale value in a few months when you get power, or keep to use as back-up power.
Post by: lee on January 13, 2022, 10:11:25 AM
My only input ... Which is a little off topic but still important is.... Which ever route you take, don't try and recharge a battery bank while 2 charge sources are connected.
Meaning, say you have a solar system set up and operational and then decide to charge the batteries with a generator using either a stand alone charger or the on board charger in the RV..... when you apply power to either of these, they will see the charge from the solar system's voltage and incorrectly think the batteries are charged and go into float mode this not charging the batteries. Disconnect the solar before charging with onboard or external charger with generator.
Post by: NRA4LIFE on January 13, 2022, 10:13:37 AM
Post by: baldopepper on January 13, 2022, 11:15:18 AM
Post by: dyhardhuntr on January 13, 2022, 11:26:36 AM
Friend in the business tells me transformers are in fact very hard to come by right now. Those nasty storms back east. Have caused a shortage in all all types of electrical supplies he tells me. Power companies all over are being very stingy with their inventories for fear they might get hit with the same type of huge damages that have happened back east. Don't know if that's true or not, but seems like it could be after seeing the aftermath of some of those disasters on the news.This is very true. For those of you not in the business of suppling power you obviously don’t know the struggles they are going through to get supplies. Baldopepper has it right. The inventory they currently have is being used for emergencies that pop up and or customers that currently have power. New construction is being seen as not an emergency. Just like most every other supply line it is what it is. You can’t make it go faster no matter how hard they try. A couple years ago I could walk across our yard and see 100 transformers ready. Now it’s like 15. I assume the transformer you will get is a ground mounted one not a pole mounted one. What we have been doing is sending guys out to find the “unused “ transformers to see if they are usable and repurposing them. It puts utilities in a bad spot. They aren’t holding things back to be d!?$&.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Norman89 on January 13, 2022, 11:33:42 AM
Post by: Russ McDonald on January 13, 2022, 02:14:55 PM
Hi,He is correct. I would look up on YouTube how to hook up solar with inverter to a trailer. I have looked into it and you will have to have a transfer switch between the generator and solar for your batteries plus a converter which is what charges the batteries in a trailer. Really need to calculate the load of everything you will be running. Like some have said a good company that does solar would be great but if your looking to save money look on YouTube.
My only input ... Which is a little off topic but still important is.... Which ever route you take, don't try and recharge a battery bank while 2 charge sources are connected.
Meaning, say you have a solar system set up and operational and then decide to charge the batteries with a generator using either a stand alone charger or the on board charger in the RV..... when you apply power to either of these, they will see the charge from the solar system's voltage and incorrectly think the batteries are charged and go into float mode this not charging the batteries. Disconnect the solar before charging with onboard or external charger with generator.
Post by: fishngamereaper on January 13, 2022, 02:36:48 PM
If I where in your position I would go straight generator. Natural gas or diesel. Gen tran switch in the house and call it a day ..and hope your power company comes through sooner than later.
And the bonus is you invest in a good generator now you have quality stand by gen for your new house already to roll.
Post by: KFhunter on January 13, 2022, 02:40:33 PM
Hafta fidget with it to get peak power
I would over spec by a factor of 2
Post by: NRA4LIFE on January 13, 2022, 02:53:16 PM
Post by: Special T on January 13, 2022, 02:55:56 PM
Your in for an education getting tossed in the deep end of the pool.
Post by: Stein on January 13, 2022, 05:50:40 PM
Post by: KFhunter on January 13, 2022, 06:24:21 PM
Post by: HuntandFish on January 13, 2022, 09:32:03 PM
I will give an update in a few weeks!
H&F
Post by: KFhunter on January 13, 2022, 09:46:33 PM
I would not do dual fuel, you're going to run it too much and they aren't as efficient. I would rent a tank, 250 gallon, and run your propane furnace off that.
Another option is buy a couple 100lb tanks and use those instead of your smaller 30lb tanks
Skirt your trailer with straw or something, that'll help a lot keeping water lines from freezing. Heat tape your waterline.
If you haven't wintered in an RV before you're in for a stiff learning curve, I did it in college for a while and found it was cheaper to rent an apartment than suck all that propane and crap I was dealing with living in an RV
Maybe rent an apartment?? :chuckle: :chuckle:
Oh and heating blankets on your bed set to warm up 30-40 minutes before sleep
Post by: KFhunter on January 13, 2022, 09:47:24 PM
Post by: HuntandFish on January 15, 2022, 12:56:59 PM
You might consider two genny's, a small 2200 inverter will power a lot of your stuff and sip the gas
I would not do dual fuel, you're going to run it too much and they aren't as efficient. I would rent a tank, 250 gallon, and run your propane furnace off that.
Another option is buy a couple 100lb tanks and use those instead of your smaller 30lb tanks
Skirt your trailer with straw or something, that'll help a lot keeping water lines from freezing. Heat tape your waterline.
If you haven't wintered in an RV before you're in for a stiff learning curve, I did it in college for a while and found it was cheaper to rent an apartment than suck all that propane and crap I was dealing with living in an RV
Maybe rent an apartment?? :chuckle: :chuckle:
Oh and heating blankets on your bed set to warm up 30-40 minutes before sleep
Ha! Totally agree, have never tried to live in an RV especially not through a Montana winter…bro love it or not we are leaving a perfectly good house 15min down the road, I have tried to convince the wife this is a bad idea with 4 kids…but she doesn’t want to stay in our house as she doesn’t like it at all. Plus her and the kids want to enjoy the 33 acres full time…can’t say I am pushing back too hard…we all like to live in the woods, this town living has got us going crazy!
And yes, good idea about the two generators, I have an older 9000w that is loud and not efficient, I think I grab a quiet 3500w and use that for the everyday things and to charge 4 batteries, use the big Gen for the well pump when need to fill the tanks and try to get through each night running the fridge and heater on batteries….
I will let you know how it all is going…we are moving the trailer up there Monday and will start the moving process all next week and hopefully living full time by the following…fingers crossed they find some transformers….
H&F