Why Hassle with a Camping Generator?

For camping a generator is definitely not needed; that is unless you want to keep your batteries charged and about a dozen other things when you don't have an electrical hookup. Let me explain.

Ever tried boondocking or dry camping? This is camping without hookups; no water, no sewer and no electricity actually there probably isn't even a bath house or restroom available. This type of camping can take place in many different settings, anything from National Parks, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property, or even in someone’s driveway, pasture or farmlands. Some are free while other locations may have a camping fee additionally, there are membership-based programs such as Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome which offer nationwide camping opportunities.

Managing your resources is essential in regard to water, electricity and wastewater disposal. Solar or generator power is necessary to keep the RV batteries charged and this is where a good generator really pays off. If in a warm climate you may want to run fans or even an air conditioner to keep cool or a furnace or space heater in the winter.

The key to any backup or alternate power situation is understanding how much electricity you will require and when you will need it. All of your 12v or DC power needs are supplied by the RV battery so all you have to do is keep the battery charged which can be a challenge. 

Allowing your battery to sit in an uncharged state will reduce its service life. When a battery is not allowed to fully charge sulfation occurs. Sulfation will cause crystals to form on the battery plates not allowing the battery to accept a complete charge thusly the battery capacity is reduced. 

The state of battery charge is displayed in this chart. The battery must be at rest and not being used when the voltage reading is taken. As a good rule to protect your battery never discharge below 60 per cent and monitor the battery voltage closely when dry camping or camping without electrical service. 

Charging the battery once in the morning and again just before bedtime should keep everything in check, battery wise, just monitor your power consumption.

A generator rated above 3300 watts is sufficient to operate typical RV air conditioners; one AC at a time only. It will also operate a microwave oven, TV, and small kitchen appliances, just estimate your power consumption and don't exceed the generator's rating.  Some like to use 2 generators hooked together such as the Honda 2200 units. These smaller generators are lighter, coming in at around 40 pounds where the 3300 watt units start at about 95 pounds and go up from there. 

Generator noise in the campground should be minimized as a courtesy to other campers. This is why is it a must to get an Inverter Generator. These generators not only run with much less noise they also produce much "cleaner" power that is better for sensitive electronics. 

The generator shown here is a Dual Fuel Inverter Generator which can operator on either gasoline or liquid propane (LP). This is the generator I have and recommend for may reasons. It is not the cheapest generator out there but one of the best. And I only use LP to fuel the generator and connect it directly to the RV's LP tanks to keep everything simple. It also prevents having to transporting extra gasoline and dealing with accidental spills and odors.

And finally, you never know when the power in the campground will go out. It has happened to me several times. This is when you can hear the muffled sounds of generators around the campground start up knowing those lucky campers still have air conditioning, heating and of course a fully charged battery.

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