Another - GENERATOR USAGE thread - my take after a trip out

[Joe & Cherie]

Originally Posted by charlsara

There is a simple answer to your problem. Just get a Buddy propane heater and run it off the small bottles that attach to the appliance. Be sure to keep a vent or window open. That is how we boondock in cool weather in our all electric Lil Snoozy.

So this is a great idea, but I thought I read somewhere where they were not safe? I can crack the window/roof vent no problem, but are there safety issues with fire or leakage with these heat buddy’s? Thanks!

[1500]

Originally Posted by Joe & Cherie

So this is a great idea, but I thought I read somewhere where they were not safe? I can crack the window/roof vent no problem, but are there safety issues with fire or leakage with these heat buddy’s? Thanks!

No more so than any other propane/gass system. A buddy heater is not an open flam. It is not CO2 you need to worry about, it is actually the loss of oxygen you have to worry about. The purpose of have ventilation is to get new oxygen into the space, and to remove moisture. These type of heaters add a lot of moisture to a space, so condensation might become an issue, even when vented.

[Joe & Cherie]

Thank you so much! I think we will look into one! Then we are just down to needing hot water but I timed it and it takes 15 minutes for the 2.5 gallon 110v to go from on to hot (when generator goes back to idle). So I guess two 15 minute noisy spurts isn’t too bad.

I just don’t want to spend any more $ on upgrades because we have done a lot to the egg already and are upside down on cost vs value I’m sure. And if we were keeping it I’d add gas, but we may move to a 5.0ta in the next 4 years or so.

Thanks again everyone!

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Joe & Cherie

Hi All,

I have read all the arguments of generator usage, noise, etc! But I wanted to give my perspective after what I would call our first real trip out needing the generator!

So we go to John Bryan State Park Ohio (lovely place!) for a 3 night stay. There are no sights with electric available, and none have full hookups. For that matter, the park only has pit toilets and NO shower house!

Well what the hell, lets give generator usage a shot! Our camper is ALL ELECTRIC. Ok, so as our trip gets closer we monitor the weather, and the forecast held true - Friday and Saturday night is was getting down to 35*F

So anyway as we pull in, we find our site to be not private at all. There are peeps on all 4 sides of us. A lot of those peeps were tent camping!

Anyway, as I fire up the "quiet Honda e2000", I find it purrs along fine. Its very quiet. BUT - as soon as I turn on anything with any amp draw (microwave, HEATER, water heater) it revs up SO LOUD!. It is what I will consider rude to other campers at this point, and can be heard many sites away. I dont care what they say about the quite Hondas, they are NOT QUIET when reved up, period!

So we end up running the gen for 1 hour each morning, waiting till 9:30, and just using it to get a little HEAT in the camper (it was low 40's in the egg - we froze to death 2 nights in a row!), heat up water for showers, and a quick bowl of oatmeal in the microwave. I felt bad that whole hour - but everybody seemed to take it in stride as I am sure they were cursing under their breath.

SO - heres my "opinion" on generator usage. Running a quite Honda to recharge a battery, that's probably fine if you have a half way remote campsite because it will not be heard much if at all. Running almost wide open to get ELECTRIC water heater, heater, or microwave that require full on power now - ITS NOISY AND RUDE, unless you are so far away from others.

Thats my take from an ALL ELECTRIC camper owner who was all excited to use our quiet generator. From now on, we will ONLY use the generator for summer boon-docking to charge the batteries (it really is quiet at low rpm eco mode), or if we are so far out there we are field camping or such. But if we need heat, we MUST have an electric campsite.

It was a great test! We still love our EggCamper and since we are not retired, we are only talking 1-2 weekends in October where it is an issue - so we will just make sure we have electric sites during October - then we are good to go! The next RV will have gas heat and water heater - then I will run SOLAR and use the genny as backup just to charge the batteries ONLY!

Thanks for posting this.
Your experiences are about what my observations have been. Even the quietest generator is noisy.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Another observation It appears that more and more National Parks and campgrounds are limiting more and more generator usage. Many places I've been have a generator free area even some limit the usage to 4 hours a day in 2 two hour segments.

[Glenn Baglo]

You can have the world's quietest generator, but if your neighbour sees it, they will glare at you for the rest of your stay. It's not necessary for said neighbour to hear anything.

[Tony D]

I think it is wrong to expect quiet during the heart of the day at a campground. Everyone pays their $20-$30 for a patch of grass and a few trees. We should respect each other and follow the rules. That means we should let people use their gear. In order not to be a jerk, I think that I need to operate my generator in a manner mindful of those around me. I shouldn't subject my neighbor to effects I'm not willing to endure myself. I also shouldn't run it just because I can, there really should be a purpose. (I can replace generator in the previous sentence with many other things we use/have at campgrounds e.g. radios, toys, cars, TVs, lights, campfires, tools, dogs) It seems many people think I'm a jerk for using a generator at my campsite.

Being in great outdoors is the goal, but to get really close to nature during my camping trips I need to leave my campsite. It has always been that way even before I got the fiberglass trailer. The trailer actually takes me further away from nature than the tent, but it allows me to still get out there. For that I'm thankful, even if it is in a more complex way than I have done in the past. At least I have a more pure camping style than that jerk in the Class A parked next to me.

[Raspy]

Originally Posted by Joe & Cherie

we have done a lot to the egg already and are upside down on cost vs value I’m sure.

There are a few things I will never keep track of, and one of those is whether I am "upside down" on the cost of camping. The value of camping does not come from making sure the investment always has a positive monetary return. Its the emotional, restorative value, the connecting with nature and the family, that are the real values. As soon as it becomes an evaluation of whether one will get his money back, the value is lost.

Just as once someone decides that they can run their generator because it is their right, or because it is within the designated hours, they have decided that nobody else counts.

Deciding that nobody else counts, or that money rules over camping satisfaction, is a sad commentary or our world. It also means camping in a place with such values, is out of the question for me.

[steve dunham]

The problem does not lie with the generator , it is an inanimate object that until it is acted upon is not capable of doing anything but sit there .
The problem lies with the generators owner or operator .
I don’t know why and I guess I don’t care why ,generator enthusiasts seem to think it is their God given right under the Constitution to operate their generator where and as they see fit and the rest of us can just go to hell .
Read the Casita Forum sometime and see how prevalent this attitude actually is
“ HOORAY FOR ME AND F__K YOU “

[redbarron55]

During our trip to the great SouthWest we just returned from We used out dual fuel inverter generator exactly once for a few hours in the Big Sur state park campground.
We have an "almost all " electric with a tankless water heater.
We ran the generator one evening to cook supper with our Instapot and microwave.
Of course we could have used the propane grill we packed, but then we would have had to clean it...
we "could have run it until 8 pm, but we just ran it for as long as we needed the power for the cooking.
At the same time the charger added to the charge of the batteries as in the redwood forest the shade pretty much took the solar panels out of the picture.
We enjoyed the Big Sur park and the beach along with the CA-1 views, but the pollen was too much for my allergies so we only stayed a short while.
We generally stay at full hookup sites, but this time we stayed a many without full hookup with no sewer connections.
The worst we stayed at was in San Marcos at San Marcos RV where they had no toilet paper in the dirty bathhouses and water running out from under the door. It was also the most expensive at $50.00 a night in CASH. Poorly laid out and the hooks ups all needed extensions to use.
The best was at Yank's near Monterrey and was beautiful and one of the cheapest as well.

[Tony D]

I would like to read your answers to the following simple question. Is it acceptable for a camper to run his or her generator for up to 4 hours between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM? My answer is yes.

[redbarron55]

Yes, if it is posted in the rules.
You might not like it, but yes

[Glenn Baglo]

You can make all the noise you like, but you're on the wrong end of the stick when it comes to trends.

[Adirondack Anthony]

Originally Posted by Tony D

I would like to read your answers to the following simple question. Is it acceptable for a camper to run his or her generator for up to 4 hours between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM? My answer is yes.

It may be allowable, depending on the campground rules. Acceptable is in the eye of the beholder. Your point is well taken and it seems that camping has been taken over by those that agree with you, you are winning out. In my mind, it is unfortunate that campgrounds are ruled by the generator crowd and those that bring 2/3/4 dogs (oh, aren't they cute). Just so you know, you are bothering a lot of people by running a generator for 4 hours. If you don't care, then really thats the point, isn't it? There are people that don't care about others, you choose for yourself which camp you belong in. Just because you can does not mean that you should.

[David B.]

Originally Posted by garthom

Where did you purchase your Propex heater? Did you install it yourself?

I purchased the heater on-line over 5 years ago. If you go this route, make sure you order the adaptor for the gas intake to change from a European to NPT thread (less than $2.00). I did install the propane lines, stove top, and furnace myself. I purchased a gas “sniffer” and did the bubble solution check on all connections, and installed a propane gas detector.
Happy Camping
Dave & Paula

[Percy]

Moderator note: this post was moved from the "Elegance of Behavior" thread into this topic, because it fits better here (and this thread may well have been the OP's intended target).

Originally Posted by Pete Dumbleton

Keep on keeping us all in check, because that keeps us spreading the RV knowledge without it becoming personal. This is a good community.

There are plenty of other forums where we can get nasty if we feel a need to do that (Like the Usenet forum rec.outdoors.rv-travel, where threads longer than about ten posts deteriorate into the same folks calling each other the same rude names and the vast majority of posts are Off Topic).

Generators present their own special problem. Namely, noise that intrudes upon the experience of others who are seeking peace and quiet. I have had camping trips ruined by their racket.

I really can't think of any other issue that causes so much conflict, or prompts such angry discourse. But it does so for a justifiable reason.

One suggestion would be for folks who need electricity for medical or other reasons to utilize campgrounds with hook-ups. We use them anyway, so we can avoid listening to generators.

[Raspy]

I tried to charge my batteries at Yellowstone by connecting jumper cables from the truck to the batteries, as I usually do. Within minutes the "charging police" came by and informed me that I was not allowed to do that. Generators were fine, but no idling trucks.

This kind of left me in a situation as I had waited until the batteries were down to 50% and I needed to run the heater a bit that night. The truck was definitely quieter than a generator.

My new HQ has solar, and it has an Anderson plug at the tongue with heavy gauge wires running to the batteries. So I can charge in stealth mode by plugging in and not using jumper cables. But the generator stays home.

[k corbin]

build a quiet box for your generator. Sometimes thinking outside of the box means putting something into a box

[TZBrown]

Originally Posted by Joe & Cherie

Thank you so much! I think we will look into one! Then we are just down to needing hot water but I timed it and it takes 15 minutes for the 2.5 gallon 110v to go from on to hot (when generator goes back to idle). So I guess two 15 minute noisy spurts isn’t too bad.

I just don’t want to spend any more $ on upgrades because we have done a lot to the egg already and are upside down on cost vs value I’m sure. And if we were keeping it I’d add gas, but we may move to a 5.0ta in the next 4 years or so.

Thanks again everyone!

Here is an option for your hot water and anything else you may want to cook
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/1-b...UaAk3UEALw_wcB

And an option for water, if you did not already have a pan. One fill will do a whole dishpan wash and rinse, or a complete basin bath wash and rinse, by the time you add cool water to the hot there is more than enough.
https://www.rei.com/product/128858/g...4aAtRMEALw_wcB

And you can use either in your next unit

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by garthom

Where did you purchase your Propex heater? Did you install it yourself?

I looked into the ProPex some time ago and decided it was the best option if I could figure out how to make it work on my camper. I could not figure out how to make it work on my camper (to my satisfaction). YMMV so it is worth giving it some thought, and reading the install manual.

See:
Westy Ventures / Propex heaters
https://www.propexheatsource.com/