All Electric House Batteries

[bmdwelle]

I am looking at the 2014 Winnebago Tour, all electric, motorhome. The one concern I have is that it has only 4 house batteries. Two are dedicated to the residential refrigerator. The other 2 batteries would service the rest of the motorhome. Most all electric motorhomes we have seen have from 6-8 house batteries. Should I be concerned that Winnebago only has 4?

[jesilvas]

It depends on how much dry camping you'll be doing?

[Southpark]

There are six volt battery set ups and there are twelve volt. And there are different sizes with different amp hours. Make sure you're doing an apples to apples comparison and not just counting batteries.

[D Lindy]

Something sounds odd about this, is that what a salesman told you? Our Journey with the residential fridge has 6 batteries for the whole house with none DEDICATED to the fridge, they just upped the inverter from 2000 to a 2800 watt unit. According the Winnebago's web site your Tour should have the same set-up as mine.

[JMonroe]

What D Lindy said sounds more like it.

Some coaches may have two inverters, one dedicated to the fridge, but I don't know of any with batteries dedicated to the fridge.

[Tony Lee]

Good design would dictate separate system for critical components and that would mean a system for the fridge alone.
However in the real world - Given that an all electric MH isn't really likely to be comfortable being away from shore power for more than a day - and there is an autostart generator on board anyway if charging from the alternator when driving isn't enough - I guess enough battery storage to keep the fridge going while you are stopped for lunch or shopping is all you really need.

[TQ60]

Is it at a dealer?

Ask them to show you sll of the data sheets and provide good information.

Ask specific questions such as how will it operate in the field without shore power for days at a time or how long it will operate without the genny running.

They should be able to show you what the design is for including run times for various uses.

In new and original there should be a spec sheet including lots of data.

Our 1989 cc has a page in the manual indicating how many minutes of inverter tome for a good list of general items so you should be able to get same today.

Make the sales guy earn their money!

You can share what you learn here for some bs checking as sometimes the folls selling may be stretching facts some.

[nothermark]

With a claim like that the first thing I would do is look at the batteries. If they are all wired together check his eye color. Then start asking questions...;-)

If you plan on dry camping much I really wonder about using an electric only fridge. It would seem it's like diesel vs gas, there are conditions where either one can be the better choice. In the case of the fridge if one dry camps much the cost of generator fuel, batteries and a solar array might easily outweigh the initial savings.

[JMonroe]

You do need to get the facts of the Winnebago all electric option figured out, but I'll bet any adult beverage you prefer that your salesrep is wrong.

All electric was not standard on our coach when we ordered it back in 2010, there was a $1,000 "upcharge" for choosing that option. The comparison to the "gas vs diesel" debate has some merit, each may have some advantages over the other.

I'll admit we do not often "boondock", but we have, both at rallies and in the yards or driveways of friends or relatives. If not using the A/C (any coach will require you to crank up the genny to run the A/C) we will have to run our gen set 2 to 4 hours per day, depending on how much the TV is on (a big power hog), or if we want to use the electric cook top. If we forgo the use of either of these I'd estimate we could cut that generator use in half, possibly to one third.

If we were the type to spend weeks, or even months, off the grid, a cooktop and fridge that could use LP might make sense. For our use - I do not miss having to find a place that will accommodate the motorhome to top off the LP, which usually ran out at the most inconvenient time, plus I picked up an additional storage bay (where the LP tank would normally be located).

This past winter, even here in Florida, was much colder that normal. You could tell which rigs used LP, they were scrambling to find a refill every week, two at the most, during the peak need for heat (or tying to keep the RV toasty with the use of multiple small electric heaters). When they ran out they also lost the ability to do any cooking, other than in their microwaves or toaster. Our AquaHot boiler system, combined with the availability of 50 amp electric, could have sustained us all winter without ever having to find any kind of fuel refill.

Again, each has it's pros and cons. You need to be realistic and honest with yourself, how will you be using the rig.

[bmdwelle]

We won't be doing too much. Our 5th wheel get's us by for a week of dry camping with the generator running a couple hours each night. I'm sure the same holds true when we move up to a motorhome.

[bmdwelle]

Yes, directly from the mouth of our salesperson. I'll make sure I get all the facts before we purchase. Thanks.

[bmdwelle]

Thanks much. We be sure to get all the facts before purchasing our first motorhome.

[tderonne]

Battery Installation 2014 Tour 42GD

The diagram above, from the Winnebago website, shows six batteries, all wired together. Like the poster above mentions.

Did your salesman also say it's his favorite floorplan? In his favorite colors? Perfect coach for you? And so on...

(Of course, Winnebago does change things now and again, but that's rare.)

[GKW]

What is the Amp Hour rating of the house batteries? We have a 2012 Itasca 42QD that has a 400AH rating for the house batteries. Running the refrigerator while dry camping only requires firing up the generator once every couple days for less than an hour.The newer residential refrigerators are very efficient. The small solar panel helps some also.