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Dtbriten · 11-07-2012, 09:15 AM

Yet another question. So many.

. We are going to buy some small appliances for our new winnebago view profile. We have a diesel generator, 2 house batteries, and a 1000 watt inverter. Still trying to sort out what to use when. Took us 1/2 hour to empty our gray water cause we didn't know the house battery had to be on to work the pump!! Lol. Getting there tho. Slowly learning. So the question... Do most people have 110 or 12 volt appliances.... Ie rice cookers, slow cookers, toaster, etc? Thanks again for answering these silly questions. You've all been a great help!!

Daryl

RickO · 11-07-2012, 09:26 AM

Hi Daryl...

Not silly questions at all.

I think it'll depend largely on how you plan to "camp". We use only 120vac appliances... but we never really boondock. If you plan to boondock a lot and rely on your batteries/inverter/solar panels/etc... 12 v appliance might be a better choice but I'm sure some folks with more experience in that area will chime in soon.

Having a grey tank that needs to be pumped out is a new one on me so I'm learning something here too.

Good luck.

Rick

monkey · 11-07-2012, 09:31 AM

Shows what little I know... I thought grey/black tanks all drained by gravity....

450Donn · 11-07-2012, 10:03 AM

120 volt appliances only. Anything 12 volt that cooks or boils is going to consume vast quantities of electricity. which you do not have when boondocking. Please come back and explain why you need power to pump out your black and gray water tanks? Never heard of such a thing. Unless of course you have electric dump valves???????

lgarcia · 11-07-2012, 10:09 AM

Like RickO said, it depends on where you are and what type of RV you are using, and how long you are staying. (Or, what you might get from Santa.)

If you are at a campsite where electric is available (as in you paid for it with your site fee), go electric IMHO.

But, a 12volt slow cooker that I can wedge somewhere while we travel to have a home cooked meal ready when I arrive is mighty tempting and probably would be the first appliance I would buy. But, our TV has a DC to AC plug in the dash, so I could just cook it 110 in the cab of the truck & smell pot roast all the way to our destination. So, once again, a trade-off - how much would I really justify buying 12volt appliances instead of using what I already have?

For instance -we often go to recreational lands 2-3 days at a time that are primitive campsites with no electric, so 12volt appliances could be a nice complement to the outside propane grill/griddle and the propane stovetop & fridge in the TT.

However, we got by without 12volt appliances all summer and did toast on the grill etc. So far, I have only bought a fan/light combo for nightime that recharges on 12volt. Everything else we did electric - mostly the microwave - with brief generator usage

It might be good to test camp in your yard for a weekend with just your battery power to see when you might say "gee, I wish I had that in a 12 volt."

RickO · 11-07-2012, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450Donn

120 volt appliances only. Anything 12 volt that cooks or boils is going to consume vast quantities of electricity. which you do not have when boondocking.

Question Don:

Are you saying that use of 120v appliances via the inverter while boondocking
is a better choice... or that using these appliances without hookups/gennie running is just not going to work?

Rick

RickO · 11-07-2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgarcia

But, a 12volt slow cooker that I can wedge somewhere while we travel to have a home cooked meal ready when I arrive is mighty tempting and probably would be the first appliance I would buy. But, our TV has a DC to AC plug in the dash, so I could just cook it 110 in the cab of the truck & smell pot roast all the way to our destination. So, once again, a trade-off - how much would I really justify buying 12volt appliances instead of using what I already have?

When we're in "travel mode", we do this all the time, but using a 120v crock pot. We never really turn off our inverter so have AC available while driving and the engine alternator keeps the house batteries charged. The OP has a 1000 watt inverter so this should work for him too.

Gotta love that smell that begins to fill the coach come late afternoon. It's an incentive to find a park... get set up... and enjoy happy hour before dinner.

Rick

lgarcia · 11-07-2012, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

When we're in "travel mode", we do this all the time, but using a 120v crock pot. We never really turn off our inverter so have AC available while driving and the engine alternator keeps the house batteries charged. The OP has a 1000 watt inverter so this should work for him too.

Gotta love that smell that begins to fill the coach come late afternoon. It's an incentive to find a park... get set up... and enjoy happy hour before dinner.

Rick

Yes, that is why it can depend on your RV type- my little TT does not have an inverter, just the one 12volt outlet is the inside power while we travel.

WheelingIt · 11-07-2012, 10:38 AM

We boondock (camp without hookups) alot, but we only use 12V appliances for our low-usage electronics (laptops, internet connection, phone etc.). Anything "power-hungry" such as toasters, kettles, cookers etc. are not really worth buying 12V.

First of all you generally don't have that much power availible while boondocking, so using power-hungry appliances are kinda out of the equation. You will suck your batteries dry in no time.

Secondly the 12V connectors in your coach are not wired to handle large loads, so unless you wire your own 12V connections (with higher/thicker-gauge wires) you're going to be overloading those things by plugging power-hungry stuff into them. It's a fire hazard!

So, my advice is buy everything regular AC. If you need toasters/kettles/crockpots while boondocking just turn on the generator and you can run what you want. Otherwise conserve power and run everything else the "old-fashioned" way (i.e. cook/heat on propane). The only things I would buy 12V adapters for are your electronics. They don't draw alot of load and it's nice to be able to run them off the batteries without having to turn on the inverter.

lgarcia · 11-07-2012, 10:46 AM

Good explanation, WheelingIt. I like your blog, too.

WheelingIt · 11-07-2012, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

Question Don:

Are you saying that use of 120v appliances via the inverter while boondocking
is a better choice... or that using these appliances without hookups/gennie running is just not going to work?

Rick

Not directed at me, but yes I believe using those 120V AC appliances via an inverter is better than running them directly off 12V DC simply because they draw alot of current (and you risk overloading your 12V connectors). The 12V outlets in your coach are simply not wired for that much current and I think it's a fire-hazard to load them up.

Now whether or not the appliances will "work" while boondocking all depends on how much battery power you have and/or how often you want to run your generator. Kettles, cookers/toasters...anything that heats...draws a ton of current. You risk sucking your batteries dry fairly quickly. If you turn on the generator it's not a problem (you can run anything you want!), but we run 100% solar and so generally just don't use these things while we're boondocking simply because of their big power-draw. We'll sometimes run the microwave (for a few mins) off the inverter, but tend to heat & grill everything on the propane stove.

JMonroe · 11-07-2012, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkey

Shows what little I know... I thought grey/black tanks all drained by gravity....

We recently met a couple here with a newer Winnebago, I don't remember the model, but it was a gas chassis. It had a bath and 1/2, like many DPs these days, and each had it's own holding tank. They had to activate a pump to empty one of them. Seemed a bit cumbersome to me.

WheelingIt · 11-07-2012, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450Donn

Please come back and explain why you need power to pump out your black and gray water tanks? Never heard of such a thing. Unless of course you have electric dump valves???????

Again, not directed at me, but I'm "guessing" he has a sanicon or macerator in his coach. That's what we have. The sanicon needs electricity and won't run unless the house batteries are on. In our coach you can bypass it (connect directly to the tanks) and gravity-dump the old-fashioned way, but if the sanicon is connected up you need power to run it

450Donn · 11-07-2012, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

Question Don:

Are you saying that use of 120v appliances via the inverter while boondocking
is a better choice... or that using these appliances without hookups/gennie running is just not going to work?

Rick

NOPE! Using any electrical appliance while boondocking whether 12VDC or 120VAC will suck a battery bank down in a big hurry. As an example, we carry things for both. We have 120VAC appliances, espresso machine, coffee maker, electric skillet and toaster for those times we are on electricity. When we boondock out comes the stove top coffee maker. The toast is done in the oven and everything else is done on the grill outside. Running a 120VAC appliance from an inverter will consume more electricity than running the same appliance from 120VAC generator or shore power. The inverter will loose some power due to parasitic losses in the electronic system.