All Electric or Not

[Mr.Mark]

Roadmiester, I had a '08 Monaco Dynasty Diamond IV, 42 ft., kept it 7.5 yrs. and almost 70,000 miles. Loved that coach! All electric.

Safe travels.
Mark

[Unplanned Tourist]

Of course this is one of those debates that could go on forever.

It completely depends on the style of RVing you do.

We often dry camp, and like the quiet serenity, so not a fan of generators humming away whenever. Daytime or evening.

We are those people that shun crowded areas like Quartzite, but that's OK. It just leaves more room for others to hit the dry camping spots that don't allow generators except for certain times of the day.

We have solar and propane, both nice and quiet.

Happy Glamping.

[C.Martin]

For us...I think the biggest advantage is the convenience of one stop shopping. We pull into a Truck Stop add diesel...occasionally DEF. Done. I don’t worry about filling the propane.

I’m a huge fan of our Residential refrigerator. Can’t say that I miss not having propane. That said...if you boondock in Northern latitudes...and forested campgrounds...Propane is a plus. If you have open skies and sunlight...solar goes a long way. In hot southern latitudes...you are going to need electricity anyway to run the air conditioners. Although, there are some with enough solar, or a high efficiency mini-split unit on smaller units that can still get away with using solar.

It’s almost like asking do you want a motorboat or sail boat. They both have advantages and dis-advantages...it mainly depends on your choice...and what makes you happy.

[RVFunlovers]

We like having all electric. We go campground to campground. We just use the generator when driving if it is hot out.

My DW has gotten used to the induction cooktop. Aqua hot is good for hot water and hear.

If we were going to spend a lot of time using the coach but not in campgrounds and in nice weather I think propane would be good for the fridge. We do like having a residential fridge.

Good Luck and have fun.

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mark

Jcussen, with all due respect, you didn't plan well. I have had two ALL electric coaches and used the first one to boondock in Quartzsite, AZ, with my RV buddies every year for 5 yrs. straight for 5-7 days at a time. With 150 gallon diesel tank and diesel Onan, I could run for a long time. And, if I couldn't move the coach, a fuel can would replenish the diesel.

I only had to run the genny for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening for cooking, etc. Now, this was in the winter so no air conditioning was needed. I could probably have been there for six months! (maybe, LOL).

My current coach has a 230 gallon diesel tank so I could boondock for quiet sometime.

No propane for me!!! I have electric heat or a diesel fired furnace. Propane is old technology and dangerous. Induction cooking, convection microwave, etc., inside, grill (whatever fuel).... outside!

Safe travels,
Mark

Mark if you read my post, I was without electricity for 3 weeks and not 7 days. Unlike Quartzite in the winter, I was in 90 F weather and 90% humidity, so I basically ran my diesel genset with 160 gallon tank full time for two weeks, powering not just my coaches ac's, but many neighbors fridges, not 4 hours a day but 24 hours a day. I did plan well and had full propane tank and full water and fuel tanks. I did run out of fuel after two weeks, but did have plenty of propane to power my fridge and propane grill for an extra week till grid power was restored. To each his own, but I like redundancy. I now have my diesel genset, 40 gallons of propane and 5200 watts of solar on the s&b roof in case everything else goes south. I worked deep sea for 48 years where many things are dangerous, you just have to identify the risk and handle it.
I wish I had my Newell for that storm, it had 325 gallons of fuel and 175 gallons of fw.

[Mr.Mark]

Jcussen,

I understood your post that you were in a different long-term boondocking situation. I'm glad that you and your family were able to manage during a terrible event.

In my particular coach, I 'could' run the air off of the inverters as I have (4) 3,500 watt units. I have 3 large lithium batteries, no solar, 189 gal. fresh water tank, 189 gal. holding tank (black and grey combined with a grey water bypass if needed). The batteries under light load will last about 18 hrs. before the genny would kick on to recharge or I could start the engine to recharge.

All you had to do was keep the diesel tank full to run the genny. Fuel is fuel, I only have to buy one. I think propane fridges are finicky as they don't cool as well on hot days when the sun is on the fridge side.

And I agree, redundancy is good! People have to buy what fits their needs most and thats what you did! In all the types of camping that I do, mine works for me and could work long-term off grid if needed.

My 20K genny has a 30 amp buddy plug so I could let an adjacent coach connect for power.

Stay safe!
Mark

[Ivylog]

15 years ago when dry camping in my 04 Dynasty with a NoCold 1200 and propane cooktop, I had to run the generator 4 hours/day. 3 years later replaced the energy hog plasma TV with a LCD, LED bulbs, and added 4 more house batteries (8 AGM) getting generator time down to 3 hours. Replaced TVs with LED and 300W if solar... 2 hours generator. After spending too much $$ on the NoCold finally replaced with a Whirlpool 21 on its own 4 AGM-1000W psw inverter-100A charger... 1.5 hours generator as the 4 refrigerator batteries didn’t need all of the 100A charge...tied them into the 8 house batteries... YES, reduced generator time going residential by adding $150 charger.

A lot has changed in 15 years... probably the best energy wise is LEDs and EnergyStar refrigerators that run on 1A approximately 40% of the time... 1.3 KW/day or 16cents/day making them great for dry camping on 2 additional batteries.

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mark

Jcussen,

I understood your post that you were in a different long-term boondocking situation. I'm glad that you and your family were able to manage during a terrible event.

In my particular coach, I 'could' run the air off of the inverters as I have (4) 3,500 watt units. I have 3 large lithium batteries, no solar, 189 gal. fresh water tank, 189 gal. holding tank (black and grey combined with a grey water bypass if needed). The batteries under light load will last about 18 hrs. before the genny would kick on to recharge or I could start the engine to recharge.

All you had to do was keep the diesel tank full to run the genny. Fuel is fuel, I only have to buy one. I think propane fridges are finicky as they don't cool as well on hot days when the sun is on the fridge side.

And I agree, redundancy is good! People have to buy what fits their needs most and thats what you did! In all the types of camping that I do, mine works for me and could work long-term off grid if needed.

My 20K genny has a 30 amp buddy plug so I could let an adjacent coach connect for power.

Stay safe!
Mark

Mark, obvious you have never been through a coastal hurricane, nothing like extended boon docking. 60% of Galveston Island was under water, no access to the island. Trees and power poles were down everywhere, the very few gas stations that opened up on generator did not bother with refilling their diesel tanks, because most people were using small gas generators. I can see you are very proud of your coach and you probably would have made it through the storm with power to spare, but then again, you understandably would have taken it far inland before the storm even got close. I had an old bus conversion, I parked on the hill at the end of my street, got water in one bay, but it was still serviceable and it didn't affect coach operation. Wife and kids left the day before the storm, myself and a couple of shrimper buddies stayed to look after the neighborhood and our boats. Have always had an absorption fridge, although my present coach has a induction cooktop. I am comfortable working with propane and know how to use and maintain a propane fridge, so for me it works. Don't like to put all my eggs in one basket.
Know a guy that had a high dollar all electric coach with the Onan hybrid system with lithium battery banks and everything run by inverters, don't know what broke, but something did and he lost all power to his coach.
But as you say, do whatever works for you, and I will do the same.

[Mr.Mark]

I actually have friends now in Foley, AL, that are 'sitting it out' with their coach all locked up but out in the open. They are staying in a neighbors casita. I sure hope that they got out but Orange Beach was hit hard and Foley is just a little north.

I hope to hear from them soon (fingers crossed).

Jcussen, you are right, I would have high-tailed it out of there not risking damage to the coach. Also, if I were to stay, I would have had many cans of diesel on hand so that I wouldn't have to search or leave the site.

Safe travels,
Mark

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mark

I actually have friends now in Foley, AL, that are 'sitting it out' with their coach all locked up but out in the open. They are staying in a neighbors casita. I sure hope that they got out but Orange Beach was hit hard and Foley is just a little north.

I hope to hear from them soon (fingers crossed).

Jcussen, you are right, I would have high-tailed it out of there not risking damage to the coach. Also, if I were to stay, I would have had many cans of diesel on hand so that I wouldn't have to search or leave the site.

Safe travels,
Mark

In hindsight you are correct. I would have had to leave the cans upstairs inside the house, because everything under 5 ft was washed away including my car on jacks inside the garage, right through the garage door and out into the driveway.
I knew I could go two weeks and assumed that was a worse case scenario. Figured 160 gallons was enough to run the genset till power was restored. I learned my lesson. But I was better off than all the people with standby natural gas generators, when the storm hit, electricity was shut down, and 10 minutes latter, all natural gas was shut down.

[chuck28f]

I appreciate all the opinions. I did not do very well starting my first post since new to irv2! I did not mean to upset anyone over my question! I know it is a matter of opinion! Since we have only had our motorhome about a year we have a lot to learn, and I am a slow learner. Usually the more expensive it is, the faster I learn.

I would hate to be in a hurricane and I wish everyone the best of luck!

With that said, maybe what I should have asked, is what problems may come up with an all electric coach? Thanks again!

[Ivylog]

Originally Posted by Mr.Mark

I actually have friends now in Foley, AL, that are 'sitting it out' with their coach all locked up but out in the open. They are staying in a neighbors casita. I sure hope that they got out but Orange Beach was hit hard and Foley is just a little north.

Safe travels,
Mark

Not sure why anyone with wheels would set out a hurricane... that includes an airplane which would be wheels up.

OP, don’t worry about where posts go as they can make 90 degree turns or even 180... like my comment “wheels up”.

[chuck28f]

Amen, Thanks!

[dmctlc]

Originally Posted by TonyDi

I've had both, and I would never go back to having propane. The electric fridge cools much faster. I don't have to worry about leaks. Best of all is I can now go through tunnels that before had restrictions on them. Makes travel so much easier and faster.
The bad think about all electric is that it is much harder to boondock with it. We don't boondock so that is a moot point for us. That's my two cents.

Out of curiosity you don't have a propane grille either nor heating if need be? In fact that question might apply to others that state they went to all electric. Did you remove the propane tank completely from your MHs and carry no 20 #ers?
I like the idea of all electric but never could go camping without my propane grille. Love the smell of chicken, steak or hamburgers cooking on an outdoor grille.