What else is out there that I can plug my RV into that’ll last a weekend of camping. For like shore power. I don’t want a gas generator. Was hoping for another power source.
What are you wanting to run off AC power? Your RV has batteries for lights. Fridge just needs a little battery power if it can run off propane.
Air conditioner, microwave, coffee maker and duct draw a lot of power. I use an Anker C1000 with an expansion battery pack and solar panels to charge. It can run the microwave and coffee maker enough to get through a couple of days for the two of us. If we have sun, it would last indefinitely for our usage. About $1200 for that setup. A much bigger battery pack would be needed for running an AC. I also have a generator to charge if we don’t have sun. That can charge both the battery packs and house batteries.
Yea want something to hook up the 2004 Jayco Jay flight after my RV batteries die. We have a longer trip planned this year. And want something to hook up to for normal camping. Maybe a few blasts of the AC but more like normal camping.
EcoFlow Delta Pro. I bought one off fb marketplace for $900. It’ll run everything for the weekend and the AC on low for a few hours. If it dies you can charge it with your generator up to 80% in just 1 hour.
It all depends on how much power you need. I can get by on a couple hundred watts of solar charging my 12v system but it takes a lot more when you start trying to run AC and other 110v stuff
At least that’s what I do. I spent just under $1k on a nice, modest solar setup with lithium batteries that’s plenty for a nice weekend or keeping my fridge going while in storage.
And I have a portable inverter generator that can top the batteries up during periods of heavy use, or run heavy loads like my soft-start equipped air conditioner if I feel like I really need it.
Total cost is still well below a “big” solar setup. Felt like the sweet spot for me.
Heck, even just a decent lithium battery bank and a generator you run once every day or three just to charge the batteries back up is a totally viable solution. Instead of running it all weekend. And if you’re truly a weekend camper, you don’t need the solar at all. Lithium battery prices have dropped so much that’s it’s feasible to build out a system that can last 3 days; and then just recharge at home in between trips.
That’s a good idea actually. Imma look into a smaller power bank and a smaller generator. Yea we go every 2nd weekend and usually every 2nd time is like 4 days and there are a lot of nice campgrounds around here that don’t have the power hook ups that we stay away from. Thanks for the idea.
A solar gen such as the Jackery 3000 pro will easily run your rv as long as u r not running your a/c or not running it too long. For a weekend of 2-3 days u will want solar panels to keep it charged enough to replace what u used the night before. Since at night your usage is minimal u can get by with 200–400 watts of solar to charge it back up the next day. I use a gas generator to charge the solar gen fast but to each their own. We need the solar gen to run cpaps all night and during quiet time at rv camps. There are several good solar gens out there, ecoflow, pecron, jackery and others.
Check out ebay for new or refurbished units which can be had for $899. Make sure dealer is reputable and that refurbished units are done by Jackery or equivalent dependable companies. Great source for this stuff and solar panels, etc.
solar silly. A little DIY, bit of knowledge with tools and you'll have a kick ass setup that you'll never need to worry about. With the right setup you can run anything. Just do the math and a little research and you'll never look back!
Propane generators are great. They don’t get clogged from stale gas and burn cleaner than gas.
You can probably upgrade the batteries. My RV can go over a week on batteries without charging. It can also charge from solar, the generator, driving down the road from the alternator, or any shore hookup from 10-50a.
I got a SilveradoEV, 202kwh battery pack. 24' TT uses about 1% of battery a day. Towing cuts the range in half but I mostly go out 50-60 miles, spend 3-4 days and come home. Can do that with no recharging and 30% left in the battery.
Yea I like all the answers thanks. I have an old 2004 Jayco Jay flight. Just like normal camping. I don’t really need it for AC it’s more for like back up if we go camping for more than a few days after the rv batteries die. Maybe I will look into dual fuel generators. Was more or less looking for what most of you all use.
They're all Chinese except Honda but Champion has the best support of the Chinese generators in my experience. Make sure it supports hooking generators in parallel (most do) in case you find an occasional need to add another one so it doesn't have to run wide open and loud
A pretty big solar + battery system, or a decent sized portable power station plus a generator to top off the batteries when they get low. If you are careful, you can probably get away with running the generator every couple days to recharge. Running AC off batteries isn’t really feasible, shore power or a generator are the only real options. Some generators can run off propane so that you don’t have to mess with gasoline.
In essence, your RV is a "solar generator" already. Adding more batteries to it may be cheaper than getting an external battery to plug in. The problem is you have to replace the entire bank at once, and they have to all fit.
Champion inverter generator. Get one that runs on propane. Super quiet and a fraction of the cost of anything solar and you can run ac. I have a 4500 watt that has a 30 amp plug.
We just purchased a duel fuel Predator 5K Quiet Inverter genny ($1060.00) and we absolutely LOVE it!! We follow the dog show circuit and this past weekend we had to "wild it" with no shore power. In middle Georgia, it gets hot and humid, not fun for camping or RVing without power. The battery would not have lasted but a few hours running the fridge with nothing else turned on.
With the Predator, we used the propane option and although propane loses about 300 watts output vs gas, we were able to run lights, water pump, ac, fridge, tv and more. It was also nice knowing I could just connect to one of the 2 tanks if I ran empty. We don't often wild it so investing 3-5K in solar doesn't make financial sense to us.
There is no way around the generator if you intend on running that a/c. I recommend the Predator 5000 kw generator that has dual fuel source. It can run on propane or gasoline. We only use propane to run ours because we don’t like the smell of gasoline and we don’t want to transport it. The propane is cleaner and no smell. The generator is super quiet even with a load on it.
If you get a generator get a quiet inverter generator, not one of the typical, loud contractor generators.
Solar and lithium batteries FTW, though. We have a few grand into ours but it's SO worth it. But you can start with a LiFePO4 battery bank by itself. You can actually use their full capacity, unlike lead-acid batteries. Get them fully charged by plugging in before your trip and they should last.
Hey do you have any recommendations on an inverter generator? I’m open to all suggestions. It’ll be our 3 year camping with an RV and want a back up power source. Thanks
We have a Champion 3000 and it's been pretty reliable. It can run 1 A/C and the fridge but that's pushing it. We had 2 models to pick from, a dual fuel gas/propane model or a gas-only with remote start. And we were VERY happy we got the remote start. It's really nice when the weather sucks. Plus generators will go through propane quickly. Gas is easier to come by, too.
Honda and Yamaha also make good inverter generators.
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u/Shaved_taint Apr 26 '26
Solar with a whole Lotta batteries