Question Do RV's come with too many house batteries?

[Neal]

Here's a thought, and mainly for my Class A friends. Why do motorhomes come with so many batteries? I opted for 8 lead acid in my Newmar Ventana which came out to 900 amp hours. 50% of that is usable in lead acid and AGM batteries. But is it really necessary? All of that weight? Here is why I ask this.

If you don't add solar, as most don't, and you are plugged into shore power at campgrounds 99% of the time, as most are, and the alternator is supplying power while driving, and you have a generator typically, then what really is the purpose of carrying around all of this battery weight? Let's not get into weight of Lithium vs. Lead, it's just a matter of all this amp hour capacity that 99% of the time is never used.

So let's say my Newmar Ventana came with TWO batteries. Yes, minimal amp hour capacity more for transfer carryover from unplugging to engine (or gen) running. Would I ever notice? If I went to a service shop yeah, the batteries wouldn't last long before low battery cutoff. The frig is going to be fine as long as the door remains shut assuming it will be plugged back in or a gen run after it comes out of a service bay. If in a service bay for days then yeah, empty your frig!

I don't know where this all started years ago with battery capacity and how it ended up where it is today but my guess is it's a tremendous waste and cost and unnecessary weight.

Thoughts?

 

[Rich W.]

That’s all fine when you are going from one campground with power to another. But I visit just as many primitive CGs with no hook-ups and with six batteries in good shape I have enough power in the morning to make coffee and heat something up in the microwave (essential tasks when roughing it) before the sun comes up. If my rig was all-electric, 8 would be preferable along with a bigger inverter. Same with tanks - if going from RV park to RV park you don't need 100 gals of fresh water or big waste tanks.

But I can go at least a week in a primitive CG or boondocking at the ocean or in the desert before I have to start thinking about dump and fill, and having a sufficient battery bank for morning stuff before sun up is important to me. And without solar I’d be dependent on the genny to charge the batteries. So I think that is probably the rationale for big battery banks and tanks (and a big generator) - a nod to “camping” in these not-so-camper-like RVs.

Im putting off battery replacement for now because my travel plans for the winter involved full hook ups. Not sure about the spring, but for next summer Im going to need a healthy battery bank with at least my OE capacity. I’m fairly certain it will be more.

 

[Neal]

I don't believe this question applies to people that do any off grid, boondocking, etc. I'm thinking the average Class A owner that goes from CG to CG with full intention of shore power service. Those of us that pursue off grid stops or isolated locations such as even Harvest Hosts, Walmart, etc. will have solar, gen, and battery capacity. What percentage of the Class A community does that?

 

[Joe Hogan]

This has been a question I’ve pondered often. We initially went from campground to campground all with full hookups. In that instance why have a large battery reserve.
As long as you can support midday rest stops. There is little need for large battery banks.
As our confidence grew, overnights without hookups became a thing. A larger battery bank is more attractive.
Now we can go weeks without hookups, large battery reserves are very useful.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

the advent of residential fridge changed things a bit, IMO.
Is battery oversold for most people, probably. But unless systems are designed to shutoff the electrical power to protect the battery when they get too low, we would probably see batteries trashed much more frequently.
Many people will turn on a fridge the day before a trip, while they load up the coach. Not sure 2 lead acid batteries would hold up a coach for a day of fridge, lights, locks, and whatever other draws would be in play during this loading day.
While on the road, going from place to place, I agree the batteries are not used by most people.
But if people use rest areas, truck stops, harvest hosts, BLM, Walmarts, or other forms of short term boondocking, then the equation changes very quickly with a residential fridge and todays electronic parasitic coaches.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Many people will turn on a fridge the day before a trip, while they load up the coach. Not sure 2 lead acid batteries would hold up a coach for a day of fridge, lights, locks, and whatever other draws would be in play during this loading day.

Interesting point, as RVs become more electronic and less manual, especially LOCKS, it becomes more important to have an electrical reserve.

 

[LMHS]

I built my own RV inside a bus shell. I do not have a large battery bank. When I was designing this build as a fulltime residence, I looked seriously at how it would be used. It is a "park-2-park" rig. I do have a 6000W surge/5500W running LP generator that I rarely use. I went with LP because I go years between running the generator. I have a single 12vDC lead acid battery for my "house bank". The only thing running on it is the 12vDC water pump. The 110vAC lights run thru a cheap inverter.. I know that my 13cf residential upright freezer can easily go 12 hours before needing power, even in triple digit summer heat. Same for the 7CF residential refrigerator/freezer. I have parked overnight in the bus in a parking lot. I only need to run the genny for a few hours at night and a few hours in the morning to fully chill the frig and freezer. They now make freezers that are guaranteed to keep food frozen for 2 days without power. My genny will run the freezer, frig and ONE of the air conditioners without becoming too much of a fuel hog. I haven't needed to run the residential 10 gallon water heater off the genny because summer temps will raise the temp of the fresh water tank high enough to shower in "cold" water only without the need for hot water.

The truck camper it a totally different situation. It needs another pair of 6V batteries. It has 200W solar panels on the roof. It is rarely plugged in as it is mostly a "daily driver". It too has a 7cf residential refrigerator on an inverter. We only turn the refrigerator on to keep the groceries cold or frozen when we go grocery shopping. It's the only way we can buy ice cream and still have ice cream and not milk soup by the time we get home in the summer. And we also turn it on when we go "a-wandering" to hold our impromptu picnic stuff.

 

[AbdRahim]

I need more battery power to park for more than an overnight without being plugged in.

 

[RyanS]

I'm curious, if you aren't a boondocker and only stay at full hookup campgrounds, why on earth did you choose to go with so many batteries? That is definitely a waste. So I turn the question back onto you....why did you?