Trying to plan ahead

Kats

We're headed to Acadia in Maine in the fall. We are staying at one of the campgrounds in the park, so there will be no hook-ups available. There will be water on-site. I was thinking that we'd use the solar panels to keep the battery charged, use the propane whenever possible, and bring some good, warm sleeping bags and a good cooler, and we should be good. We will remove the fuse at the battery during the day and just plug it back in at night to save battery power. I will pre-cook and freeze our dinners for the trip. Any other suggestions?

jkjenn

Have a back up plan for essentials. More than once I have thought I had enough battery, when I didn't. So, I try to keep back up battery and lighting on hand that are not dependent upon the T@b battery. It was pretty much, in my case, user error, but good to have a plan "b".

FWIW, if using the 3-way fridge, even on propane, the fridge needs some battery to run due to the fan. Since it will be colder in the fall in Maine, the fan will not run as frequently, unless you jack the heat up. I noticed a big difference with the fridge fan between hot and cold weather camping.

The other thing is that it is not that unusual to run into a stretch of cloudy days in the fall, so be prepared in the event solar won't charge your T@b. Even on an overcast day, with the right set up, you should get a little charge from the panels, but it won't be like the full on sunny days.

Michigan_Mike

If all else fails, head up to Bar Harbor Campground up on Mt Desert island as they have shaded or full sun lots, pull throughs and full hook-ups.  Nice park, plenty of sites and it is close to Acadia too.  Take some time and hit the lobster pounds in the area too for some tasty lobster and a BIG piece of that Maine blueberry pie!  



Another small town close by with history is Castine.  If you are traveling highway 1, you take the first road south of the route that heads up through Ellsworth.  That will take you down to Castine, home of the USS State of Maine and there is a sweet little light house located just up the road in town.  One of my favorite stops when I visit Bar Harbor and Acadia!  Plenty of history there and worth the time to visit!  

Kats

jkjenn said:

Have a back up plan for essentials. More than once I have thought I had enough battery, when I didn't. So, I try to keep back up battery and lighting on hand that are not dependent upon the T@b battery. It was pretty much, in my case, user error, but good to have a plan "b".

FWIW, if using the 3-way fridge, even on propane, the fridge needs some battery to run due to the fan. Since it will be colder in the fall in Maine, the fan will not run as frequently, unless you jack the heat up. I noticed a big difference with the fridge fan between hot and cold weather camping.

The other thing is that it is not that unusual to run into a stretch of cloudy days in the fall, so be prepared in the event solar won't charge your T@b. Even on an overcast day, with the right set up, you should get a little charge from the panels, but it won't be like the full on sunny days.

Jenn, I am planning to avoid using the lights in the T@B as much as possible, and will have separate little lanterns to use instead. I figure that if worse comes to worse we can think of the T@B as a big tent, and keep it "unplugged". Plus, we can always start the car up for a little while if the battery is drained. My goal is to keep enough juice in the battery that we can keep the Alde running (on propane) and occasionally fire up the fridge. 
Do you keep a spare battery with you?

jkjenn

Kats said:

jkjenn said:

Have a back up plan for essentials. More than once I have thought I had enough battery, when I didn't. So, I try to keep back up battery and lighting on hand that are not dependent upon the T@b battery. It was pretty much, in my case, user error, but good to have a plan "b".

FWIW, if using the 3-way fridge, even on propane, the fridge needs some battery to run due to the fan. Since it will be colder in the fall in Maine, the fan will not run as frequently, unless you jack the heat up. I noticed a big difference with the fridge fan between hot and cold weather camping.

The other thing is that it is not that unusual to run into a stretch of cloudy days in the fall, so be prepared in the event solar won't charge your T@b. Even on an overcast day, with the right set up, you should get a little charge from the panels, but it won't be like the full on sunny days.

Jenn, I am planning to avoid using the lights in the T@B as much as possible, and will have separate little lanterns to use instead. I figure that if worse comes to worse we can think of the T@B as a big tent, and keep it "unplugged". Plus, we can always start the car up for a little while if the battery is drained. My goal is to keep enough juice in the battery that we can keep the Alde running (on propane) and occasionally fire up the fridge. 
Do you keep a spare battery with you?

I don't keep a big deep cycle but I do take a couple small Goal Zero batteries that have inverters with me for cell phone, camera batteries, and my Surface Pro 3. I can recharge them in my car or via solar.