Winter camping, hookup or boondock?

@PNWtabber - what is your battery amphr capacity?  Are you able to run your frig on LPG?  

@PNWtabber Amp hours should be printed on top of the battery. If you can’t figure it out, post a pic. You also need to know what kind of battery you have. Some of them need water added periodically.

RE: the fridge. Have you tried lighting the stove first? Sometimes that helps.

@PNWtabber..with regards to lights..we always carry some battery operated, solar (lucci) and I recently brought our multi use pylon light. The pylon light was actually used for dining at night..actually daytime..why is it dark by the time you're ready to eat? The pylon charges with electricity but also has USB ports. I'll gladly wait till spring to try our solar setup! Have fun whichever way you go!

@PNWtabber - I agree with the others as to trying it with the backup of hookups for your first time.   That said, just a few upgrades will allow you to boondock for 4 - 5 days as long as you're careful.  With dual golf cart batteries, and a spare propane tank you'll find you don't need hookups, especially if you have the 3 way fridge.  While not a huge fan of the 3 way's summer performance and quirks,  it is a better solution for boondocking, especially in winter (cools the food and heats the camper!).   As others said,  you can use other light sources and entertainment devices.  After that, the T@b doesn't need much electricity.  Also, the Alde heats much better on propane, even if you spring for the hookup site, it will heat the cabin much quicker on propane, and then it will switch to electric automatically to maintain the temp.

ScottG said:

I don't know what "a significant difference in the charge" entails, but even if I did have the battery capacity I'd probably shell out for the hookup just to save on hassle.

I camped 4 nights in early September with very limited solar. Even with the solar I did get, and running the Alde briefly only once a day for a little HW, my battery was pretty depleted (~12.15V) by the time I left. With no solar and constant use of the Alde, it's hard to see how you could manage that long in the winter without severely crashing your battery.  

We found the Group 27 that came with our trailer was pretty useless for boondocking,  typically would be 12.4 after 1 night, 12.2 after 2.  The dual GC's are sized pretty right for a camper this size for our use.

You can order the new aluminum front tub from nüCamp, via a dealer.  Have it delivered with the dealer’s trailer unit shipment, and save on shipping costs.  This is how I got ours.

Well @ScottG we have run into a slight stumble with our 11# bottles...

Last March, on our way up to Taos from Bandelier, we'd emptied one bottle and were looking to refill it before we got too far away from 'civilization'. You'd think Española would be a big enough town, but the first place we went said 'no way will I fill a bottle smaller than 20#, it'll damage my pump'...

The only other place was all out of propane! (We happened to be passing through Española again three days later and they'd refilled their tanks, so no problem, we had plenty to get home with).  BTW - Highly recommended for great propane service and a good chat:
R & E Glass Co
I'm not sure if the first place knew what he was talking about or was simply superstitious. The second place had no problem with it. Can't blame him though, he said the pump cost him $4000 to replace 'the last time'.

So a lesson, I guess. 10/11# tanks aren't as simple as they should be. 

ChanW said:

@ScottG, clearly you haven't been paying proper attention! You can fit 2 GC batteries in the standard plastic tub!

Heh!

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8152/a-way-to-fit-two-golf-cart-batteries-in-the-tub-and-tidying-up-the-rats-nest-with-bus-bars

And I was able to fit a 150AH battery in a Group 27 box in our plastic tub, by adding a new custom box holder frame, while keeping the 20-lb propane tank - see link below.
(Plus a couple small boxes added later for bus bars & monitor shunt, plus a removeable box with solar controller in the other side)

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/101518#Comment_101518

I'm also carrying an 11 lb propane tank for backup and using with the firepit.  Besides Tractor Supply I'd add Ace Hardware as a potential propane source.  My local Ace says they all get the propane at the corporate price nationwide, and it's cheaper than anything else around our area, so I sort of believe him.  Haven't had an issue refilling the 11 lb yet, but I'm usually topping it off after running out the 20 lb.

Tractor Supply... Great info @Verna. 
The fact that the "exchange" system has become so popular makes me worry, but I think there will always be a market for folks to fill their own tanks - just not at the big box suburban centers.

Our T@g's propane tank was marked and became an extra tank for our BBQ at home...assuming the T@b's will be put in that rotation too..Home Hardware is our go to in Ontario..always take a full tank every trip we start out...

Thanks to you, @ScottG, for showing me it could fit and how to do it! 

Our Trojan 1275 is a 12V golf cart battery, and its 150AH capacity has been a good match for our occassional boondocking needs with just our single  100W solar panel.  We've only gone up to 5 days without hookups and have been fortunate to have mostly good sun, but using only about 20-25 AH per day (with frig & Alde on propane), we could easily go at least 3 days without recharging, if necessary.  We have usually been fully recharged by the next day, so I feel secure enough having the 150AH battery for overcast days. 

Good sun, even in autumn, would easily get us fully recharged from one day's usage (or more) at an average latitude like western NC, for example, where I collected most of my data.  I think the rating for a 100W solar panel at that latitude is about 360WH generated per day or about 30AH of 12V power, and we average just over 20AH usage per day typically.

If you get a Trojan 1275, I would recommend trying to get the "Plus" version, which has a shorter stud.  Ours does not, and the NOCO 27 box lid does not snap closed on one side because the battery is too tall.  It's never been a problem though, since we have a good strap to hold it on.  The difference in battery height is 10.71" versus 11.13"..