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Old 02-16-2021, 12:54 AM   #1
Karenraecamp
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Battery running Furnace

Does anyone know How long the furnace will run when power goes out. Any experience with rigid temps and tank heaters not running due to power outage?
 
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:36 AM   #2
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I'm not sure, it depends on the amount of batteries, and their state of charge at the time of the outage. With my two lithium batteries (each 100 amp) and 1000 watt solar array it could be awhile. And that is why I live in SW Arizona.
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Old 02-16-2021, 05:28 AM   #3
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Your furnace uses a lot of battery power to run the blower. One cold night in Canada, about 12 hours, with no electric hook up drained our single deep cycle battery. That was with the refrigerator and water heater on gas. Had to plug the 5'er to the truck and run it for about an hour to get enough charge back in the battery to run the furnace. Needless to say we had electrical hook up the next night.
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Old 02-16-2021, 06:35 AM   #4
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One battery one night.
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Old 02-16-2021, 06:44 AM   #5
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For lead acid battery they don't recommend going below 50% charge (12.06vdc, just round it off to 12vdc. If you dont have a battery monitor system, use a multimeter OR the level up control panel. It reads out your voltage).

Let's say you have a 100Ah battery (50% usable) and the furnace draws about 10A.
100÷2÷10= 5 hours.
Most likely you will have less than that due to other electrical draws.
Maybe 3.5 hours.
You can plug in your truck to supplement that.

A lithium battery you can take down to 10%. One of their advantages. HOWEVER, you cannot charge a lithium battery at below freezing temperatures.
A lead acid battery doesn't care about freezing temperatures.
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Old 02-16-2021, 07:51 AM   #6
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Just a reminder about hooking up your truck to supplement the power. Unplug it when you shut off the truck or it will draw your truck battery down also.
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Old 02-16-2021, 10:52 AM   #7
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When boondocking at 8800 ft in Wyoming, we turned it on around 8 pm. I think battery was at maybe 90%. Temps around 35. Furnace ran 75% of the time or so. My inverter started beeping and complaining about low battery at 5 am. Kind of figures out to what stated above. 9 hours and .75 and 10 ah for furnace. 9x10x.75 = about 70 ah. I was in a 2006 montana, and I think maybe the furnace drew a little more than 10. I believe at that time I had only 1 12v battery.

I installed 2 golf cart batteries after that but it still couldn't handle 2 full days at that elevation.
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Old 02-16-2021, 11:24 AM   #8
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The OP’s scenario is probably one of two reasons that we kept a onboard generator in conjunction with a significant lithium battery pack and solar charging capabilities. We have been in cold weather where we needed to run the furnace at length coupled with limited solar potential due to weather. Our 6500 watt genset quickly recharged our 700AH pack after a couple of days of loads including the furnace. Many people on this forum and other point to the ability to run the AC as a criteria in designing lithium battery capacity. Even if this is your primary focus odds are that you are still limited in runtime. Running the furnace is IMO a more realistic sizing criteria as it’s realistic that you can achieve a capacity to run the furnace for several days when sun challenged.
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Old 02-16-2021, 11:35 AM   #9
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Ours wouldn't run the night with two LA and only moderately cold temps.

We now have 1,200 watts of solar and six 100AH Battle Born's. A total non issue any longer.
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Old 02-16-2021, 12:38 PM   #10
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Most of the RV furnaces I've seen pull 100-150w. At 100% duty cycle they'll drain a single group 27 in about 5hrs with nothing else on.
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:37 PM   #11
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Everyone is trying to be helpful but telling the OP what you have will not help them out today.

If you only have one battery it will not last the night with the furnace running. If you have enough propane I would connect the truck and use it to charge the battery(s) every three or four hours as needed. If you are where the big freeze is occurring it will be a long and miserable night but doing this but you will hopefully not have any damage. Run the refer and water heater on gas. A power outage is not the time to shop for a generator.
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Old 02-16-2021, 02:54 PM   #12
Karenraecamp
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Thanks for the replies. So when the power comes on, does it recharge the battery? Or should I hook up to truck. Power comes on every few hours for a couple hours, rolling blackouts. Karen
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Old 02-16-2021, 03:38 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karenraecamp View Post
Thanks for the replies. So when the power comes on, does it recharge the battery? Or should I hook up to truck. Power comes on every few hours for a couple hours, rolling blackouts. Karen
Yes, if you are plugged into shore power your converter will charge up your batteries. How much and how fast depends on your converter.
If you open your circuit breaker panel you will see a white sticker with your make and model of your converter. You can look up the specs of the converter on the manufacturer's webpage.
For example, I have a 3130re, it has a Progressive Dynamics PD4575K18LS8 converter. In this case the 75 means it is a 75A converter.
Yes, plugging in the 7 way cable and running your truck can help supplement your rv battery. For my trucks tow package (2016 F350) once it is connected I have to press the brake pedal (just once) to activate the relay that sends the charge down the cable. Your model may be different. Check your owners manual.
Or check your voltage on the level up control panel when you connect your truck etc and note the difference in voltage level.
I have only seen 7A coming from my truck via the 7 way cable.
I have been looking at the Renogy 60A DC to DC charger for supplement power for short boondocking trips.
I'll let you know how that goes ...
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Old 02-16-2021, 04:31 PM   #14
Karenraecamp
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Thank you
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Old 02-16-2021, 08:57 PM   #15
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We boondocked for years in a 26 foot trailer with one Walmart car battery and one Honda 2000 generator. To keep warm I removed the original heater and put in an Olympian catalytic heater. On high it used 1/4 pound of propane per hour and zero electricity. The Honda ran just often enough to keep the battery charged. If we had a couple good batteries then charging would only be necessary every couple days. It was much less expensive than a solar setup. Not to mention more comfortable as the heat is steady and not constantly cycling up and down. I'm pretty sure that two of these heaters would keep any Montana warm on way less fuel and electrical power.
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