Going electric........ - Page 2

WandaLust · 05-12-2009, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwb01

We do the same when electricity is available but I don't seek out electircity for a (say) 3 or 4 night stay because the cost of the electricity is far greater than the cost of propane used. 4 nights could cost $20 more which is far more than the 1/4 or 1/2 tank (maybe) of propane I'd use in that time. It is certainly much more convenient to have electricity especially for a 1 week stay where my two batteries will not last. As much as I'd like to have one, it's far less expensive to buy two more batteries than a $1000 generator to charge them. I already have a big (and noisy) genset at home so I can't use that reason to buy one.

There are a lot of ways to save money and there's a lot of values which differ to different people. Be careful spending money to save money, it's not always as it seems.

My husband doesn't want to camp without the convenience of electricity. I never had it when camping before and do find it a great convenience though I could live (camp) without it. We're not much for boondocking or dry camping. That can be fun if you have family or friends along, but to be in an isolated or semi-isolated area alone isn't our thing. Since we'll be doing most of our camping where electricity is available, I'd rather use that than propane. And as I said before, the stove can really heat up a TT as small as our little 16' Sunline. Not a good thing here in the south where most of our camping will be done. And we're always outside anyway. Neither of us would want to stay inside to cook on the stove unless it was raining.
Why do you leave your generator at home? Isn't it for camping? Before we took off on our camping trip we plugged our TT into the house current to charge the battery. We'll probably just leave it plugged in now for the season. She'll be ready to go at a moment's notice.

Honda03842 · 05-12-2009, 01:11 PM

Passport restrictions are by campground. You need to look at the Passport campgrounds in your area. Very often Holidays are exluded and sometimes friday and saturday. It varies by campground. If you go to the site and select a campground of interest it will tell you the restrictions if any.

WE are generally off season travelers when there are fewer restrictions. We stayed at one campground in the Black Hills this year and the manager let us stay as long as we wanted even though they had a two day restriction.

I know it pays for heavy duty travelers like us, staying for two days in an Ohio state park, they take passport, almost covered the cost of membership. (By the way Ohio has nice parks.)

Norm Milliard

WandaLust · 05-15-2009, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honda03842

Passport restrictions are by campground. You need to look at the Passport campgrounds in your area. Very often Holidays are exluded and sometimes friday and saturday. It varies by campground. If you go to the site and select a campground of interest it will tell you the restrictions if any.

WE are generally off season travelers when there are fewer restrictions. We stayed at one campground in the Black Hills this year and the manager let us stay as long as we wanted even though they had a two day restriction.

I know it pays for heavy duty travelers like us, staying for two days in an Ohio state park, they take passport, almost covered the cost of membership. (By the way Ohio has nice parks.)

Norm Milliard

In looking at the all the restrictions in the participating TN CGs, I doubt we'll get PA. We may feel differently later.

WandaLust · 05-28-2009, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwb01

We pay around $18/night to dry camp and another $5 per night for just electricity where available. That's another $35/7 nights for electricity or the price of two tanks of propane at Walmarts per week. I use only two tanks per summer (maybe 30 nights per season) for hot water, cooking, a few nights of heat and fridge. Surely propane's the cheaper option especially without buying the appliances and bags of charcoal.

That may depend where you live. I don't know of any CG around here that charges $5 a day extra for electricity. I've seen some charge $2 a day. For convenience my husband wants full hookups when possible. He doesn't care for dry camping. Maybe for a night, in a pinch, as we've done in the past - just a place to sleep for the night, but not for a weekend. How much is propane a lb or gal now? Last fall we we paid something like $13 for 1/2 a 20lb tank on the Explorer.

WandaLust · 05-28-2009, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honda03842

The following is a link to Passport America showing the campgrounds offering Passport in TN. If you click on a red marker it gives info on that particular campground.

http://www.passportamerica.com/resou...e.php?state=TN

I'm not sure if Passport makes sense for you. It costs about $35 a year. If you use it 3 days a year it typically pays for itself. By using this site you'll be able to determine if it's worthwhile for you.

Norm Milliard

I checked it out. Thanks. I'm not sure if we'll join or not yet. We did join the Good Sam club. But with the endless rain here, the leaking blackwater tank needing replacement and now a death in the family, we can't seen to get out of here to go camping. We'll most likely take off on Monday after family goes back home.

PITBOX · 06-08-2009, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Honda03842

Modifying a rig for electric hot water is relatively easy.

It consists of removing the drain plug from your existing Hot water tank and replacing it with an electric heating rod. I recall that the heating rod costs about $80. It comes with a thermostat.

It does require a little wiring.

I believe mine is a 600 watt heater, much like a little coffee pot.

Caution. You need to be careful when removing the drain plug not to damage the threads.

Would this work on a older Atwood that is in a 1979 17.5 SB? It seems more cost effective than buying a new burner tube.control valve and pilot assembly.

Honda03842 · 06-09-2009, 05:51 AM

This is a site for the electric heating element.

http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/r...ter-heater.htm

Camping world also sells them.

Be sure to never turn it on with the no water in the tank.

Norm Milliard

PITBOX · 06-09-2009, 08:44 AM

Thanks for the heads up Norm,I'm on my way to Arlington R.V. in Warwick,R.I. to pick one up

WandaLust · 06-23-2009, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PITBOX

Thanks for the heads up Norm,I'm on my way to Arlington R.V. in Warwick,R.I. to pick one up

Well.... how did you make out with it?