Can I go a week w/o electric?

[breeves2245]

New 5.0 with 200 watt solar, two six volt 235amp/hr batteries and 1500 watt inverter.

If I can go without hookups, its obvious to say my options open greatly on campsite availability. I am looking to book Catalina State Park outside Tucson for Feb/Mar 2026. Not much available for four or five days consecutive.

The rustic campsite, is wide open and half the price at $25/night.

Single Joe no pets, so that makes it simple. 28 gal fresh will easily last 7 days. Propane for heat if needed. Inverter for maybe 3 min a day or so to cook oatmeal in the microwave. If sunny most days, I don't see an issue. Worst is I have to move elsewhere out of the campground.

What ya'll say?

 

[breeves2245]

Didn't think about it until after I posted the question. Generators are allowed during the day. So that makes it very doable to charge batteries if needed.

 

[Centex]

Is your fridge propane-capable or compressor DC-only?

Inverter for maybe 3 min a day or so to cook oatmeal in the microwave.

Your propane cooktop will make quick work of any type oatmeal, saving those watts for things absolutely requiring electric.

Personally, even when 'allowed', I do all I can to avoid that generator, but YMMV.

Just sayin' ....

 

[HABBERDABBER]

Solo load on your systems.....I'd say quite possble. Sunny AZ? Solar should take care of lighting, fan & water pump needs.....as long as you have some Sun exposure. Other heavy electrical loads change that guess.
Your water supply and grey tank capacity are the limiting factors. If you use the campground shower house, that mitigates water & grey tank issues. It's possible to dump grey in the existing park facilities, a bucket at a time. Also possible to re-water, a couple of gallons at a time, both tasks manually.
Go for it!

And do visit Biosphere 2, just down the road from Catalina SP.

Home

biosphere2.org

And not distant is this interesting sight to see.

Home | Titan Missile Museum

Plan a visit to the one-of-a-kind Titan Missile Museum today and explore the last of the 54 Titan ll missile sites used between 1963-1987.

titanmissilemuseum.org

 

[breeves2245]

I can also can look into portable solar panels to add more wattage. So, yea, this is very doable.

 

[Ron in BC]

Solar should take care of lighting, fan & water pump needs.....as long as you have some Sun exposure.

Absolutely, we survived with a 100W panel for years.

One variable is the furnace. If it's run a lot then it does add up. But AZ sun should make up for that.

Ron

 

[HABBERDABBER]

Portable solar panels are VERY HANDY to have along, anytime, as you never know exactly where you end up in relationship to Ole Mr. Sun and your mounted panels.
Minimize the inverter use and your electrical concerns diminish greatly. You've got weeks worth of propane use for all heating needs. 2 nights of moderate furnace use off the batteries, without battery recharge, so that is a limiter.

I did spend a couple of nights at Catalina, at that time of year, and it got dang cold. That was tenting, and the next day we stocked up on some heat packs for use in the sleeping bags.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

figure you have about 2000 watt*hours usable, thats discharging the flooded deep cell batteries down to 30%, which is reasoanble for true golf cart batts (marine/rv batteries should be kept above 50%).

I'd think you'd be fine as long as you don't use that inverter much.

If you're parked in open sky, your 200W solar should be able to generate around 1000 watt*hours per day in the summer, half that in the winter.

 

[Mike G]

I doubt you'd have any issues, even without the generator.

 

[salmo7000]

I have a 2018 E19 with a 180W solar panel. I’ve camped over 10 days without hookups or running a generator, in fact I don’t even bring one. Even in the shoulder seasons of April and October when days are shorter, and with heavy furnace use.

Even running that microwave for 3 minutes, you’ll be fine.

 

[ColoradoSwany]

We (wife and I) just camped 2/1/25 through 2/18/25 in AZ with no hookups. Never deployed my solar suitcase. We have the two six volts (just replaced my original 2017 batteries in December) and 240 watts (three 80 watt semi-flexible panels) on roof. No inverter. Did use a Bluetti AC70 power pack occasionally for a toaster and hairdryer, though. Never got lower than 12.30 volts per ny Victron controller. Yeah I know a Victron monitor is better, but this has worked fine for me. Spent 3 nights on BLM land near Yuma, 8 nights at Dome Rock near Q and 6 nights at Lost Dutchman SP site without hookups. Wouldn’t hesitate to repeat the 17 nights without hookups.

 

[BritCanuck]

We lasted 4 days on battery without any solar charging (tree cover). Got down to 60%. No problem if you can charge during the day.

 

[IanC]

Skip the microwave altogether. You’re camping. Boil water, add oatmeal, done. Assuming you get some sunshine, you should be able to go indefinitely if you work around the modern conveniences of home.

 

[kathytony1985]

As long as you have solar. Catalina has showers and flush toilets. We did Quartzsite for 7 days, no problem.

 

[Perry Butler]

We just spent 10 days in Catalina’s no services Ringtail loop. It was between 29-33 degrees every night. Your furnace will be your main amp hour user by far. With one 200 watt panel you will be fine as long as your inverter use will be minimal.

 

[WillyB]

As long as you have propane, some sun and you’re not inverter power hogs it shouldn’t be a problem.

We have a solar panel on the roof with the 2 6v battery setup, no inverter. We ran the heater all night in 30f weather and we were still at 90.6% on the battery in the morning. Sun came up with very clear skies and within 2 hour we were back to 100%.

 

[brroberts]

This can easily be done, but if the furnace runs a lot and it’s cloudy with little sun, you will have to be very stingy with electricity. If it’s sunny, you should have no trouble unless you just want a lot of electrical conveniences.

 

[stephen99]

Certainly doable. We went 60 days straight without hookups using the same equipment you have.

 

[Radar1]

Most of my camping out West this year was without electric hookups, and the cold nights had the heater running a bit. Using the 190 watt rooftop in conjunction with a 90 watt portable panel, I was back to 100% each afternoon.
Sure am glad that furnace worked because it dipped into the teens several nights on the trip.
I don't have an inverter though, so didn't use the microwave at all.