we have a set of 300AH GC batteries. Fully charged, we can go a week at a time with them (we have actually gone 10 days).
All lights have been changed to LED.
LP detector/ radio/ HW heater/ Reefer have a draw of about .5 Amps continuously, reefer draws 1 amp when gas valve is open, HW heater the same. This results in a usage of 12 to 15 AH a day.
Water pump uses 7 amps running for about 1.5 AH a day (7 amps times 15 min run per day)
our LED lights use about 2 amps when on (average 4 hours a day for total of 8 AH per day).
If you add these up, you're looking at most at about 30 AH per day. For us that is an easy week on a full charge. Some recommend never going below 50% of battery charge, for daily or very regular discharge, probably worth sticking to; for occasional use going to 20% is no problem.
Changing to LED lamps is the easiest way to greatly extend your staying time.
In cold weather, the furnace will KILL your battery in no time; time for a relatively large solar system or a generator.
There is a bit of a learning curve. It takes some thought BEFORE you buy to design/purchase/install and yes, use a solar charging system.
The most basic thing to remember is, you MUST figure out what you want to run (loads) how long you want to run them (amp hours) and whether or not your panels can generate enough during the day to put that ban into the batteries (amps)
I set up my system after a lot of thought and it works great! I am almost 100% self sufficient except for the A/C and I only use my microwave for 10 minutes or less. So far no problems at all.
I wrote a 6(!) part series of articles for the RVnewsletter all about each phase.
I want to buy a solar panel of 1000watt to run my catering business and fulfill consumption of electricity. I want to know how much it going to cost me as you know 1000watt is a huge amount of power so money also going to be a lot. I have seen some solar panels at my neighbor houses, they share their saving information, I have found some companies name for buying solar panel. hopefully it will help me.
Yep, swap your most used lights to LED's. We camp 3-4 days a pop also but have foregone solar and use a beefed up battery bank instead. We recharge at home. We have yet to go below 85% SOC and that's furnace use and 2.5 hours per day of watching sat TV. Even though we don't have solar, I think a mix of both (battery capacity and solar) is good. I would probably recommend a single 200W panel and three Trojan T1275 12V batteries.
mena661 wrote: Yep, swap your most used lights to LED's. We camp 3-4 days a pop also but have foregone solar and use a beefed up battery bank instead. We recharge at home. We have yet to go below 85% SOC and that's furnace use and 2.5 hours per day of watching sat TV. Even though we don't have solar, I think a mix of both (battery capacity and solar) is good. I would probably recommend a single 200W panel and three Trojan T1275 12V batteries.
Mena - Thats starting to sound a bit like my system. But a 200 watt panel is a bit lite on the recharging side. The data I have seen suggest 3.5 amps per 100 ah of battery. PT says 60 watts per 100 ah minimum. These two methods are in close agreement.
Gale
Ham radio 73's from Gale N8GS
2009 GMC 2500HD Ext cab, LB 4x4 Duramax
2006 Cougar 290EFS (RK) Axle wt 8200#, Pin wt 1760#
B&W companion
2 Honda EU2000i IOTA DLS90 converter
4-Trojan T1275's(600Ah)+470W of solar w/ Outback FM-60 CC
Samlex 2000w PSW inverter
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. But a 200 watt panel is a bit lite on the recharging side. The data I have seen suggest 3.5 amps per 100 ah of battery. PT says 60 watts per 100 ah minimum. These two methods are in close agreement. 
