# Camper newbie-generator help



## mrscml (Mar 3, 2009)

Hello everyone!
My husband and I are new to the whole camper thing. We've always used wall-tents!

Anyway, so we just bought a 19foot camper for us and our kiddos and we realized that we need a generator. 

We will NOT be using the a/c so the generator will be for using lights, microwave use, maybe a tv/dvd player and HEAT in October. 

Any ideas as far as what size we need? If it matters, we bought an '09 mallard sport 18cks (I think).

We can find some coleman generators (I want to say 1800 or something) for around $200 or so used. But, I want an idea of what is a good generator to have and roughly what size we need.


----------



## bodawg (Dec 4, 2008)

Keep in mind the cheaper ones are generally considerably louder.


----------



## happiestcamper (Mar 6, 2008)

Lights and heat will run off the battery, a tv/dvd can run off a cheap inverter plugged into the 12 volt - all for a certain length of time. A microwave would require a generator. Being in Idaho, your heater may run down the battery pretty quickly. What will drain the battery the quickest is anything that has a motor - water pump, fans, etc. This includes the fan in your heater. The tv won't take too much, the dvd will take a little more as it has a small motor to turn the disc.

Like Bodawg said, cheaper is usually louder for the size you need. Get one of the quiet hondas - you can get the 1000 watt for about 700 and the 2000 for about one grand. If you are going to run the microwave, I would suggest you get the 2000 watt. Run it for several hours a day to recharge your battery, during the time you would use the microwave - you should be fine. Mind you , when you run the microwave, the honda will kick out of econo mode, and be louder during that time.

You can also get another battery to increase the length of time you have power. When you hook it up in tandem, put the positive to positive and the negative to negative - that will keep it at 12 volts. If you run one of them positive to negative, you'll end up with 24 volts.

:welcome: Welcome aboard. The next camping trip where it rains a lot, you will definitely appreciate the camper over a tent.


----------



## mailfire99 (Nov 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forums!

Here is a little more reading on generators

http://www.campercommunity.com/forum/rv-camper-discussions/365-rv-generator.html


----------

