Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.


We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: Pet / RV Technical Question


RV-Dreams Community Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 23
Date:
Pet / RV Technical Question


Hello Everyone!
I have a question that I'm sure you all can answer. I still have a few years left to work full time and then some.  Sooo while I'm at work the cats would be at home in the rig. I'd like to ensure that while away the cats will be comfortable.

I know homes have generators that will kick in when the power drops so you never really have an interruption in service. Is there such a thing for RV's? And could a generator run at least one AC unit and keep the rig tolerable for up to 8 hours? My concerns are mostly for during summers, temps get over 100 with 10000% humidity...

Any thoughts would be extremely helpful...

Best Regards,
She-Nist

__________________
She-Nist

2002 F-450 SuperDuty Lariat - 7.3L Diesel (Grunt...Grunt...Grunt)
Fiver - in the spring of 2010



RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 1438
Date:

I think you need about 2000 watts to run a generator and most built in ones are larger. For portables you would need 2 tied together. I've never heard of an RV equivalent to an emergency generator that goes on automatically on power failure, but I'm sure others will comment.

A question comes to mind though, how did pets evolve for the last 20,000 years, before air conditioning?

Good luck,



__________________
Fred Wishnie

Full time since Feb 06 in Carriage Cameo 35KS3 and Ford F350


“If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.”


RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 73
Date:

I worry about this whenever we are someplace hot. (Wouldn't that be nice this year?) Our solution is when we are in a park we leave the air conditioning on for the cats, but we also have two fantastic fans set to come on if the temperature gets above 85 degrees. The fantastic fans pull out a huge amount of air. I think Iread somewhere that the fantastic fans completely change the air in an RV in 10-15 minutes. Because the fantastic fans run on 12 volt, we don't have to worry about a park having a power outage. I have heard horrible stories of animals dying in trailers left in the extreme heat.

__________________


RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 3721
Date:

We stay in full hookup campgrounds and use their power when it is hot to run the air conditioning and our cat is fine. Most boondockers I know, who camp without hookups, camp where the temps are more moderate and will also go to a campground when it is too hot. Running the generator all day costs more than campground electric in most cases. Yes the campground power can go out, but it is not a big worry since it is a rare occurrence.
We have boondocked in the 80s, like last October in Zion National Park, and with the windows cracked open and our fantastic fan on.  Our cat survived fine and she has long hair.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 20:22, 2009-02-01

__________________

Bill Joyce,
40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid
Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com
Full-timing since July 2003



RV-Dreams Community Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 10
Date:

The unit that I have been doing some research on is the Cummins Autostart , which according to the website will only start the generator if shorepower is NOT present and batteries get low or the RV gets too hot.   They say the main two reasons for this device are batteries and pets, in my case I want it for the safety of my pet.   We have another year before we are full-timing; so I still have some time to do further research and see what other options (if any) are available.   

Hopefully someone else can give you more input. 

Sandy



__________________

John, Sandy & Koko
 

http://www.mothershiprv.com/

2007 HR Ambassador SKT

Full-timing January 2010

2009 Honda CRV



RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 770
Date:

We use full hookups also and have 2 dogs. We do not leave them for very many hrs in our RV. We do leave a window open and a ceiling fan on. I do not know of a Cummins Autostart as you have mentioned.
southwestjudy


__________________
Judy & Bob & 2blackdogs
www.mytripjournal.com/elitesuitestravels


RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 544
Date:

She-Nist,

We had two medium size dogs with lots of fur, they were similar to a husky. I had our RV equipped with two Fantastic Vent fans that are thermostat controlled. Our 5th wheel is well insulated against the heat, so it is rare that the temperature inside is as high as the outside temperature.

When we left the dogs in the RV, we would leave the airconditioner on and set the Fantastic Fans to come on at 68 degrees. That way if the power went out at the park the fans would circulate the air.

We also put out a couple of big bowls of water.

One time we went on a 3 hour tour that lasted 12 hours, we were worried about the dogs, because we were boondocking and had no A/C. The Fantastic Fans were going and they were fine when we finally got back to the RV.

I think you'll find cats and dogs will tolerate the heat a lot better than most humans. Their fur plus other anatomical features are designed to help keep them cool in heat and warm in cold.

Our dogs would basically stop moving when hit got above 80 degrees. They would stretch out, pant and drink lots of water, but move as little as possible. They would also move from the carpet or couch to the tile floor where it was cooler.

We had them in 110 degree heat for a few days in a row and it didn't seem to bother them any more than 80 degrees did.

__________________
Larry
"Small House, Big Yard "
7 years to go to FT
Alfa See-Ya 5'er and 2007 Kodiak C4500 Monroe Pickup


RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 1192
Date:

My Monaco Diplomat has Auto Generator Start. There are several "triggers" that will cause the generator to start. I do not use this feature but I have documentation if you need more information.

This was a factory installed option but I assume they can be added by dealers. I think it would depend on if the installed appliances, and, if they supply the needed signals to the generator start device, ie. coach temperature, battery charge level, etc.

__________________

2018 Thor Windsport 35M -- 2018 Camry Toad

-- USAF Retired -- Full-timing since December 2007 - Part-Timing since July 2011
VisitedStatesMap.jpg
http://http://travelingrvwx.com/



RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 3721
Date:

Magnum Energy, who also make great 2000watt and larger inverter/chargers, makes a generator start that has its own thermometer and it also monitors the battery voltage. It can start the generator based on temperature or low battery voltage. The ME-AGS-S is a standalone unit that does not need a Magnum inverter. That same web page has a link to generators they know how to hook up to and a pdf file to set up your own hookup for generators that do not have the support built-in.

__________________

Bill Joyce,
40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid
Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com
Full-timing since July 2003



RV-Dreams Community Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 23
Date:

Thanks for all the great replies everyone! I really appreciate all the input. I went to a local NuWa dealer Monday and asked the same question to the parts department manager who said "there's no such thing for RV's"
Hmmmmm...I've considered sending in a male 'spy' to find out if he would get the same answer I received. But really it's not worth my time...and that dealership lost lots of points on my scale of one to ten.

If anyone else has any thoughts I'd be more than happy to entertain them...I'm trying to consider every angle when making the switch to an RV...the kitties' comfort is priority one.

Happy Tails to everyone!
She-Nist


__________________
She-Nist

2002 F-450 SuperDuty Lariat - 7.3L Diesel (Grunt...Grunt...Grunt)
Fiver - in the spring of 2010



RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 1192
Date:

I've been told most 5'ers and tt's do not come equipped with a generator (I have a Class A). Might have had something to do with their response (but I doubt it). I'm with you, find a different dealer.

__________________

2018 Thor Windsport 35M -- 2018 Camry Toad

-- USAF Retired -- Full-timing since December 2007 - Part-Timing since July 2011
VisitedStatesMap.jpg
http://http://travelingrvwx.com/



RV-Dreams Family Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 32
Date:

Another wonderful thread that helps out others as well. I have been worrying myself about my dogs while working down here in Brunswick. It's starting to get hot and humid down here and I was fretting about things like AC failure or power outages etc. and it would just kill me to come home to something tragic as I have to leave them in the TT all day while I work. I just ordered the fantastic fans for my RV and will feel better after installing them.

__________________
David and dogs (Buddy and Carol Lee)
Terry 27 TT w/one slide. E350 Ford 6.8 V10
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us