RV Battery - Alternatives to Self-Heated Battery?

[will.climbs]

Building out my truck campers electrical system.

400w solar on the way, with an MQTT + DC DC 50a controller from Renogy, as well as an inverter that's already in the truck camper.

I bought this self-heating litime 100ah battery, Link Here

With plans to buy another to run in parallel for 200ah total. But today an amazing deal came up and I bought this 400ah litime battery Link Here

I'm looking for any suggestions on battery heaters or temperature cut-offs to prevent discharging the battery below the recommended temperature, or to heat the battery in these cases as well. Truck camper does have a propane furnace!

Thanks in advance!

 

[HarryN]

The best solution is to use a fuel powered heater to keep the truck camper at 5 - 10 C - all of the time.

Battery heaters are intended to be an emergency back up method, not "the method" to keep them warm.

 

[will.climbs]

The best solution is to use a fuel powered heater to keep the truck camper at 5 - 10 C - all of the time.

Battery heaters are intended to be an emergency back up method, not "the method" to keep them warm.

For sure. I do have propane furnace, but it does require battery power for fans etc.

Any thing I can do to make sure the battery doesn’t run or charge when it’s below temp as it doesn’t have those low temp cutoffs built in?

 

[HRTKD]

When my camper is actively being used, I don't need to heat the batteries. Some insulation of the battery or insulation of the compartment will help.

Adding warming pads to the outside of an off-the-shelf battery isn't as effective as when they're applied directly to the cells of a DIY battery. But it does work. I have a small LiFePO₄ battery on the tongue of my trailer with silicone warming pads on it. Then insulation around all that. It works.

If you use silicone pads, test the heck out of them before attaching them to the battery. I ran four of the silicone pads in series to keep them from getting too hot. A thermostat is necessary to manage the warming pads.

 

[will.climbs]

Yes I’m thinking now of a small thermostat heating pad setup in the battery compartment that would kick on at 5c and prevent the compartment from getting below 0. This is just for shoulder seasons not winter camping.

Does the Renogy DCDC MPPT 50a have low temperature shut off ? Having difficulty finding this answer

 

[HRTKD]

Does the Renogy DCDC MPPT 50a have low temperature shut off ? Having difficulty finding this answer

If you can't find it on the datasheet, it probably doesn't have that feature.

 

[will.climbs]

Never mind, I’m all good!

The renology mppt + dcdc charger has a thermometer and low temp cutoff for charging!

For warmth I’m only in shoulder seasons and have a propane furnace and will have the battery compartment relatively insulated, I was worried that I wasn’t able to discharge the battery below 0 degrees but that is not the case. I will have no problem keeping the battery above 0 anyway, as long as I’m able to discharge it to run the furnace, and it would only be dropping to below 0 briefly if ever anyway during shoulder seasons.

Thanks all!

 

[HRTKD]

Never charge below 32°F. You can discharge down to a lot colder than that. I still keep mine above 32°F for both charge and discharge.

 

[Flunkyboi]

When my camper is actively being used, I don't need to heat the batteries. Some insulation of the battery or insulation of the compartment will help.

Adding warming pads to the outside of an off-the-shelf battery isn't as effective as when they're applied directly to the cells of a DIY battery. But it does work. I have a small LiFePO₄ battery on the tongue of my trailer with silicone warming pads on it. Then insulation around all that. It works.

If you use silicone pads, test the heck out of them before attaching them to the battery. I ran four of the silicone pads in series to keep them from getting too hot. A thermostat is necessary to manage the warming pads.

What thermostat do you use?

 

[HRTKD]

What thermostat do you use?

In the prior camper I used this.

With the current camper I'm using the Cerbo GX's relay to turn on an external relay to turn on the warming pads

 

[HarryN]

For sure. I do have propane furnace, but it does require battery power for fans etc.

Any thing I can do to make sure the battery doesn’t run or charge when it’s below temp as it doesn’t have those low temp cutoffs built in?

You could use an AGM battery - or at least one - those will work down to quite low temperatures.

Using electricity to keep the battery warm will use a lot more power than running the propane furnace.

I am assuming that you have solar panels.

 

[HRTKD]

Using electricity to keep the battery warm will use a lot more power than running the propane furnace.

While I have never measured the power consumption of the warming pads over time, I have a suspicion that they're rather efficient as long as the battery is well insulated. On my old 12 volt system, I was surprised at how little power the warming pads consumed. After three days of multiple inches of snow on the roof panels the state of charge was still quite high.

 

[will.climbs]

Yeah this whole thread was my mistake - I was thinking I would be unable to discharge the battery below 0. As long as I can discharge it to use the furnace - the battery is inside!

Also there is no winter camping being planned anyway , was just making sure I had protection / a plan. The Renology DC DC + MPPT has low temp cutoff - I just need to be aware to not plug into shore power and use the progressive dynamics board to charge if there is any chance the battery is below 0.

 

[Ottox]

In the prior camper I used this.

With the current camper I'm using the Cerbo GX's relay to turn on an external relay to turn on the warming pads

Which relay and warming did you use?

 

[HRTKD]

Which relay and warming did you use?

Phoenix Contact PLC-RSC-60DC/21 48v-48v 6 amp

The warming pads were custom made by UltraHeat. Costly, but they're made to size and more importantly I trust them.

 

[Hedges]

If you get cold at night, share a sleeping bag with your partner.

Do the same for your batteries - put the two together, intimately in contact, inside an insulated box (ice chest).
The heat from one (with built-in heater) will keep the other comfortable.
Strapped together, maybe with thermal interface material between them.
Open lid of ice chest during warm weather.

 

[HRTKD]

Yeah this whole thread was my mistake - I was thinking I would be unable to discharge the battery below 0. As long as I can discharge it to use the furnace - the battery is inside!

Also there is no winter camping being planned anyway , was just making sure I had protection / a plan. The Renology DC DC + MPPT has low temp cutoff - I just need to be aware to not plug into shore power and use the progressive dynamics board to charge if there is any chance the battery is below 0.

Since you're in the Great White North, I'm assuming that you mean 0°C. Not everyone will read your location so in the future you might want to clarify °F or °C.

 

[HRTKD]

If you get cold at night, share a sleeping bag with your partner.

I really like my battery, but not enough to sleep with it!

 

[Hedges]

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