Stephen Trapani wrote:
Peter Bennett wrote:

The microwave, power tools (and possibly an electric
kettle) are OK, as they are short-term loads, and the total
ampere-hours used by them should be fairly low. The TV and boom box
would be on for longer periods, but are fairly low draw, so may also
be OK - but I would definitely want a separate starting battery!


So in order to do without the seperate starting battery I can manage
with careful planning, etc?

Only if you never go outside the range of SeaTow. If you have a
number of electrical loads, its only a matter of time before you wake
up and find the anchor light, plus the TV that you forgot to turn off,
has drained the batteries. So the question becomes, do you need to
start the engine to get back home? I would think that there is some
place you could find to stash a small AGM starting battery that would
greatly reduce this risk.

BTW, one of my "pet peeves" is using an inverter to power a small TV,
when there are plenty of TVs that run on DC more efficiently. You
should read the specs carefully, because many TVs have significant
loads, even when "turned off." For instance, my AC/DC 9 inch
Panasonic draw almost 2 Amps more when powered on AC, and that load
continues simply by being plugged in. This means that you could
inadvertently draw an extra 25 Amp-hours overnight from this alone.

There are other "forgotten" loads to think about. If you run the
propane through a shutoff solenoid, that may draw a half Amp. And if
you run it all night for a heater, you should have leak detector -
another small but constant load.