Things you may not give a second thought about while in your home may become crucial while you are out Boondocking.

I am talking about parasitic loads on your electrical system. Small parasitic loads can reduce your battery voltage and shorten your Boondocking stay.

Seemingly small things like a digital clock on your stereo, or a digital volt meter with an LED display can zap electrons from your battery and shorten your stay. Some things you may not even think about could also become parasitic loads; for example: if you are charging your cell phone and you unplug the phone from the cord without removing the charger from the 12 volt outlet, the charger could still be using up your battery power even though you are no longer charging the cell phone. Also, if you have installed any USB ports that work off of your 12 volt system, those too could be sucking electrons from your battery even though you are not actively using them.

One thing to remember: YOUR PROPANE DETECTOR AND/OR SMOKE DETECTORS ARE NOT PARASITIC LOADS !!! These devices are Life Saving Necessities and YOU SHOULD NEVER DISABLE THEM while the Camper is occupied.

The easiest way to prevent parasitic loads, is to install power switches on any devices which might cause them. For example: install a power switch for your USB ports, your voltage monitor and even for your 12 volt outlets.

PS: if you have a powered TV antenna be certain to switch it off when you are not using it.