Just bought a new glacier 16’ house. It currently has one battery that it came with. I plan on running generator part of the day or most of the day but at night I don’t want to worry about refilling in the middle of the night. Will one battery get me through the entire night with a tv also running until we go to bed?
Or should I get another battery and hook it up parallel for double the run time?
Or what do you guys do?
With a forced air furnace, you might not make it until morning. My 8×17 Ice Castle would often crash about 5:00 am. No fun! I added a battery and had no more
problems. A premium battery or a group 31 would help if space an issue.
With a forced air furnace, you might not make it until morning. My 8×17 Ice Castle would often crash about 5:00 am. No fun! I added a battery and had no more
problems. A premium battery or a group 31 would help if space an issue.
I agree. Battery will last until just about morning +- depending on how often the furnace has to kick on…I’ve been lazy and just kept the one battery setup. What I do is just fill the generator up sometime before bed so it can make it part way through the night and then the battery takes over until morning. I’m guessing the gas I burn is roughly the same cost in the long run vs adding another battery and the associated maintenance.
Congrats CT!
As you get used to it you’ll become more & more efficient. I thought about adding a battery but I usually just keep the generator fired up. They’ll be some variables, is it +30° or -20, LOTW with high winds or a smaller lake with tall pines on shore etc…
Whenever you take your last leak of the night top off the gas on the generator.
Let’s see some pics!
I’ve got a Yamaha 2200 inverter and its not unusual for me to get ten hours out of a tank of gas (1.25 gallons)
I’ve got a Yamaha 2200 inverter and its not unusual for me to get ten hours out of a tank of gas (1.25 gallons)
I was looking at the 2200 Yamahas online but can’t seem to find anyone local with them in stock. I have a champion 3500 watt generator now but that thing would be loud I would think on the ice. I like that the Yamaha has a bigger fuel tank than the Honda’s.
I don’t have any pics of it yet. They should be delivering it to me the next day or 2. Had a few small issues they needed to fix before I brought it home.
Get another battery. Like said above, if you go to bed and shut generator off around 11pm the battery will run out around 5am. Not cool. And that’s just if you have furnace an tv running. Plug in a bubbler for minnows and a 12v fan or 110v fan on an inverter, you will run out of juice before that even. Two group 27’s or 31’s will get you until noon or so. I don’t know where you plan on fishing, but a little secret me and the buddies figured out on heavy pressured lakes (Mille Lacs, Red) the guy who runs the generator the least, catches the most fish. We did “experiments” that last 3 years. You will have fun. Get a good group of guys to go with on a regular basis and it is a blast!
Get another battery. Like said above, if you go to bed and shut generator off around 11pm the battery will run out around 5am. Not cool. And that’s just if you have furnace an tv running. Plug in a bubbler for minnows and a 12v fan or 110v fan on an inverter, you will run out of juice before that even. Two group 27’s or 31’s will get you until noon or so. I don’t know where you plan on fishing, but a little secret me and the buddies figured out on heavy pressured lakes (Mille Lacs, Red) the guy who runs the generator the least, catches the most fish. We did “experiments” that last 3 years. You will have fun. Get a good group of guys to go with on a regular basis and it is a blast!
Sounds good, I will get another battery. I have plenty of room to add another one. Will be fishing with my father and brother alot of the times and have a few buddies I could drag along at times to pay for my gas ha. Our son is 7 and want to get him out there with us also. 
If you’re considering a different generator look at the Champion 2000 Dual Fuel it runs on gas or propane and is every bit as quiet as a Honda and will run you about $600. I run off my battery all day and then switch to the genny at night on a 20lb propane tank and let the battery recharge all night. I usually listen to music all day stream from my phone to a bluetooth speaker. At night I like the tv on and I sleep with the tv on all night. I’ll switch to the generator usually just before dark. Champion says you should get about 24 hours run time on a 20lb propane tank with the generator on ECO mode.
Our son is 7 and want to get him out there with us also.
Oh yeah. The kids get first seat in my fish house. Buddies had to get their own houses. 😂
Wow, what timing! Friday I became a first time wheel house owner, 6.5×14 Yetti. Spending some time yesterday and today researching this exact question.
Starting to figure out the math of how many watts aka amps will be consumed. My first look is that it’s about the tv. If we stay simple and just run furnace plus a couple led lights the former owner talked about getting a weekend on just the battery. Bring two just in case.
However as soon as we add a tv the power consumption goes up. Worse if you add a blu ray player, Helix 7 or two, cell phones, etc. Looks like a generator is mandatory unless it’s just couple hour outing. I’m new to this math so I may be wrong.
Keep up the comments please, this is very helpful 
Might as well jump on board. Congrats Coletrain. I also just picked up a Castle and was wondering what to do on the generator also. Ice cap how long have you had the Champion and how has it been. Also looking for alternatives to the Honda cost.
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Might as well jump on board. Congrats Coletrain. I also just picked up a Castle and was wondering what to do on the generator also. Ice cap how long have you had the Champion and how has it been. Also looking for alternatives to the Honda cost.
I bought the Champion at the start of last season and used it pretty heavily last season. Had no issues at all. You lose a couple hundred watts of output running on propane but nothing serious. The only time it would kick out of the ECO mode is when I would make a cup of coffee in the morning. Look at the wattage ratings of all the extra appliances you buy. tv’s aren’t big wattage eaters. The Champion has a lot of other features you won’t find on the Honda’s like the front panel readout a led light that lights up the fuel fill hole for fueling at night etc.
Here’s a link to the generator.
Champion Dual Fuel Generator
Can’t wait for ice now! 
40B9A076-F5E5-44AA-94AB-AF2B2C45F9ED.jpeg
Can’t wait for ice now!
Nice rig! A word of caution on those doors in front on the V. The truck tires can throw slush up on the doors. And if you’re traveling up to Red or LOTW your door can be a frozen block of ice by the time you get there. I seen a guy out in the parking lot at West Wind chipping ice from all around his door one time. At least put tape over the locks when travelling to keep the locks from getting moisture in them and then freezing and some good mud flaps on the truck.
I added 2- 200ah batteries to my house years ago, I can go for 4-5 days without recharging them, generator is back up incase something fails, haven’t run one in years. Quieter houses catch more fish…..
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Coletrain27 wrote:</div>
Can’t wait for ice now!
Nice rig! A word of caution on those doors in front on the V. The truck tires can throw slush up on the doors. And if you’re traveling up to Red or LOTW your door can be a frozen block of ice by the time you get there. I seen a guy out in the parking lot at West Wind chipping ice from all around his door one time. At least put tape over the locks when travelling to keep the locks from getting moisture in them and then freezing and some good mud flaps on the truck.
Thanks for the advice. Some tape over the locks is a good idea. I have big mud flaps plus homemade rock tamers that are 24” wide on each side on my truck also
Yep after my post I looked a little closer at you’re pic and seen the flaps and rock tamers you are good to go but the tape is a easy thing to do and might save you a little hassle someday. I’m predicting early ice up north here we are getting down in the 40’s at night already. Hopefully you get to enjoy that new rig sooner than later.
I’m excited. I’m gonna take it camping at least once before I get it on the ice and get myself familiar with everything a little more
I know most say get another battery but I run a 31 group deep cycle. I get a full day no problem. More like 1.5 to 2 days. I run the furnace, led lights, tv and dvd player.
If you are fishing panfish the generator is no big deal but in 10′-20′ of water you can scare the walleye away easily. Mind you this is on a real lake and not a lake like Red where the fish could care less.
Congrats on the new house!
I had similar experiences as Joe with my battery life in the IC we used to own; a group 27 battery would last us throughout the night easily, here again, only running the furnace at night, all LED’s in the house. we did not have a inverter setup to run the TV though.
I have two group 27’s in my Grey Wolf and as long as it’s not blowing too bad or REALLY cold I’ll sometimes shut the generator off at night, and will mostly shut it off during the day. But if it is going to be really cold or blowing snow I will leave it run to try avoid situations where it won’t want to start in the crappy weather. We have a 2000w Honda FWIW.
I know most say get another battery but I run a 31 group deep cycle. I get a full day no problem. More like 1.5 to 2 days. I run the furnace, led lights, tv and dvd player.
If you are fishing panfish the generator is no big deal but in 10′-20′ of water you can scare the walleye away easily. Mind you this is on a real lake and not a lake like Red where the fish could care less.
Congrats on the new house!
Hey Joe! Last winter I ran my generator in the bed of my truck with moving blankets on it, exhaust aimed out the tailgate. It was pretty quiet.
Thoughts? TIA!
Hey Joe! Last winter I ran my generator in the bed of my truck with moving blankets on it, exhaust aimed out the tailgate. It was pretty quiet.
Thoughts? TIA!
No one knows for sure but your set up sounds like it would work in most situations. The situation below has been my experience…
I had a spot all to myself for an entire winter. I either used my batteries or I ran a hundred foot extension cord to my generator. I caught walleye all winter long.
The following year, same spot same quality walleye action. Then I had another house move in on me 30′ away and dropped a generator between us. That night I caught a few the following morning only caught one the next two nights I was out there and “Mr. generator” was there as well. Never caught another walleye. So the generator guy moves his house out I give it a couple weeks and try it again, the walleye didn’t come back that winter…
I’ve also fished where the generator didn’t seem to bother the walleye at all but some times it can really push fish out of an area. I think in general they are not a big fan of noise at all. I’ve definitely had numerous issues where noise killed a good walleye bite.
Again like I said earlier, panfish could care less. Anytime I’m in a group of crappie houses I think the noise might actually help fishing. Let the generators fly and have every amenity you want. But when it comes to walleye less is more.
One more past experience for you guys. Take it for what its worth.
I’ve been on other clear Alexandria lakes where we couldn’t even have the lights on to catch fish. We needed to dim the lights way down so the light didn’t go down the hole.
The only way I figured this out was I set up tip ups. Tip-ups would go up constantly. So without knowing our lights were the issue, we moved the house where the tip-ups were and set tip-ups where the house used to be.
That night we caught nothing in the house again and the tip-ups continued to go up all night long. That’s when we figured out it was us and not the spot.
Might as well get the first beer spill out of the way before you let Al in there!
Might as well get the first beer spill out of the way before you let Al in there!
Ha! 10 minutes fishing with him and I would rather go outside and fish in the 0 degree weather than listen to all the questions he would have! 
Thanks Joe!
Right on Colerain! You’re gonna have a blast.
Mine has a door on the V. I really like it there as far versatility, the b.r. is right there to hang up stuff. As far as ice it does happen. I put a deadbolt on my door and cut a piece of a silicone baking matt and screwed it above and secure the bottom with a small piece of aggressive hook & loop. A rubber mallet will do the rest.
I don’t lock the doorknob while traveling.
Try not to enjoy two many beverages in it tonight!
I use Katz covers w/sleeves, has anyone tried covering their covers so light doesn’t pass through? If so, have you noticed a difference in fish reaction? Last year I was fishing by cribs in about 15 ft of water and couldn’t get a walleye to commit. Had many come to bait, but when they got close they’d steer away. My initial reaction was they’re pressured fish or may have been caught early ice, but I began wondering if it was light from the house. I also think some fish shy away from the house when there’s very little snow on the ice due to the shadow. Or lastly, many fish, especially walleye, are lookers and not biters.
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