Hello, new user here.

I searched the threads, and couldnt find anything on the topic, so if this has already been discussed elsewhere, I apologize.
My wife and i have a 2005 excursion limited weve affectionately nicknamed "The Baby Bus", as our 3 and 4 year old kids love it.
factory dvd player still works, ac works well, and it's their home away from home.
That being said, this thing is idling A LOT.
being a diesel, I dont want it idling all the time, but continued auxiliary usage does and has killed the batteries.
My question: is there a budget friendly way to either make it like an rv where we can supply power from our house, or make it where a portable power pack can supplement power?
I have decent mechanical knowledge, and am pretty handy with with electrical, not afraid to add or tie some wiring.

 

Whew...how many amps or watts do you suppose the system is drawing when in "use"? My 2000 Excursion has the 7.3L diesel in it and I swapped to a 240 amp Leece-Neville alternator that puts out 125 amps at idle. I also have 4 x 65 batteries installed along with 300 watts of solar panels on the roof. I run a 2000W inverter that powers a mini-fridge, microwave, coffee pot, air fryer and a Starlink terminal along with other devices such as laptop etc. The solar setup will provide 12-15 amps of 13.2V DC and that will keep the batteries and load up during these long summer days. At night I shut it all down. Every year some batteries need to be changed. Letting the diesel idle for long periods ain't gonna harm anything no matter what those guys in Utah say unless you have a newer egr Deff equipped truck. The only thing that lots of idling is gonna cost on these old diesels is the pocketbook burning $5 per gallon diesel fuel...$6 if you live in Illinois!

Some semis have a APU (Auxillary Power Unit) that runs off diesel. I never checked into those as this truck is already weighing in a 9,000 lbs and I don't need to be adding more weight onto it. I do know that RV's have 2 electrical systems. Chassis electrics and the house are separate. I have no idea what switchgear they use.

Hope that maybe helps?

 

for smaller drains, like under 10 amps,
get a good Battery tender and leave it plugged in full time,
mine is 6 amps, "Battery Tender" brand, when the truck is parked, it is plugged in.

if I don't, in 3 weeks time, the batteries are Dead Dead....
why? dunno, been looking on and off for 2 years, just gave up and installed the Battery tender.