6v or 12v batteries, How many AH?

[Fatboyz]

Building my expediiton camper and planning my electrical. Probably the biggest draw will be the furnace during cold nights when the wood stove goes out. Also planning small flat screen TV and DVD player. Few 12v LED lights plus an Inverter/charger running a couple 110V LED lights.
What would be better 2 6V batteries or 2 12V batteries? Also what AH rating should I be looking at? I checked a battery source store for Scooter and Golf Cart Batteries. THey had 12v 75ah Golf cart batteries for $94.00 each, and 100 AH batteries for $241.00 each.
What's everyone using and any suggestions on capacity would be helpful. I read the threads in the sticky but am still confused. Also I have no idea what group 24, 31 etc means?
Thanks.

 

[DiploStrat]

This may help: https://cookfb.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/plan-electrical-system.pdf

The rest of the story is here: https://diplostrat.org/documents/

 

[comptiger5000]

How much physical space do you have available for batteries and is it a space where you have to lift each battery in there solo or can you have a helper to lift a heavy one? That will help determine what the practical options are for you, then from there it's time to figure out how much battery to go with.

 

[rruff]

What would be better 2 6V batteries or 2 12V batteries? Also what AH rating should I be looking at?

A 12v 100ah battery has the same energy as a 6v 200ah battery. The 12v would be connected in parallel yielding 12v 200ah, while the 6v batteries would be connected in series to yield the same; 2400wh (watt hours) in this case. This is not all usable though. Note that you should not drain below 50% if you want your batteries to last. And a full charge will be difficult also (saturation). So figure ~1000wh usable.

Figure out how much energy you need based on the wattage drain of your devices, and how long they will be on, and make sure your battery capacity and charging are enough for your situation.

 

[SoCal Tom]

The GC2 golf cart batteries ( 6v) are generally considered the cheapest AH/$. They are $85 at the local sams club and they are 215AH, so a pair of them gets you 215AH at 12V for $170. They are designed for deep discharges, so they can usually have a nice long life if treated right.

 

[Fatboyz]

Thanks for the info. I would have to grunt the batteries into a cupboard but shouldn't have an issue. As I live in Canada we don't have Sams club. I am looking at doing a bulk shipment of parts and stuff to a border shipping outlet. Most places ship free to the Lower 48. I would make one Run for the Border to pick it all up and could visit a Sams club while i"m there.