Quote: Originally posted by David111 on 09/8/2018
Thank you everyone for your help and advice.
I have now bought a 100 MA leisure battery as nothing bigger would fit into the battery compartment in my caravan.
I have also bought a 3000w Power inverter to run the smaller appliances in the van. (Do you think this would be powerful enough to run a hairdryer?)
I will then use the generator to recharge as and when it is needed.
It would be powerful enough to run a hairdryer.......if you bought another 5 batteries to power it. It will probably flatten the one you have now within minutes! A 3kw inverter will take a considerable amount of power on its own out of a 100ah battery, without connecting a hairdryer to it.
Never use anything containing a heating element off a battery.
I bought a 3000W inverter for my son, it was on a narrow boat so connected to 420 Ah of batteries, idea was to run washing machine with just a 4A shore supply, nothing wrong with theory, 25A charge and 250A drain for very short time when washing machine heater kicks in.
However it was a failure, the inverter let out expensive blue smoke twice, son sold boat and new owner fitted a more expensive true sine wave inverter that did work OK.
So to work you need around 150 kg of battery and a true sine wave inverter, so around £1500 if that is you can carry that weight in a caravan which I think is unlikely.
We were using batteries only half the recommended size, it recommends around 800 Ah for a 3 kW inverter OK with a narrow boat just remove some bricks, but not really an option with caravan.
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Quote: Originally posted by Octavia4x4 on 07/8/2018
We spend most of our caravanning off grid using the C&CC 3/5day meets and temporary holiday sites, cheap, more outings, longer stays. I have a 110amp battery and it keeps charged up for free using sun power! I use a 150w solar panel which gives out 8amps in full sun, also have a 150w inverter to charge up a laptop, shaver and to charge up phones and watches I use a USB adaptor which just plugs into the 12v socket. Cooking, fridge, hot water and heating off gas, just use a larger cylinder which works out cheaper.
Something to consider using solar power and get out more off grid. If you use club meets there is often restrictions on generators, you can only use them at certain times through the day.
Looks the way forward to me campers. Like it Oct 👍😀
The cost of setting up properly for serious off grid holidays are very high, possibly higher than the extra cost of using sites with hook up. Could be worth while checking the cost of the very sensible upgrades suggested versus how many nights per annum on £15 a night basic sites versus £22 a night with all facilities outside of the high season prices. I stuck with sites with hook up for the reason of cost being worthwhile. Generator, Big solar panels, Inverters as a package were so expensive I could get more holidays in on hook up sites than on cc`s for less money. Plenty of basic sites now have hook up as well.
I use a 2KW Honda inverter generator when caravanning on disused WW2 airfields.
It is very quiet charging batteries etc but when I use the microwave it is rather audiable
I use a 110 AH leisure battery in the caravan, a 100AH car battery for my starter rollers and a 16AH motor bike battery in my hand held starter