Drink, ebay and electrics...
Discussion
I am picking a Pennine Aztec folding camper up on Friday. I had originally planned to get a more modern one with fridge etc. already fitted, but a good condition, well maintained (hopefully), one turned up so I hit buy it now as I reached for the fourth bottle of beer...
So, I now need to fit 12v electrics - lighting, charging iPad / phones, kettle etc. At the moment, it has nothing (except gas, which I'll use to power a fridge and the burners / grill that is already there). Is there a guide / advice to put a leisure battery into a bare camper and have it charge through the tow-hitch? Is it worth integrating it with a 240v system for when we have electric hook-up (probably not that often tbh, most of our mates tend to stick with the basics). Is solar worth it, or is it not 'there' yet?
End-goal: reliable, habitable unit for two adults, a 5 and a 3 year old for UK adventures over long weekends as the focal point for other families who use smaller tents and extended summer holidays in Europe.
So, I now need to fit 12v electrics - lighting, charging iPad / phones, kettle etc. At the moment, it has nothing (except gas, which I'll use to power a fridge and the burners / grill that is already there). Is there a guide / advice to put a leisure battery into a bare camper and have it charge through the tow-hitch? Is it worth integrating it with a 240v system for when we have electric hook-up (probably not that often tbh, most of our mates tend to stick with the basics). Is solar worth it, or is it not 'there' yet?
End-goal: reliable, habitable unit for two adults, a 5 and a 3 year old for UK adventures over long weekends as the focal point for other families who use smaller tents and extended summer holidays in Europe.
If you are not going "off grid" maybe this will get you started.
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mobile-mains-kit-p1553...
We dont do much off grid and pay for hookup, we can use a kettle to boil water rather than using up our gas, we have a toaster as the van has no grill and we can charge phones use 240 lighting, we sometimes take a tv and sky box too.
We only use a small solar panel to keep the leisure battery topped up big panels cost big bucks and you need to find somewhere suitable to erect it away from footballs and other idiots walking into it etc.
Of course if you get the go outdoors unit above, you could be camping this weekend!
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mobile-mains-kit-p1553...
We dont do much off grid and pay for hookup, we can use a kettle to boil water rather than using up our gas, we have a toaster as the van has no grill and we can charge phones use 240 lighting, we sometimes take a tv and sky box too.
We only use a small solar panel to keep the leisure battery topped up big panels cost big bucks and you need to find somewhere suitable to erect it away from footballs and other idiots walking into it etc.
Of course if you get the go outdoors unit above, you could be camping this weekend!
Retro fitting 240v isn't the end of the world as long as you are confident in your own abilities however for the price you are far better off getting one of the mains starter kits from Go Outdoors. As for 12v, while a leisure battery is handy enough for charging phones or a few basic lights it isn't much use for anything else, boiling a 12v kettle takes an age, quicker to use gas to be honest.
Are you very likely to be off grid? If so i would have thought a cheapish 1kw genny would have been easier than messing with 12v
Are you very likely to be off grid? If so i would have thought a cheapish 1kw genny would have been easier than messing with 12v
I'll be mainly on campsites but away from the EHU points (as most of our mates tend to stick with basic tents),rather than purely off grid, so I think a generator would be frowned upon / vandalised in the middle of the night by fellow campers seeking a quiet night, So, I was thinking of having a leisure battery in the camper just for the basics. I picked the beastie up today and am going to set it up tomorrow if the weather is good so I'll have a bit more of a plan. For now though, it seems that an 80ah battery with a 80w solar cell could well be enough to last a week if it is just the occasional bits of light, charging iPad, phones, etc. subject to weather of course.
My main reason is so I have a fallback for the kids if the weather is bad (iPad jammed full of Pixar movies), plus access through 3/4G to emails etc.
My main reason is so I have a fallback for the kids if the weather is bad (iPad jammed full of Pixar movies), plus access through 3/4G to emails etc.
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