New and getting very confused - need some advice

helenandjeff
helenandjeff Forum Participant Posts: 1
edited February 2013 in Caravans #1

(Moved from Introductions)

Hi my husband Jeff and I are new to caravanning. We have bought a very old Elddis and spent half of last year sorting out the multiple problems that it presented! We fell in love with it and were very foolish in buying from someone perhaps less than reputable, but fortunately have now got it pretty much in working order. We are pretty broke, so are doing everything as cheaply as possible. We will be using the van a lot this year as we work at craft fairs, county shows etc and have 19 weekends away booked, plus 3 leisure breaks. So a busy season!

We really need some advice as at most of the shows we have no electric hook-up. We have been looking at generators and I've now seen the discussion about solar panels. Firstly, if we just use lights and the water pump, any idea how long our leisure battery is likely to last? Most of our breaks are 2 nights. We's ideally like to use tv, microwave etc, but I guess we have to live without those. Would we be better with a generator or solar panel to recharge it? Also, because of the age of our caravan, the gas fire is not safe to use. Can anyone suggest an alternative form of heating for when we don't have electricity? We're getting pretty confused at the moment and not sure what to get for the best, aspecially as we have limited funds. Thanks for any advice you can give.