How to thrive on a non 240v site!
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Meanwhile, to link to the new super-thread, does this help, assuming it works?
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That's handy as that just round the corner for me and may help sway me to Safefill.
Can I ask where you got your information?
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In the Lakes and set up on a non EHU site and we are the only van. Been into Penrith after consulting mylpg.eu. Ullswater Road Garage, Penrith allows Safefill. - topped my 20lt cylinder up with 13.3lts - £7.71 - oh I do love my Safefills!! The Safefill map is not up to date. Mylpg.eu are taking over Safefills map and are keeping it up to date and putting info that particular sites are Safefill friendly sites. I would suggest that this site be visited if you are looking for refilling.
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So now I have confirmed that a local filling station will fill Safefill I will be investing in a 10ltr in the morning, plus I have just acquired a 1500/3000w inverter so that completes the kit shame I don't have the weight for another battery but the 100amp will have to do.
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That's fantastic Karl. You won't regret it. I still remember the day I first bought a Safefill cylinder - I just couldn't believe the money I was saving! If you are worried about weight, Would the towcar carry the battery? Could you not wire it in when you arrive on site? You could wire the tails in ready to accept it? Or are you sticking to one battery? Are you wiring your inverter through a 12v relay to switch so that you can switch it off and kill it completely when it's not in use? Please post your progress with your project - I would love to know how you get on (and what you think about it) and I'm sure all the others would too. Good luck.
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Was thinking about how to wire it in, would like to wire it into the existing mains, but need to be able to switch it out so when the wife goes away and she wants the EHU then I would not need to do too much to stop the 240v feeding the wrong way into the inverter.
i could carry another battery but one will do for the moment, I do have another 85amp in the shed if I wanted a spare, but see how we go as we don't do more than 5 days away at a time yet.
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you can make this as simple or complicated as you wish.....
my batteries are in the centre of the van, under the floor and the inverter is mounted in tne same hatch.
one socket is available at that point (this spurs off to the Sky HD box which is installed under the adjacent seat) and an extension is run rearwards to the garage to provide power for our electric bike battery chargers.
other installations do have relays which use the output of the inverter as the input to the whole 240v system, once the inverter is switched on.
i dont know exactly where this feed is made (in lieu of the one from the bollard) but received wisdom is that it should NOT be by manually feeding the external EHU socket as, amongst other things, you will be trying to charge your batteries via an inverter from the same (but depleting) batteries
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So we turned up to our site last night a CL nr Crieccieth, Penralt Bach. This is a new CL and when we enquired a couple of months ago The owners had said it wasn't open because they haven't had time to instal ehu. Told them didn't matter and they said ok. Anyway turn up yesterday and they have installed 2 ehu points which are occupied. We pitch and the man from one of the vans came out and said you realise that there is no ehu that side of the field. No problem we say and pitch up. Later on we are talking to the owners and they said once they have advertised ehu they are getting plenty phone calls and bookings.
Now for the sad part we are paying £7 per night if we had electric it is £14 per night. The sad part is not that the landowner is charging that, it is the fact that there is the demand to be charged double for something you don't need this time of year. Spent last night watching TV and the battery is now fully charged and that is in dull showery conditions. People are throwing money away through ignorance
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two fortnights spent on a site with this level of discount and it would pay for the largest Safefill, incl postage
...and folk say the payback time is too long
...and after that its gravy, as they say
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We can keep saying it Boff but only one or two are listening! On site up in the Lakes - watching tele at the moment, have had our 2 phones, I pad, Kindle Bluetooth speaker, and the Wifi unit charged together of course with pumps and we'll have all the lighting tonight we want- all from the power of the sun. You can lead a horse to water............
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As the cl has now found, their bookings have increased since advising they have EHU ,and by the increasing amount of posts wanting "serviced" pitches then it can only be that more CLs will need to go down that route to stay in business ,and Hardstands if other posts from the motor caravan fraternity are taken note of,and considering the the cost of installing EHU and annual testing and cost of member caused repairs(most cc ehu problems),then prices are sure to rise to compensate
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7:00am Sunday, battery voltage 12.89v. Accurately checked with a multimeter. Just to make it clear I didn't set the alarm so I could test the voltage. I was looking for a permanent live feed for a project while the coffee was brewing
The money saved won't be going on another safefill bottle. Yesterday afternoon Mrs Boff managed to drop a bottle of wine when putting it the fridge and managed to take out not one but two of the door shelves
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Funny/sad though it may be I take great pleasure in checking my battery when on solar! Admittedly by the button not a multimeter but to me there is something very satisfying about saving money and the planet!
Poor Mrs Boff! I had a bottle of red fall from a cupboard made a good mess of the carpet too.
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We have come a long way from the original concept of caravanning haven't we? At one time, land owners were not trying 'to stay in business ' - it was more a benevolent action of 'making a few bob' or 'putting some spare land to use' and it suited both the caravaner and the land owner. Now we see the demands of caravanners increasing demanding serviced pitches, which demands that electric AND plumbing and drainage be put to each pitch and the weights of MHs increasing demanding hard standings. Can we wonder then at the ever increasing prices that CLs HAVE to ask for!! Some moaning that their prices are approaching that of Club Sites. Is it any wonder really? If they provide the same facilities as club sites, what makes them able to supply it any cheaper? The fact is, you want it - you pay for it. 4 yrs ago I started to reject this form of caravanning as unnecessary expense. I could see the way it was going. I spent money on going non EHU and it was an investment that has given me money by saving it, not the other was round! Not only that, I have found a new and satisfying way of visiting beautiful places without worrying about the cost of it in the slightest. A way of being completely comfortable without all the paraphernalia and completely unnecessary additions that the modern Millie caravanner is now demanding. I just hope that the CLs that have not introduced EHUs etc begin to see increased business as people realise the potential of the modern techs. It would be a real pity and an immense loss if these little and beautiful sites slowly disappeared because people can't be bothered to fill the aquaroll or empty the loo! How pathetic. I am in the Lakes at the moment paying £5.50 per night. My grey water is pumped away into a hedge with my 12v auto bilge pump unit, the water is 20 yds away and the Elsan point 30 yds away- My heating is on to remove that early morning chill- which it has been very effective, my water is lovely and piping hot using gas in my Safefill cylinder, all my electronic gizmos are charged including my toothbrush on USB, The battery monitor shows full and not an EHU in sight! It's just me and the OH on this break but last time in Dorset it was 4 adult and 2 kids and it was equally successful. I for one will continue to reject this creeping commercialisation of CLs and seek out the real meaning and culture of caravanning in the great outdoors. The club, at one time would have been of the same opinion. Not any longer it would appear!
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Merge, just thinking out loud ,so I might be wide of the mark ,so here goes,could CL owners fit a solar panel to each of their pitches for vans to use rather than the cost of installing EHU , those without a panel could "hookup" and see the benifits of the system and it would be a lower cost option for the CL owner
as I say ,just thinking out loud and prepared to be shot down
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Absolutely Husky, in fact, there is an enterprising CL in Oxfordshire that has done exactly that and through it, people have found (surprise surprise) that they don't need EHU! And here's me in the middle of nowhere being able to be on Wifi and keep in touch! - again- modern technology. Keep thinking out loud!
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Not trying to shoot you down. But if you look on amazon or Ebay. You can get solar panels for around about £1 per Watt. The controller that looks identical to the one badged as Truma can be had for around £30 pounds from photonics universe, sure it would available in other places as well. As long as you steer clear of special panels designed for the Leisure industry, pure marketing BS imho. Solar setups are cheap. The other proof of this the number of new vans offered with factory fit panels as standard. We all know the British caravan ( cottage) industry, loves bling, hates paying for it.
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Thanks for a mention Merve.
Anyone came come and stay and there is no charge to use the Solar Unit - so you can try a setup before purchasing your own!
For booking/enquires - book on-line or email: newton.grove@btconnect.com
See our Facebook page
Regards, John Clifton
NEWTON GROVE, Barford Road, South Newington, BANBURY, OX15 4LN
E: newton.grove@btconnect.com
P: 07722 918265
W: newtongrove.co.uk
See Sites Directory 2017/2018” on page 440, entry no: 1273,2 -
Sorry John, I was racking my brains to remember the details but I am in the Lakes and haven't got my caravan 'bible ' with me- yes, Newton Grove. Now, here's an opportunity for any interested party or, dare I say, the doubters, to go and try it for a week! What have you got to lose? Nothing and you have everything to gain. Again John, sorry for not remembering your quite brilliant site with such a forward thinking owner! How's it going by the way. Please, whenever possible, regail us with your stories of people's reaction when they unplug from the matrix and become truly independent!! We look forward to it.
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It pays to buy quality Boff, no doubt about that. The caravan industry has a golden opportunity to lead the way in showing what SPs can do- unfortunately it's the designers that dictate and they are always about 5 yrs behind the times. What are the technicians doing- I'll tell you- they are more interested in making vans more power hungry than ever rather than building a van with the equipment where it is as happy off grid as it is on- it would suggest that these people are not caravanners- not the best platform to work off might I suggest- a 100 w panel is the most I've heard of fitted to a van by a manufacturer - it's better than nothing but it only just about starting level- 150w is more like it.
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Not a problem Merve I appreciate you even remembering I was in Oxfordshire, I follow this great thread anyway and also have a link from my website to it.
We had our first ever full site for one night this week (after 4 years of being open) although there was a mass exodus the next morning for the Fairport Convention at Cropredy!
Have had two guests return so far that have said will great satisfaction “don’t need the solar unit this time as we have our own”.
Keep up the good work. All the best John
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I would say that a 100W panel is a lot better than nothing. I don't anyone here to use it as an excuse. For example we would go off grid but we only have got a 100W panel.
The point I was trying to make was that manufacturers must be able to get solar systems really cheaply they fit them as a feature not a benefit. Because they arent a benefit if you never go off hook up.
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I suppose it all depends how far you want to go with this and of course, there are different levels of offgrid activity. A 100w will certainly charge a battery and keep it charged allowing the occupant to run lights, pumps, charge electronic gear like phones and tablets etc etc. Then there are the "let's go the while hog" guys like me who want to use all the facilities on the van like the microwave, vacuum, toaster and blender through an inverter etc. For me, although a 100w would be useful, it would be struggling at times. Having said that, I have modified my behaviour on board slightly as I have learned and discovered more. For instance, I now have a USB chargeable toothbrush which takes milliamps rather than putting a 75w inverter in one of the 12v sockets to charge a toothbrush on 240v. Rather than listen to the built in radio I stream music from the internet to my echo dot and on to Bluetooth speaker-again, using milliamps rather than the drain of a radio. It's all a learning curve and great fun. The one thing I do value above everything though is the valuable input of folk who can show me a better and more efficient way of doing things. One can always learn and that's the great strength of this forum, we all help each other.
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At present I'm stuck with being an armchair caravanner until some surgery takes place, hopefully soon, but am following this with great interest.
Our very limited experience so far is of an even smaller (Photonics) panel, at 80W, but since we've come from tenting, up until last year, we're delighted just to have lighting, water pumps, phone /etc charging, plus the use of the motor mover, and our little panel kept those very happy. So I'd say it's worth starting small if you're not sure, and maybe buying more gear later if a need arises. We'll be adding a 12v radio, but I'm sure the panel will cope with that too.0 -
we had a 120w panel on pur previous Carthago (80w on the Bolero before that) but, due to downsizing the van, the fitter couldnt fit the 120w into a convenient space (5 rooflights, SOG roof chimney, cooker vent, satellite system etc.) so put in a 100w. this has worked really well (we have two biggish batteries, too) as our touring takes us to sunny spots in the winter (Spain) and sunny spots in the summer (France and the UK) so we do ok.
there is room for a second 100w opposite to the one we have and i may go for that at some point.
but, we are 'light' users of resources.....water and power...just using water pump, heating fan, charging tablets/phones via USB and some TV.
Biggest drain is likely to be the charging of electric bike batteries via the inverter, but with their extended range now, we dont need to charge after every trip....OH one day, mine the next is a good way of eking out the power....
we also use a small Lidl battery powered radio, the vast head unit in our van would drain the power pretty soon....
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Merve, you are correct about it depending how far you want to go. I just don't want people to be daunted by what they see as a huge shopping list before they can even contemplate leaving the hookup behind.
12 years or so ago when we first had a caravan. To go off grid we had the following special equipment. Zero, Zilch, Nada, Nothing. Ok we soon started to use a 13kg calor bottle. But we had no led lights, or solar panel and that was ok for a long weekend.
Moving forward to the current day. We have the following additional equipment. I have put approximate costs to them to the best of my recollection. The van is already fitted with LED lighting.
150W SP. £130
Controler £105
Mounts, cable gland Sikaflex etc approx £60.So the solar system cost £300 you could do it much cheaper because a controller can be had from about £10 upwards.
Safefill bottle, £105 s/h off eBay 3/4 full of gas.
and that's basically it a system that does everything I want and more £400 ish.
But for a quick weekend cost would be from £0.00 upwards.
If I wanted to I could probably afford to fit a big inverter system but for me I can happily live without an electric toothbrush and the coffee making system is a cafetière exactly the same as home.
What I am trying to say is there is a low tech way (my way), and a high tech way (Merve's way) each are valid, but start the journey you don't absolutely all the bells and whistles on day one.
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