Hooking up the electric at home

jon ruddock
jon ruddock Forum Participant Posts: 6
edited March 2016 in Caravans #1

Hi, This is my first post here and I am after a bit of advice. I have a Lunar Qualsar 586 and store it in a caravan storage area. I normally pull it out a couple of days before I go anywhere to sort it out. My question is I have 2 electrical normal 3 pin
sockets in my garage but have 3 things to plug in when my caravan is on the drive. I have a Mitsubishi PHEV which charges in the garage and takes up one socket, it cannot be plugged into an extension lead. I also have a freezer and would like to plug in my
caravan too. Am I able to plug my caravan into an extension lead which also has my freezer plugged into it? I am worried that if I leave it overnight like this the lead may melt through overloading?

 

thanks in advance Jon...

Comments

  • johnathome
    johnathome Forum Participant Posts: 101
    edited March 2016 #2

    simple answer would be get electrician to add another power point, would not cost much to add from existing power point.

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,404 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2016 #3

    Jon, when we have the van on the drive it's plugged into a 3 -way socket. Never had a problem yet! If you're worried about it, I'd agree with the suggestion to get an extra socket fitted.

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,436 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2016 #4

    likewise, the chap across the road had a proper caravan round pin socket fitted on the outside of his garage. Using an extention lead shouldn't be a problem if its the correct 13A fuse.

    You could also unplug the caravan overnight?

  • Nuggy
    Nuggy Forum Participant Posts: 512
    edited March 2016 #5

    I am not an electrician, experts will no doubt be here soon. Is your extention lead rated at 13 amps max?  Find out what the wattage is for the freezer, add to this the wattage you will be using in the caravan. I think you then divide the wattage by 230 volts to get the amps. I think this is correct, if not others will correct me.

  • bootneck248
    bootneck248 Forum Participant Posts: 30
    edited March 2016 #6

    Possibly run hookup to a vacant socket in house or fit a fused spur in the garage.

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited March 2016 #7
    This content has been removed.
  • jon ruddock
    jon ruddock Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited March 2016 #8

    BoleroBoy, I am plugging the van in to enable the fridge to work without draining the battery. So that the day before I set off I can load it up with the food that I require for my trip. I have 2 young kids so any time saved the day before is golden on the
    morning that I set off!

  • linw
    linw Forum Participant Posts: 20
    edited March 2016 #9

    Hi we have just had a plug fitted on the outside wall of house ,so now i can just plug in.

  • Vicmallows
    Vicmallows Forum Participant Posts: 580
    500 Comments
    edited March 2016 #10

    The caravan fridge will draw around 200w  at most.  The freezer will probably be under 100w.   There  won't be any problem at all running both off an extension lead, or even a simple 2-way adapter if that is easier.

     It would only be if you intended to leave the heating on full power that you would need to careful because many extension leads are not really up to carrying that sort of current for any length of time.

  • Wildwood
    Wildwood Club Member Posts: 3,585 ✭
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    edited March 2016 #11

    Basically you are running a fridge , a freezer and a battery charger off a 13 amp plug so it should be no problem for the socket.

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,404 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2016 #12

    BoleroBoy, I am plugging the van in to enable the fridge to work without draining the battery. So that the day before I set off I can load it up with the food that I require for my trip. I have 2 young kids so any time saved the day before is golden on the morning that I set off!

    We do that every time we go away too. Can't see it being a problem if you're using nothing else in the van! Happy

  • Dave Nicholson
    Dave Nicholson Forum Participant Posts: 408
    edited March 2016 #13

    Plugging your 'van supply into a short extension lead that also feeds your freezer will be fine if you're only powering your caravan fridge and battery charger. The better long term  solution is to have a 16 Amp (blue) socket mounted on the outside of the
    garage.

  • jon ruddock
    jon ruddock Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited March 2016 #14

    Thankyou everyone for your useful posts.

    I have my answer and can plug my van in with the freezer as long as i am just powering the fridge!

  • Cornersteady
    Cornersteady Club Member Posts: 14,436 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2016 #15

    Hi we have just had a plug fitted on the outside wall of house ,so now i can just plug in.

    provided its a waterproof one

  • KjellNN
    KjellNN Club Member Posts: 8,673 ✭✭✭
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    edited March 2016 #16

    First.....your caravan fridge cannot run off the battery, so no danger there.  12v fridge power is only enabled when connected to the tow vehicle with engine running, the power is then provided by the car.

    A large  domestic freezer uses about 250w, but up to 1kw on start up.

    So if you have your caravan and domestic freezer on the same socket and are only running the caravan fridge and battery charger then there is absolutely no problem.

    Should you wish to run some heating in the van, you would be OK using 1kw.

  • chrisn7
    chrisn7 Forum Participant Posts: 72
    edited March 2016 #17

    Using 'an extension' is not really enough. Bought (as opposed to DIY) will usually be 13 amp or 5 amp, so you need to know what your proposed extension is rated at - higher would be better

    If its a simple 3 pin plug and one or two gang socket at the other end, its worth removing the covers from the unplugged extension at both ends, and checking that all terminal screws and cable clamps are tight with no sings of sparking/ burning. Frequent
    moving of extensions tends to loosen things off.

    Domestic fridge power consumption is necessarily very low or we would all have massive bills, so you wont have any problem

  • markflip
    markflip Forum Participant Posts: 177
    edited March 2016 #18

    The short answer is yes, but you just need to be mindful of the curent you draw.  To give the battery a boost and pre-chill the fridge will be absolutely fine.  Coming at the issue in another direction, there is a scheme I believe to have a PHEV charging
    point wired to your house at a considerably reduced price, which might be worth considering if you intend to stick with hybrid vehicles?  Basically the Govt pay 75% of the cost

     

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/497619/electric-vehicle-homecharge-scheme-guidance-for-customers-2015.pdf

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