Solar Panels 1
Hi,
We are a family of five and we've always connected to EHU, whether in UK or Europe. While on EHU, we will run heating, an electric kettle, using an electric hob and running the fridge. It has occurred to me that we can use gas for all those things.
Taking into account what we could run on gas, our electricity requirements are:
- water pumps
- lights
- charging tablets, mobile phones, a laptop (for occasional use), bluetooth radio
Note: No TV, hair dryers or hair straighteners.
I've done some calculations; we seem to have a very low electricity requirements.
Given, no TV etc, would I correct in saying, that we could get away with a small(ish) battery and smallish solar panel to recharge, and not need the EHU?
It occurred to me I could charge up powerbanks for the phones, in the car on our travels, or using portable solar devices on the washing line!
Is gas more economical than using an EHU?
Thanks in advance,
Ian
Comments
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Depends how much heating/hot water you use. Generally unless you are using refillable gas cylinders such as Safefill/Gaslow, it is cheaper to use on-site EHU. If going down the 'independent' route then the bigger the solar panel the better. It's not worth fitting one less than 80W and it wouldn't cost a great deal more to get one double that output. If you want a detailed account of life without the orange cable then Merve's your man.
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A couple of observations
Gas it depends, Alde claim that a 6kg bottle should last a winter weekend, in my experience this is accurate. So if you are using Calorlite you can add something like £12 per night to your site fee. Which is why people use either refillables or bigger bottles. In the summer it's different because you aren't using much heating
Solar panel imho like CY says the bigger the bettter same with battery. You will find the extra cost is minimal, if you shop arround. Let Amazon or EBay be your friend.
Its worth bearing in mind a freestanding panel is much more efficient when exposed to the sun than one mounted on the roof, this is particularly true in the winter months.
If they aren't already fitted then Led lights are imho money well spent.
I am sure other opinions will be along in a minute.
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I agree with CY, certainly if you are going to fit a solar panel go for a good sized one. I would also go for the largest battery you can fit when your current one wears out. FYI my requirements are similar to yours but I run two TVs from a 120w panel and charge a lap top via an inverter and the phones from 12v to USB plugs or from the USB output of the laptop. I do have refillable gas cyclinders and save between £4 to £5 less the cost of the exta gas used per night when off hook. In addition, at home, I have no need to worry about the batteries going flat when parked up.Currently I pay about 55p per litre of gas.
peedee
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Hi,
Many thanks for the replies, plenty to think about. No, no motor mover, nor TV's. Its literally, the lights, water pumps and charging up the gadgets when needed, and never all at once. I was hoping one of those small 20W trickle chargers might do the job, especially in France.
Thanks!
Ian
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We like most caravaners use the EHU when on site. As it is factored into the price you pay it makes economic sense to use it, rather than rapidly deplete your gas supply especially in winter. For that reason I cannot see how using your gas could be more economical. If you are on a site without EHU then of course you can do all the things mentioned using gas to minimise consumption and as other have said, use the biggest solar panel to maximise current generated.
Colin
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The economics of ehu and gas depend of course how much you save depends on how much less you are paying in site fees. But for me money saving is not the only motivation for having the ability to go non ehu.
Wrt a 20W panel imho too small imho to do anything more than keep a battery topped up in storage.
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the CCC run loads of THS (temporary holiday sites) throughout the year, making use of unused sports grounds, or similar, even during school hols.....
so they are cheap, no ehu, informal, plentiful and great fun.
a great place to make loads of savings with your new flexible outlook...
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I use a 150w solar panel, also have a Safefill refillable cylinder, my local garage now closed, so having difficulty getting it filled, now using an 11kg Flo Gas cylinder. I use 5 van sites, rallies and temporary holiday sites, summer and winter with no EHU. Avtex TV uses just under 3 amp, so careful usage is OK
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I use a 150w solar panel, also have a Safefill refillable cylinder, my local garage now closed, so having difficulty getting it filled, now using an 11kg Flo Gas cylinder. I use 5 van sites, rallies and temporary holiday sites, summer and winter with no EHU. Avtex TV uses just under 3 amp, so careful usage is OK
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Hi Ian
Under 'Tips for Making Touring & Caravanning Cheaper' look for ' How to survive a non 240v EHU site' by Merle - it won't be too far down the list! You'll find loads of helpful stuff including info regarding solar panels. Chris
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Put it like this, for the amount of power you use you wouldn't even need a battery, just remain connected to your car for a week. That's what we used to do without any problem at all.
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Thanks hitchglitch. We haven't taken a battery to France, to save on weight, and just connected to the EHU to run the fridge. Thats when it occurred to me that we might not even need the EHU if I ran the fridge on gas.
Weight is an issue as we take 100kg of inflatable boat and outboard on the roof and in the boot of our car, along with the five of us and towing the van
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In the good old days (groan....!) caravans didn’t have batteries or mains hook-up. Fridge ran on gas. Ditto heating and water. We stayed connected to the car with an extension lead and that would be OK for quite a few days (except you would need to take the car for a run after a while to keep the battery topped up). I remember fitting a leisure battery and charger to our first Caravan, an Abbey, but that was more about convenience and not having to be so close to the car.
The point is, in summer you really don’t need hook-up unless you are heavy power users. It’s probably still the case that in an emergency you can take your battery out and have the site owner charge it up. It used to be an advertised feature of CLs.
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We stayed connected to the car with an extension lead and that would be OK for quite a few days (except you would need to take the car for a run after a while to keep the battery topped up).
We would go out in the day (often not far) and had no problems during a week or longer away in October for example or 7 weeks away in summer.
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We have a 120W freestanding folding panel. When using CL's I use the sat nav compass to position for best light then put the panel on the screen over the insulated screen cover and secure to each mirror by bike cables/locks. Works ok for us, keeps everything topped up
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