I'm almost scared to ask...
but deep breath and here goes...
I've had the most incredible advice from people here so please don't laugh if my question is ridiculous..
Two weekends ago we were in the most god forsaken weather on a non CC site and had to have the farmer tow us out of his muddied field. If that wasn't bad enough, his EHU was poor to say the least and the power kept tripping all night long. 
So, my question is....can I power my sockets and lights through something other than EHU?
If so, does it come from my battery? and if yes, which battery is it using?
If no, how do you go on when wild camping?
On a separate note, we moved the next night to Poolsbrook..ahhhh...those lovely level spacious pitches and toilets with music piping.. 
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Don't be afraid Kdee there is any amount of info on this very subject !!
Look at the "Tips for making caravaning and touring cheaper" or some such title on here -- the first posting on it is "How to survive a non - 240 volts EHU site" and it was posted by MERVE -- a gentleman from this club, well learned in this very subject !!
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If running from your leisure battery, only your 12v sockets and lights will work. Back in the 'good old days' we all ran off gas and a leisure battery was a luxury so it can certainly be done.
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Strange isn't it how often this question crops up, nothing wrong with that of course some folk just don't have the back ground to know it can be done.
Our first caravan didn't have a 12v battery or mains, no lights other than a gas mantle and the water was of course cold and worked from a foot pump. Oh the good old days (not).
To the OP yes it can be done, even without a solar panel you can stay off grid for a night or two, however you won't be able to use microwave, hairdryer etc. If you do go down the road of a Solar panel and want to use mains electric items then you would need to get an inverter fitted. We have a portable solar panel but don't use an inverter as most things we would use are 12v or gas.
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I will strongly second checking out the thread, How to survive without EHU. Long but very informative.
Below is the fresh thread Merve started after the web upgrade. You'll need to copy and paste into the address bar.
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There is advice in the motorhome media on living without EHU. How you go about it depends on where and when you motorhome. For example, solar panels will be less useful in the environment you describe.
I went for two 110 batteries and these keep me going for at least 4 nights off EHU. Never tried for longer but I'd guess I could go to 5 without a problem.
Bear in mind that adding solar panels, generators and extra batteries increase your van's weight/axle loading. Also your charger may struggle with two big batteries.
We've been towed off site too often and now only pitch up on hard standing or where there is no doubt the ground is hard.
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We have an 80W Solar panel, two 110amp Leisure batteries and will probably not need hook-up during the four weeks we are in France starting on Thursday.
Unless you sit watching TV for hours on end, which takes a lot of power, you can manage for many days, or even weeks, with a decent size Solar panel and an extra leisure battery.
Get the largest Solar panel you can afford, make sure there's enough roof space to fit it, and good quality Leisure batteries and if you have on-board toilet facilities the World is your oyster.
In the UK you'll find if you stop on Campsites hook-up is usually included in the price but doing Continental touring, with an element of wild camping included, then solar power and an extra battery are the best way forward.
I'll agree about Poolsbrook C&MC site – we stayed there for around 10 weeks last year and it is a good'un.
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It isn't only the electrics you need to consider if using off grid type sites. No idea how big your MH is, but caution is required on some sites in terms of underwheel conditions. We always walk the site and consult with owners when touring early and late in season, especially after rain. We invested in a pair of Bridging waffle plates (to be found on 4x4 websites) and park our drive wheels on these if things are a tad soft. Not overly expensive, and we carry ours slid behind roof ladder and bike rack at rear.
Getting stuck isn't confined to MH's either! Last year we used our Jeep to rescue a pair of less than bright caravan users who had unhitched and rather foolishly tried to use motor mover to turn and slowly put van into another place. They had pivoted van wheel deeply into soft grass, cutting it up badly! Neither had a tow vehicle properly suited to conditions on grass and would have done untold damage to a lawn like CL.
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There's a mention, nothing more in the real way if practicality, in the magazine by the Lee family on being off grid. Naturally there's mention of no hair straighteners. Sad really. Do check out the thread already mentioned far more positive take on the situation. Merve even has slow cooker remarkable toothbrushes and more. So useful. Best helpful remark? A whistling gas kettle. Any reciptical heatproof water boiler will do 😉
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Agree Bakers, we spent ten years happily touring without hook up. There are lots more gadgets and gizmos out there now as well to make things easier.
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The site you were on has probably limited the amount of power he is willing to let you have. It could have been 6 amps which is enough for the fridge and a kettle but not enough for the heating and fridge together. C&MC sites have 16 amp electricity which will provide power for all your 240 v stuff including heating etc. If you are only paying a small charge for camping you cannot expect to have full power included in the price.
As for free solar power during the winter / early spring you will be lucky to get 5 - 6 amps from a whole days charge. If you are in a field then you should be using your gas for heating, EHU for fridge and have everything else running off 12v power. Your battery charger will top up the habitation battery as will the solar panel.
LED Lighting will also save power.
Inverters are hungry beasts and the larger you go the more power they consume. Some of the larger ones can flatten a habitation battery in 20 minutes.
A 110 amp leisure battery is good for 55 amps of usable power after that you risk ruining your battery.
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If you look in this month's magazine on page 100 you will see an ad for Machine Mart. They sell 12v to 230v inverters. I have never used one so I don't know how effective/long lived these are but it may be an option and cheaper than pV panels!
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Our motorhome is a few years old but it had solar fittings that hadn't been used. OH bought a 100w solar panel and fitted it on the roof. We also bought LEDs, look for high lumens or they won't be bright enough and with those changes we've managed at various times of the year. Using gas and the solar charged battery we haven't had any problems. We've bought a few extras that help like a solar/wind up radio and a solar usb charger plus a small cigarette socket plug in inverter to charge phones and run the useless 12v hairdryer (don't expect heat but your get a slight breeze!) We can watch an hour of TV at night if needed and we've a bought a few battery/solar lamps so we can see better in the dark.
You don't need to go overboard with things, keep it simple and see how it goes.
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Oops sorry I got the hairdryer bit wrong, that just goes in the cig socket. The little inverter goes there too to charge up a phone or two.
We've gone down this route so that we can go to rallies and visit the club site at Steamer Quay in Totnes where there is no EHU (other non EHU pitches I would consider would be at Altnahara if EHU pitches are full etc)
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" Read, Mark, Learn & Inwardly Digest" -- Oh Lawks, how I remember that phrase !!
Beaten in Tattoo -Style on my bonce by the knuckles of a well meaning sadist of a teacher of English at school -- I remember the phrase & the style of receiving it, but I can't remember what or why !!
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brue, when you say inverter for charging a phone, do you mean a real powered (noisy) item, plugged into your dashboard socket?
depending on the phone, you might be able to do away with the inverter for charging them.
i have an iphone and the std home charger is a USB cable plugged into a block with a 3pin 13a plug....
i just dispense with the 'mains' bit and plug the USB straight into a small adaptor i have which sits permanently in a 'always on' live 12v socket.
this adaptor has two USB slots, so i can charge my phone and ipad directly from 12v with no use of an inverter.
ive also used this method for OH kindle etc...
so, no converting 12v to 230v, just so that the 'block' can downstep it back to a 12v USB.
obviously depends on the phone and the lead arrangement, but my old HTC lead was also in two parts, so its likely yours might be.
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