M/Hing without EHU..
Hello 
We are planning to go to Germany in September and some of the places we will stay will not have EHU
We have an Autotrail Tracker RB (2016) and we've worked out (we're quite new to this) that apart from all the obvious things...lighting, heating...fridge etc, the built in tv works (we only use it connected to our iPad so don't need live channels) and there is a fitted usb post that will charge the phone/ipad.
So my questions are these:
1. What does the solar panel on the roof charge?i.e which battery? I've just checked and it seems to say vehicle battery on the display? (it's fluctuating amount wise) I just thought it would charge the leisure battery
2. If i wanted to use something that has a normal plug on the end (toaster/hairdryer) how would i do this?
3. Am I best to run my fridge from the battery or the gas?
Any help would be fab
Comments
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Not a motorhomer. But I will try and answer
1. The controller should be able to charge both batteries. That's assuming a twin battery controller has been fitted. These will charge 2 batteries independently and normally you can set the priority so that 90% of charge goes to one battery and 10% to the other Until the first one is fully charged then it should push the charge to the second battery. Not sure which battery is normally set as the one with the most priority starter or habitation.
2. You would either run a generator noisy, smelly and expensive. Or an inverter system complicated and expensive. Or in my opinion the best solution is not to bother this is cheap and simple
3 Gas in a caravan the 12v option only works when the engine is running this is because the fridge takes quite a lot of power and would flatten a battery fairly quickly Gas is normally the best power source for a three way fridge anyway an we have run them off gas when have been abroad from time to time as they have been struggling on electric
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Just a bit more:-
The leisure battery charges when travelling, we tend to stay for only one to three nights so the battery copes....even without a solar panel so you should have no problem.
12v Lighting as required and 12v TV possibly for 2 or 3 hours daily (Weather forecasts/DVD/Normal programmes).
Heating, obviously gas BUT the distribution fan is very battery hungry (this bit is not ignition controlled)...but in your case you may well be OK if you actually need it.
Fridge as Boff suggests.
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It's probably good not to have EHU in Germany as the cost can be very high as it is usually metered. All the main points are mentioned above and if you are moving around rather ham staying put for a week then you should not have any worries. Minimise the TV use if you are worried and avoid using halogen type lights. LEDs take very little power and can be used freely.
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Great advice so far but, if you feel you just can't do without some of your 13 amp appliances, then fitting an inverter (to convert power from your leisure battery to mains voltage) is relatively straightforward. I had a reasonably powerful one fitted by an auto-electrician for less than £200.
You can read the discussion I started here.
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With a new van lighting will be all or mainly LED. If you are only using TV for displaying i-pad picture consumption should be low but not negligible. As mentioned the fridge must be run on gas 12v is only available when mobile assuming it is not a compressor fridge.
You could fit a big inverter which turns "12v" DC current into 230v AC current however it is challenging to have a device which would adequately power a toaster or hair (even low power versions) and the current (amps) drawn would be considerable requiring heavy duty wiring and short cable runs from your battery. Unless you have a very large leisure battery and a means of charging it (big solar) this route is likely to be more trouble (and expense) than it is worth. Just cut your suit (consumption) according to your cloth (amp-hours). You will soon get used to managing things and my save a bit as "strom: (electricity) in Germany can be as much as 5euro per night.
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I think a good rule of thumb is anything that requires heat to operate such as toaster, hairdryer and fridge are not really suitable for simple 12v operation. You can fit an inverter but it is going get expensive and complicated.
As an aside we on a rally in Germany 2 years ago this had metered electricity, the organiser announced amid much fanfare that they had agreed to a deal where we would get charged a flat €3 per night for electric. Tbh I was a little P'd off as the only thing we were using mains electric for was heating water everything else was coming from the battery that was being easily charged by the SP
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ALL these posts are really informative, thank you!
Ok, so i can do without the hairdryer and OH is bald anyway so I've no worries there
So final question, we are trucking down the Moselle over a 8 day period - I think the most we would be driving each day would be about 15 miles - does that give a really poor charge to the battery?
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We've just had a four week holiday in France (end of March and most of April) and not been on hook up at anytime during the month away.
We have an 80W Solar panel, two 110 amp leisure batteries and a refillable gas system of two 11kg Gaslow bottles.
We also have a cheap B2B split charge relay CSB2 (about £20) that allows the Solar panel to keep the starter and leisure batteries topped up throughout the year.
The leisure batteries charge up an Ipad, mobile phones and a laptop, we use the shower every day, wash pots and pans and had the heating on some nights (it dipped to freezing a few nights).
We used the gas continuously for the fridge/freezer, gas for the water heating and cooking every day and the gas bottle refills for the month cost around €20 – far less than we would have paid for hook-up.
If your budget runs to an extra battery, as large a solar panel in wattage or area size you can fit on the roof and a refillable system then, quite literally, the World is your oyster.
We often only moved a few miles each day, sometimes none, and the batteries never dropped anywhere near a problem area.
If you are near a hook up point then use it but with similar equipment to ours you may not even need it.
Best of luck whatever you do and enjoy the holiday.
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I don't believe the OP is about to go out and buy extra battery, solar power, inverter, safefill system etc., so to answer the last question, the usual advice concerning charging batteries by running the vehicle is that about 20 minutes run should suffice. 15 miles might be just enough to keep you going.
If you have a digital control panel which gives you vehicle and leisure battery voltages you should be able to check periodically. An occasional longer run would obviously help.
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Completely agree with this. There seems always to be a tendency to over complicate things, by claiming that you need to buy lots of extra kit. I don't believe this is true. It would be interesting to know what size solar panel the OP has as long as it is not Mickey Mouse sized 20w it should cope in my humble opinion.
But that's the point it's just an opinion, which is why I would suggest seriously to the OP next time you go away, don't plug in that way you get some real data about what you use and what you need. This gives you the opportunity if it all goes horribly wrong (and it won't
) you can plug straight back in. It might cost you £5 extra for the gas you use, but a cheap price to pay for what you will learn. 0 -
The OP asked a question about relatively short trip without ehu in late summer. Basically they want to dip their tow into the water of, off grid. To respond to this sort of question with you will need to buy a safefill bottle and extra batteries. I just don't think is particularly encouraging or helpful. I am not anti safefill or extra battery, I have both but one step at a time.
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