How to thrive on a non 240v site!
Comments
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Kevlon. What you need to take into account is when is your Caravanning season? If you go away May, June and July then you are not presenting your system with that much of a challenge. I would of thought that one battery is adequate. I guess you have proved that to yourself. I assume after 3 days away your battery was fully charged rather than being on its last legs? Chances are that your battery is fully by about 10am.
It is a different situation if you like us go away for 4 nights over New Year. In that case I found with our roof mounted panel I don't see the voltage start to rise until about 9 30 and stops after about 2pm. It is only between those times when the sun is actually high enough for it to strike the solar panel. I have 2 batteries fitted in parallel for that situation. I accept that I am running at a debt in the sense that the batteries are at a lower state of charge at the end of the stay than at the beginning. TBH this year I actually charged one of the batteries during the stay, but I think that it would have Lasted without. I might fit a free standing panel to augment the fixed panel for use in the depths of winter but then again for consecutive weekends away the current setup works during the depths of winter.
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Boff
I think it's fair to say that you are dealing with the extremes regarding your active season whereas the majority of users mothball their system throughout the winter months. We usually start around April through until October. My aim is to tailor my system to my needs (as you are). I feel the important issue is to convince those who are undecided about the benefits and relatively low costs involved in in installing a solar system.
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My non-scientific observation is that the period April to October is exactly the period when our Solar setup copes easily, by that I mean the battery is fully charged by about mid-day. Obviously everyone's usage is different. I deliberately haven't gone down the inverter route so perhaps my usage is going to be less than yours, but it sounds to me you have a system that works for you. Which is great.
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Boff, no umbrage take, of course
like you, its the convenience and flexibility which is what we seek, and irrespective of the payback period, this is what we get....so happy
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A few people have suggested that the club should promote off grid caravanning, either for economical or environmental reasons. Some of you will have thought that there is no chance of this happening.
Following the rebranding exercise it appears that the club values are the following.
Pioneer
Inspire
Simplify
Inclusive
So isn't it time that the club stood up for these values because I think that going off grid just about fits into each of those categories. So to stop it being yet more empty words and in terms that the Marketing types will understand:
You have talked the talk, isn't it about time you walked the walk?
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trouble is, it doesnt fit with the majority of the the club site offerings.
however, a 'non-ehu' pricing system shouldnt be beyond the club, even C&CC can do this @ £4.10 per night.....so £28.70 saving a week, not bad.
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I don't look for a return on the monies I have spent on items that allow me to go off grid. The fact that the Gaslow system allows me cheap gas and my solar panel and twin batteries give me "free" electricity is just a bonus. Convenience and the freedom to camp anywhere is what these items give me.
I have been off grid camping for over 25 years and in those early years sacrifices had to be made. Now, with a solar panel, I can keep my batteries topped up and charge up all the electric gismos we now can't do without and still watch the Grand Prix! I regularly do up to 12 days off grid, remaining static, with no problems. That is mainly March to October and for those other months I would be looking for EHU if camping more than 3-4 nights because the heating system is power hungry and long nights require a bit more tely.
I am shortly going off on a UK 6 week tour and only have 1 weekend and 1 week booked at events, the rest I will just turn up. My style of camping won't suit everyone but it is out there to be tried.
ps, Why let a hair drier rule your camping.
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Excellent post boff, but, however much I want to think of me being 'included ' in the club, I don't really believe I am. There are various reasons for that, not least of all the clubs reluctance to supply SENSIBLY priced pitches for those of us who have embraced the modern technologies and find that they really do work in the modern caravan. I would say the the club must be worried about the new technologies but they can rest assured! - If the average caravaner is the standard article. I have spoken to many an EHUer over the past 3 or 4 years and have found almost to a man that they are either locked into the orange cable and Calor or they are totally disbelieving of what I tell them. The vast majority of caravanners are set in their ways and have no incling of the fact that things have changed and no real attempt by the club has been made to alter that- why should they- why would they? Over two years ago I asked the clubs editorial dept to come and interview me, to photograph my van and the type of equipment in it and to write an unbiased article on the modern day ease of 'going off grid'. Not one entitled ' Back to Basics!!!' I rang them again in the Autumn of last year to remind them and again I was promised some movement. I am still waiting!! Surprise surprise!! So, we who have done it and understand what it means to go off grid and be just as comfortable will just have to enjoy it for ourselves- uncluttered sites and very little difficulty booking them! - oh, and very reasonable fees!
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i think a while back MMM did an article featuring Clive Mott's Concorde, which is brimming with 'off gridding' equipment...
however, this was obviously aimed at motorhomers who are a little more adventurous when it comes to not being a slave to club sites and orange cables.
with CC, the core member plumps for typical site with a plentiful (paid for) electric supply and, as such, sees no reason to consider how to 'do things' differently, they work perfectly for them via hook up.
however, there are others out there who, whilst being members of the club, dont see these sites as their primary choices....
its these vanners who may choose non-ehu sites (CL/CS/THS and Aires overseas) and will investigate their options for making these work for them....investing to save money...
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Kelvon, I think you describe the satisfaction of a job well done very well. Thank you. However, I must make one point having read the various posts since I last visited this thread. We , the liberated few, know that power is a valuable resource and where ever power can be saved, and in this context I am talking about electrical power gathered from the sun, we should use another resource. That is LPG. (Safefill and Gaslow type systems) Boiling a kettle is definitely the job of LPG as is the fridge unless you happen to have a compressor fridge and an SP of at least 200w but that's another discussion. I am so pleased that you have discovered that total feeling of freedom, and caravanning as it should be done!
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Going back to topic, I have just bought a Safefill and can thoroughly recommend Andys Gas - Bristol (Just off M4 J17 Cribbs Causeway Bristol) if your heading to the west country.
Just off the motorway and a really nice guy, there is plenty of room to turn a caravan/motorhome and LPG is 42p per litre
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Pippah, I know you said that you had had some sort of trouble with a USB chargeable toothbrush but the one we purchased from Amazon has been superb. Yet another thing that the non EHUer doesn't have to do without thanks to modern tech - an electric toothbrush! We no longer have to use a small inverter (75w) that supples 240v that plugged directly into one of the 2 x 12v sockets on board. We can now use a 3 gang USB from one socket and charge all we need to whether internet module, phones, tablets or toothbrush. Life just keeps getting better.
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Merve, you're right I've found that by using a little imagination allows for various innovations when going off grid. For example, I bought a power bank off eBay for £12. It will easily charge two powerless mobile phones with extra power to spare. I charge it during the day and use it to charge the phones at night. We have owned 2 12v cool box fridges which were used on our various French trips of yesteryear when we had 4 kids to feed and water. These were powered through a transformer that converted 230 to 12v. Just today I booked a ferry crossing over to France for a 16 day Dordogne holiday in August. We have just one 14 year old to take care of now so I'm thinking that just one of the cool boxes will suffice. My idea is to power it directly through the day, as I have recently successfully demonstrated that my 150 watt SP will easily power this and recharge my battery. At nightfall, I will switch it off and place my Freezer blocks which have frozen through the day using my cheap gas safely secured in my Safefill cylinder. It's all good fun.....I don't sound too smug do I?
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It's all part of the adventure kelvin isn't it? I felt much less adventurous recently in France with EHU freely available. Only one site had a reduction for not hooking up. (but I felt unable to use those pitches due to increasingly incontinent dog needing to be near exit!).
Merve I have lost 2 toothbrush chargers off grid the first with the inverter but I am not sure the adaptor socket was correctly fused. And the second went on the 12v plug thingy. I haven't tried a USB. The second one was replaced by the supplier as faulty although they didn't know I had been using 12v
. I haven't been off grid since so don't know if the fused adaptor will work. I may just go back to the battery toothbrush that's tucked away somewhere! 0 -
Hi Pippa45
We, along with some friends, are planning to stay down in the Dordogne area during August. It is around 12 years since we were last there having previously booked a package through the club. I have booked our ferries, again through the club, and have been busily searching for sites and am now confident that we don't require EHU. Am I right in saying that, on most sites, EHU is optional? The reason I ask is that when searching through the 'Tariff' on respective websites there is usually a separate charge for the emplacement, each adult, and electric. I note that the electric usually averages out at around 3 to 4 Euros per night.
I have identified various Camping Municipals simply by using Google Earth and typing CM into the search. It's amazing what comes up.
I would welcome any feedback from other members regarding their experiences of this wonderful area.
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Hope you have a fabulous time in the Dordogne Kevlon, a truly beautiful part of France. It would be nice if EHU sites in this country advertised a price w/o EHU? Can't think I've ever seen that? Now there's food for thought...................
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Merve, C&CC structure their prices from the bottom up....
basic grass pitch
add hs
add ehu
add hs and ehu
add hs, ehu and water/drainage (super pitch)
from memory, adding ehu is £4.25 over the basic price, currently.
so, a £30 a week saving against CC where this flexibility is only available at a very few of their sites.
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Kevlon my experience in France has been limited to ACSI sites (no Municipals open where and when I needed). Of the 6 or so sites I used this year only one had pitches without EHU at - 5€ per night of the pitch price that I noticed. But I didn't actively look on this trip as it was a family emergency and I left home without the Safefill adaptor. Now I know it might be on offer I will be more vigilant in future!
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PS. I think it was ValDa who gave this link
http://www.camping-municipal.org
it was really annoying passing all these lovely looking closed sites! But I was in central Brittny not truly tourist area and too early for holiday time!
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Thanks mate for that. I only joined the C&CC this last Feb at the show, So I haven't really got up to speed with them. Have sorted out a few CS's and that's all. Fancy the C&CC being more competitive than the CC? Who would have thought such a thing not that it will ever concern me as I don't use club sites unless on a voucher.
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TG, you gotta love it.....
as we were doing a five day trip 'sans le hookup' i thought i'd fill up with gas..less than £4
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Merve, keep an eye out in the back of the CCC mag for the THS meets, might be right up your street.
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Can't knock it can you, the same amount using Calor would have been £11.50,
only a £10 saving Of course we were on sites so very little gas used, we will get there one day doing THS's and Aires might even get in a few wild camping nights up North.0 -
Battery charging advice
I have noticed that my battery doesn't seem to charge was well as it did. It is a 3 year old Numax 110. We have a battery indicator on our caravan and it used to go between 14.5 and 11.5 on this. However the last two weekends we have been off grid we have not really been able to got it above the 12 and a bit on the indicator indicator. I'm trying to figure if it is the battery or an issue with the solar panel.
Confession time....I did run over half of our solar panels (stupid me) the time before last so our panel level has gone from either 160w to 80w or 140w to 70 (cannot remember which we had. We now have only half the panel we had but it does charge as a the light shows on the controller. However, on a sunny day the solar panel used to fully charge the battery within about 3 hours. We were out all day yesterday so nothing was used, it was pretty sunny most of the day yet the battery couldn't get over 12.
I think however, the issue is probably the battery. Our caravan is in storage and for a variety of reasons, we have only been out 3 times since Xmas. I am thinking that I have probably damaged the batters as it's charge has just ran down due to it not being used. I have borrowed a battery charger from my neighbour and am charging it now. (I know nothing about cars/batteries/electrics and haven't caravaned that long so didn't really think to take it out).
We go away for a week (non EHU) in two weeks time and I cannot decide whether to buy a new solar panel/a new battery or, if it charges to full off my neighbours battery charger, just buy a charger and charge it if it needs it. I wondered what advice you folks would give. Also, what does it mean when a CL says battery charging facilities?
Sorry for the epic posts but you guys give great advice.
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I'm no expert but I would guess it is your battery as well. If it is not getting above 12v it might be a cell in the battery has failed. I would of thought a 70w panel should cope this time of year. Was the panel totally destroyed? The first one I bought was delivered with the glass crazed. The supplier replaced it and told me to bin it But I checked it and it did give an output so I kept it and used it occasionally with the good one.
My steps would be take the battery out and take it somewhere who can test it. I think most garages can do this, even Halfords. Then I suspect you need to replace the battery, my experience is not at your local caravan dealer.
Then replace the solar panel ( you know you want to)
Then buy a battery charger always comes in handy. See my post in the cTek vs Numax thread for why. Aldi and Lidl sell battery chargers for less than £15.00 from time to time. They are cheap and they work.
Finally enjoy your holiday.
Edit a CL with charging facilities ? Means very often nothing more than access to a plug to plug in your charger. I had a battery fail and it went from fully charged to flat in about 30 minutes so it time to throw it out and buy a new one.
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Thank you Boff. We have managed to charge the battery with a battery charger so will see how it goes but I expect to need to buy a new battery whilst we are away.
Our solar panel was the type that fold in half. I literally ran straight over half of it (luckily no damage to car) but smashed glass and bent frame on panel. We took it apart and the intact half appears to be working but we go off grid a lot so i'll probably invest in another soon.
As we keep our caravan in storage I was thinking about getting this and just leaving it at the front of the caravan whilst it was in storage. Do people thing this would work to keep the battery ticking over ? I'm thinking of something like this...
I'm thinking the worst that could happen is it gets stolen (hopefully not) but if it does it's not that expensive.
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Tracey a knackered battery will apparently charge it just won't hold any charge.
A folding panel is simply 2 panels hinged to together and wired together. So there is absolutely no reason for the surviving half not to work
The panel you have linked is only 5w it is a bit chocolate teapot imho maybe it is time to bite,the bullet and consider having a fixed panel installed on the roof?
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