Number of usable electric points in outfits
I regularly read the magazine reviews of caravan and motor home and rarely does it tell you the number f usable sockets. I do not want to disconnect the TV or the kettle to charge my phone or laptop and I don't want to balance it on the sink in the kitchen area. For a family with the number of personal appliances the number is important. Surely it is not beyond the reviewer to count the"free" sockets so that comparisons can be made?
Comments
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i cant remember which 'review publication' it was but i have seen this ,entioned somewhere...
however, important things like payload were glossed over...
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It seems something fairly trivial to include in a review when it’s something that can easily be overcome. Nearly all our vans have had extra sockets added.
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The amount of 240v sockets is like most other fittings that are pointed out as "needed" in leisure vehicles ,it is down to personal choice as to what and where anything is needed to be installed and 240v outlets are quite easy to be fitted by most in places they think is "best"
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These first world problems eh? how do we manage!
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I feel really bad now.
I have one external socket and four internal sockets. I seem to manage quite well though as I don't take a television but have kettle, toaster, slow cooker, teppanyaki, two little cosy lamps and a stand by emergency electric heater. I'm just conscious of what I put on at any one time but it's no big problem.
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We have 8 internal 240v sockets in our Knaus and one external plus 2 x 12v sockets and 2 USB points. We had two extra 240v sockets fitted when we bought it - the dealer wanted £75 per socket but I got them included as part of the deal.
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Without counting them I'm not 100% sure, but I think 8/9 240 volt, 4/5 12 volt and 5 USB. However, unlike in our caravan, more or less all the 240 volt are never used. Due to less worktop space in the MH and refillable cheaper gas, we now use a gas kettle for water heating, the gas grill for toast and a push pot rather than electric coffee maker. The TV is plugged into the 12 volt, so it can be used off grid and rather than take the chargers away, pads and phones are charged using the USB's. Oh I do need one occasionally to charge my tooth brush, although I understand there is a USB one available.😂The two in the garage will be useful eventually when we get electric bikes.
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Just counted up and I currently (he he ) have 15 x 240v sockets, plus the ones in dark holes into which the 'fridge and microwave are plugged, and another one on the inverter; 8 x USB sockets and a gadget that can go into any of the four 12v sockets to give another two USB.
It is not about using all of them at the same time (although the four-in-a-row do get all used at the same time for hair dryer, curling tongs, heated rollers, and some other beautification device) but about having a socket where it is needed and avoiding cables trailing about.
What I would caution against is retro-fitting any sockets in or near to the washroom. Electricity and water should not be allowed the chance to mix.
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Electricity and water should not be allowed the chance to mix.
Apart from a steam iron, pressure washer, washing machine, water heater ..... 😉
I agree with you but apparently you're allowed to fit a socket between the hot & cold tap if you like .... those are the words of a spark who made a very profitable living running his own company.
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One of the ones we had put in was in the bathroom so that Ros could use her hairdryer in there. The Senior Tech at ALV said he wasn't really supposed to put one in there but he would do so and leave the connection in a junction box for me to wire up, so that they wouldn't be responsible. In the event, it was fully connected when we picked the van up
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Electricity and water should not be allowed the chance to mix.
Apart from a steam iron, pressure washer, washing machine, water heater . . . .
. . . where, of course, they are kept seperate by design and construction.
The regulations covering domestic dwellings do not necessarily apply to caravans (unless of the static type) but death through electrocution or the caravan being on fire is heedless of regulations.
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I think I've got a miserly 2 fixed 240V sockets and a double socket on an extension lead which might have come with the van (2002 Ace Award) originally, the style of the faceplate matches that of the fixed sockets. Either that or my dad rigged it up. There's a 12V socket I never use, not really having anything to plug into it, and definitely none of your fancy USB trickery.
I want to get round to adding a couple of 240V sockets, and replacing the 12V socket with a USB socket, which would be infinitely more useful. Getting a matching faceplate is likely to be a problem though.
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Getting a matching faceplate is likely to be a problem though.
Not if you change all the faceplates to match your new ones.
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It’s common on the continent to have the water tap and EHU bollard as one unit which I think is really unsafe.
We generally only use one socket (for an electric kettle) but the USB points come in handy for phone or iPad charging.0 -
I fitted a Twin USB charger and a 12volt socket the two blanked out sockets on the front binnacle of our swift and under the binnacle I even found the 12 volt supply complete with plug as the same wiring loom is used across the model range
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Dont know , I said never would i do it , read a book or radio .. Now me laptop , wife tablet ,,splitter to use both ,
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I think our van came with 1 external mains socket and 4 usable internal ones, I have fitted 4 additional matching ones, and also one under the bed, with a socket strip for plugging in the radio/alarm and charging the Dyson.
Under the front chest I have a strip of 6 sockets for charging phones, I-pads etc.
Also added one external and one internal 12v sockets, and additional 12v and mains lighting.
As Nav said, it is not that you need to use them all at once, it is having them in convenient places to eliminate trailing wires and frequent unplugging/plugging
Our van is 11 years old, I think newer ones come with more sockets
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The socket I find most useful is the external one. It gets used for all sorts of things when the caravan is "stored" in my yard - pressure washer, power tools, gardening tools, battery charger. In fact, only reason for most of the year to have the caravan plugged in is to provide the outside power!
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