How Long.

meetoo · Guru

How Long.

Big Gorilla · Guru

How long is a piece of string !! Depends on several factors. How much solar do you have ? How many house batteries do you have and what is their ampere/hours ? Do you have a connection between your house batteries and vehicle battery to allow the vehicle alternator to charge the house batteries whilst mobile. Finally, what 12 volt appliances do you have and use. For example, do you have a 12 volt refrig. that runs 24/7.

For me, I can go forever.

exa41 · Guru

Hi John , We just spent 6 days at Greens , I have a 12v fridge and a freezer which both consume power . After the 6th day the voltage went down due to a lousy day for sun and although nothing stopped working it was close . I went to get another battery and a 3rd solar panel and was advised that my batteries were enough and just add solar which I have done . It just depends what you are running as most of the good people at Greens are running their fridges on gas and have plenty of power left over. Tv , lights etc are all power guzzlers . Maybe start with one panel , say 140 watts and 105Ah battery and see how you go but again I don't know your installation.

Big Gorilla · Guru

I read into your post that you already have a solar installation and how long you can go without a 240 volt recharge. If you are seeking advise on what to install, there are plenty of experts on the Forum who are more experienced with 12 volt solar installations than I am and I'm sure they will post.

As for my installation, I have a Motorhome, 235 watts solar, 2 x 6 volt Century deep cycle batteries each 235 ampere/hours, connected in series to give me 12 volts. I do have a 12 volt ref that runs 24/7

meetoo · Guru

Thanks.

Currently I have 240 amps of battery and 120 w portable solar. (see here) http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t59104344/12volt-fitout-on-older-van/

Haven't free camped just yet but just trying to get a sense of what may be at least minimal to get. I think with what I have just purchased I should get at least 5 days. Not sure as yet if one should be trying to be self sufficient for longer at a time. I know I will work it out real fast once I get out there, but the more mistakes I make whilst still at home the better. confuse hmm

Cheers John

Sharke · Senior Member

John

I have 240 watts off solar panels, 2 x 120 AMP batteries . I use a gas Hot water and gas fridge. with this set up with good weather i am only limmeted by the gas supply not 12 volt. My 12 volt use is 40 litre engel freezer, tv, computer , small 12 volt fan and i do not use heaters. i also have a 400 watt inverter for charging phone & laptop.
cheers
Jeff

-- Edited by Sharke on Sunday 30th of November 2014 09:46:22 PM

-- Edited by Sharke on Sunday 30th of November 2014 09:47:33 PM

-- Edited by Sharke on Sunday 30th of November 2014 09:51:04 PM

exa41 · Guru

John they also told me you need more solar than batteries.

sarg · Guru

John, I have 2X100ah deep cycle batteries in the van with a 140W portable solar panels and I use and charge my laptop, Ipad, mobile phone, WiFi, watch TV and use LED lights plus a good 12v fan. AND a Cpap machine for sleeping. Also have a 600w/1200w inverter to charge my camera batteries and drill.

I don't have any worries, but do watch the voltage in said batteries. normally by 10am/noon the batteries are fully charged again on a sunny day.

I also have a big 70ltr fridge/freezer in the tug with a 200w solar panel fixed on roof fitted a month ago, and it is excellent.

I have been at Greens for 2 weeks now and never looked like needing to use the genie yet, for either of them.

I suppose if it is cloudy /raining for any more than a than a few days then I will get the genie out so as not to let the batteries get down too much

But so far I think that I have ample amount of battery and solar..........As I have only just started ,,,,More time will tell.

Hope this helps............. Cheers, Sarg.

Phil C · Guru

Gday John

We are a bit like the rest of the crew, 2 120AH batteries, 140W solar panel, 2500W inverter (so the label says)

The fridge, HWS are both on gas when we free camp. Interestingly enough I use a 9KG gas bottle every 6 weeks.

My rule of thumb is that if the batts arent fully charged by 4pm I will give them a dose of the genny for an hour or two.

We have lights on, TV, fans on a hot day ans a waeco freezer on during the day (off at night). As at this time I have never had to use the genny, so goes to show under normal electrical loads we can and do survive without 240V.

BTW if the night is cold I have low wattage electric blankets on the inverter, most times that will do us till sunrise. The inverter reminds us the batt voltage is getting low.

Safe travels

bill12 · Guru

I have 3x 80 watt panels, and 2x 120 amp/hr deepcycle lead acid batteries which run the lights tv, and a 60ltr waeco fridge freezer. This setup, controlled by mppt regulator, will run everything for abour 5 days before I have to start the vehicle engine, or genny.Works great, but am thinking of agm batteries as I only get 2 or 3 years out of the lead acid ones. Bill

meetoo · Guru

It's really interesting, and educational to read what power setups folks have, and how it lasts/works for them.

It is starting to give an idea now of what is required. Hope more folks will post on how they fare. I might need to increase my solar size.

Thanks all.

Cheers, John

Stratman77 · Senior Member

All the comments above should be very helpful, but anyone reading this who is considering new house batteries will find this article of great interest. It's a must read as there is a lot of misinformation about what are the best batteries for RVs.

www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/battery-technology.php

If only we could buy European batteries here! Imported Bosch batteries are available at Costco at really good prices, but they are made in Korea under license and are supposedly the same as the German ones. Who knows? Maybe they are.

-- Edited by Stratman77 on Monday 1st of December 2014 02:36:07 PM

Radar · Guru

Hi Meetoo,

We are not full time on the track but do enjoy freedom camping when the timing is right, our set up is 120 + 85 in the ute that link with the caravan via cable and these both are then recharged by our 120 watt solar panel.

We are running lights, radio, limited amount of recharging phones, camera and laptop and the portable shower. Cooking and 155 litre frig are gas.we do have al 12 volt frig in the ute but after a couple of days on the road we normally would turn it off as we tend to buy fresh and store only enough for 2 or 3 days.

So far 4 days with mixed weather is the longest in one spot but feel confident another day or two would of been achieved if needed. In this wet camp we turned the phones off and did a lot of socializing.

My wish list does have another 120 watt panel on it and a Dc to Dc charger before we leave on our next extended trip, just because I can.

I have been following this site now for about 18 months and the rule of thumb is better to have more panel then battery and I do have the space up there on the roof for another one. Ralph

Brenda and Alan · Guru

We are currently running 360 watts of flexible solar panels into a 120 Ah AGM battery. We free camp as much as possible on our six month jaunts and our average daily usage is 480 Watts give or take. Chief culprits are TV and Satellite decoder plus one lap top and one notebook computer then add lights etc all of which run direct from 12V. Currently investigating 200 Ah LiFePo4 battery cells to replace the ageing AGM as this would give us up to Four days usage without any sunshine or any need for external charging. We do not carry a generator at all.

Alan

-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Monday 1st of December 2014 06:32:31 PM

meetoo · Guru

Thanks everyone so far. Some great replies that I have found super helpful. Would love to hear from anyone else still that is able.The batteries will not be used for a few weeks so they got a full charge in the meantime yesterday with a 7 stage smart charger.

Cheers, John

wasn_me · Guru

Another thing to take into account is the panels put out less as you go south, particularly if flat mounted. I believe the ideal angle, to mount panels, in southern Qld. is 22 degrees, whereas in Vic. it's 45 degrees.

Cheers Pete

Stratman77 · Senior Member

There is some great advice in the replies so far (I found them very informative) and the only thing I would like to add is that I am currently looking for LED equivalents to the 10 quartz halogen lamps in my Avan as my TV, fan, car fridge, media player and wife's cpap machine draw - in total - approx the same power as the lights. Therefore I can cut my consumption dramatically by replacing the lamps. I also fitted a cheap Digital Power Meter (N.B. some care is needed in choosing one that will do the job) so I can tell exactly what is coming out, going in and the current voltage.

Brenda and Alan · Guru

Stratman77 there are replacement LED's available from "caravansplus" in either of two configurations (a) pins on side of LED disc (b) pins on centre rear of disc. they are brighter than 10 watt QI's and consume only 1.6 watts. I have seen these also at some auto stores.

Alan

Stratman77 · Senior Member

Thanks, Alan! I'll check it out.

robo24 · Senior Member

We have 200w solar and one battery.Fridge freezer[3 way,2 tvs,55w waeco and 31 leds throughout the van.So far no problems with running out of power.Had a volt guage fitted inside van.As we are currently heading south,things may change.