Any motor home owners out there?
Discussion
Hi all
Mrs Eltax, little Eltax and I have just booked a weekend festival with a motorbike spot. We intend to rent a Luton van based motor home, transit or ducato based. 6 or 7 berth thing with the over cab bed option.
Now, the festival has no electric hookup. So on practical matters, how are these things normally set up? I presume most things run on gas from a bottle? Like cooking and refrigerating etc. There is no option to take the thing out during the festival, you arrive, you stay still for 4 nights and you leave!
So, with this in mind, how does the electricity normally work? From what I've read there's a leisure battery which powers pumps for the water stuff and lighting etc. Question is, how big is a 'typical' battery and how long will it last without charging? we would effectively need to run from Thursday afternoon with a full battery until Monday morning, is this normally well within scope of these batteries?
Thanks in advance, yours, a motor home newbie!
Mrs Eltax, little Eltax and I have just booked a weekend festival with a motorbike spot. We intend to rent a Luton van based motor home, transit or ducato based. 6 or 7 berth thing with the over cab bed option.
Now, the festival has no electric hookup. So on practical matters, how are these things normally set up? I presume most things run on gas from a bottle? Like cooking and refrigerating etc. There is no option to take the thing out during the festival, you arrive, you stay still for 4 nights and you leave!
So, with this in mind, how does the electricity normally work? From what I've read there's a leisure battery which powers pumps for the water stuff and lighting etc. Question is, how big is a 'typical' battery and how long will it last without charging? we would effectively need to run from Thursday afternoon with a full battery until Monday morning, is this normally well within scope of these batteries?
Thanks in advance, yours, a motor home newbie!
The Leisure battery is normally charged up from the car battery. This is completely separate from the van battery under the bonnet, and usually stored near the back.
Bear in mind all your lighting etc, will only be 12v, but you should be OK for a few days.
Cooking by gas would be no problem.
The obvious advantage of electric hook up (EHU) is you would be able to use a small electric heater, watch TV, use a microwave cooker for example.
Take a couple of (Good) torches, and a small basic toolkit....Scissors, screwdrivers, pliers etc.
Have fun, and don't park on a muddy field or you could get stuck..
Bear in mind all your lighting etc, will only be 12v, but you should be OK for a few days.
Cooking by gas would be no problem.
The obvious advantage of electric hook up (EHU) is you would be able to use a small electric heater, watch TV, use a microwave cooker for example.
Take a couple of (Good) torches, and a small basic toolkit....Scissors, screwdrivers, pliers etc.
Have fun, and don't park on a muddy field or you could get stuck..
Best thing would be to let the hirer know what you need and see if they can get you the right set up.
I could do Silverstone GP weekend with 3 people using the van for 4 days with two 130 AH batteries, now in theory that's 260AH total, but you shouldn't discharge leisure batteries below 50% so in actual fact I had 130AH available.
But, in summer months you don't use as much power as long as you don't go daft with TVs etc.
A lot of MHs will have solar panels to top up the batteries a little bit which will help.
On my first van I just used to run the engine for a hour a day to top up the leisure batteries just to be sure.
Fridge, cooking, water heating will be by gas so make sure you have enough, things like a gas lantern for under the awning at night instead of the awning light saves battery power.
I could do Silverstone GP weekend with 3 people using the van for 4 days with two 130 AH batteries, now in theory that's 260AH total, but you shouldn't discharge leisure batteries below 50% so in actual fact I had 130AH available.
But, in summer months you don't use as much power as long as you don't go daft with TVs etc.
A lot of MHs will have solar panels to top up the batteries a little bit which will help.
On my first van I just used to run the engine for a hour a day to top up the leisure batteries just to be sure.
Fridge, cooking, water heating will be by gas so make sure you have enough, things like a gas lantern for under the awning at night instead of the awning light saves battery power.
I think as alluded to above, a lot will depend upon the batteries you have available and any ancillary devices like solar panels. Some "Basic" hire fleets will only have one leisure battery, but at least most newer stock will likely have LED lighting, which helps with power drain.
The other issue is that as a Family who isn't used to motorhoming, there's a likelihood that you'll overestimate what resources you have available. For our first few outings, we went through fresh water like nobody's Business and filled the toilet cassette within a couple of days as my wife was treating everything like she would at home (we've now had the conversation about home needing some conservation too!) and I fear we'd have had the same problem with the batteries had we not have had EHU.
Your big issue will be with the weather - if it's cold then you'll be wanting to run the heating which in most cases is blown air and draws on the battery to blow the hot air off the boiler. This has a reasonable draw.
But the best advice is to have a chat with the hire supplier and see whether they have any vans which are more suitable to long periods off grid.
The other issue is that as a Family who isn't used to motorhoming, there's a likelihood that you'll overestimate what resources you have available. For our first few outings, we went through fresh water like nobody's Business and filled the toilet cassette within a couple of days as my wife was treating everything like she would at home (we've now had the conversation about home needing some conservation too!) and I fear we'd have had the same problem with the batteries had we not have had EHU.
Your big issue will be with the weather - if it's cold then you'll be wanting to run the heating which in most cases is blown air and draws on the battery to blow the hot air off the boiler. This has a reasonable draw.
But the best advice is to have a chat with the hire supplier and see whether they have any vans which are more suitable to long periods off grid.
We did 5 days at Glasto without running the engine without any issues - that included charging phones and iPads etc from the leisure battery. No use of the telly or heating though.
If it is a recent van with LED interior lighting, then the battery should last very well providing you aren't using the fan heating or TV.
If it is a recent van with LED interior lighting, then the battery should last very well providing you aren't using the fan heating or TV.
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