# That old problem of having enough electrical power.



## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Aside from our frozen pipe problem mentioned in another post, it seems our single living area battery fully charged 100 amps is not even good for one full night of having the heat running on these super cold nights. First thing I need to do is check that battery and then also install a second one. And I hope to get a solar panel soon. But I have a feeling that this won't solve the problem in the cold weather we are having lately while skiing. Last time we were parked near 5 other campers most of them had generators, which of course we all hate from the noise standpoint, but I'm starting to think this may be the only reliable solution. Especially with a foot of snow on the roof. We only use LED lights and the only other thing that consumes power is the lap top which we sometimes watch movies on or use the internet.


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## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Hi

We have two bigish panels and in Scotland last winter did next to nothing. Alps/Pyrenees etc winter should produce more being further south, but I'd go with a genny if I knew there wasn't hookup and I wasn't going to drive much.

Jason


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

I assume you are using blown air heating on gas. Is it possible to turn off the blowers?

JohnW


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

I really think you need a BIG battery bank to last a while skiing without hookup, genny or fuel cell. Winter dark evenings, so lots of lighting, TV and laptop hours, let alone constant heating circulation fans. Temperature affects batteries too, unless they are heated under the driver's seat, say.

Dave


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

It's your basic Truma (spelling) heating system. The fan either goes off or goes on low power when the temp is close to the set one. Problem is that when it's very cold out the fan seems to on high most of the time.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

I had a look inside and it seems the system is pretty well designed. The water lines are run next to the heating ducts and pass under the bed in back through a boxed in channel. So the problem seems to mainly be when heating the inside using an alternative heating system like an electric heater. The heat does not reach those closed areas where the duct is unless all the cabinet doors are left open.


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## Skar (Jul 13, 2010)

jhelm said:


> Problem is that when it's very cold out the fan seems to on high most of the time.


Since we are going away next week I tested mine on Friday night when temperatures dropped to -12 here. I left the fire lit with as low a flame as possible and set the fan manually to it's lowest setting. 12 hours later the van was still comfortably warm, battery had dropped from an initial 13.6 to 13, I think it's the automatic fan setting that is your problem? I don't plan on staying anywhere longer than 2 nights so I'm happy with my usage.


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## andyandsue (Sep 7, 2008)

*least its snowing*

Im an electrician with exp of power systems in vans ,also we skied for 3 full seasons to research vic books ski guide so if i may ! Firstly solar panels are a waste of time when sking , winter sun is low and weak with the " catch 22" of you need snow to ski but then it covers your panels. We deliberatly bought a new van with the old style truma heater as it uses only gas and not elec , something for other skiers to consider. A genny is essential for sking using stellplatz and aires with no hook up ,get a 4 stroke one , change the oil regulary and take a 2foot by 2foot slab of foam to build a sound wall betwwen u and it . Its accepted that gennys run on ski stellplatz up to about bed time! You need 2 batteries of same type ,age, condition and capacity well connected side by side if poss, dont use an invertor they are power hungry and Very ineffecient. For a computor use a 12v to 19v (or whatever v your laptop is)plug- in adaptor. Lap tops do use a lot of power. and lastly LEDS are great. We also sleep with very low heating at night in good sleeping bags in the high up luton we open all cupbords to help prevent freezing pipes and try to park with the side with all the plumbing in the sun. best of luck this season with the snow and let us all know how u get on,,,cheers andy and sue


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Why on earth did they start producing vans that have to rely on batteries to use your heater? Is there no way of bypassing or turning the fan off? Seems a bit bonkers to me. If the fire is gas surely it can give off enough heat without the fan on. You should be able to last a few days on one battery. 

I sometimes use the cab battery to run the laptop. I use a maplins 19v adaptor. They are quite power hungry though. I try to charge it when driving and when it gets low plug it in the cab battery cigar socket while sitting in the front dinette and using the laptop. After an hour or so I then run it on its own battery.


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## MiketheWelshman (May 1, 2005)

Hi all, one solution I used in the past, a catalytic gas fire, it was a portable camping type, about the size of a fan heater. No electricity required, obviously no fan assisted heat circulation, some ventilation required but most vans have enough built in anyway(gas rings need it), by the way don't be tempted to use burner rings to heat, they produce too much Carbon monoxide, a catalytic converts that into Co2.

Mike


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## Andysam (May 10, 2005)

How old is your battery? Old batteries don't hold charge well. 

If you regularly discharge an ordinary caravan battery below 50% it will reduce it's capacity to hold a charge. 

Unless you have a 4+ stage charger it will only charge to 80% (ish) of the indicated capacity in new or old batteries.

Cheapest answer? (noise not considered) get two (or more) low discharge batteries. Then, in order of cost effectiveness, add a 4+ stage charger, generator, solar panels.

If you aren't moving for days at a time in sub zero temps, I'm sorry but there is ONLY one option- Some way of independently generating electricity. Normally via a petrol genny.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Good conversation -- our heater seems to be automatic, no way to turn off the fan other than setting the thermometer close to the existing temperature. I could probably do that raising it up in stages.

So it looks like get a 2nd battery and a generator. I do have a small one 600w but I mainly got it for emergency use. Running it for a couple of hours doesn't seem to charge up the battery enough to make it through the night. Looks like I also need to turn the thermometer down. I've been keeping it around 15C.


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