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Next year I am expecting to spend one or two long weekends (hopefully, perhaps more) at locations without power supplies and have been thinking about treating myself (or the van!) to a generator.
However, on reading up on some specifications I wonder if I am misunderstanding how people use them. I had assumed that where mains supply is not available people run the generator and use it lieu of mains – so it would need to be running virtually all of the time. None of those I have checked have fuel supply for more than 16 hours at the very most – and the majority for a lot less.
Do people simply use the generator to top up the leisure battery? The reason I ask is that the only appliance I am likely to run continuously and which is mains dependent is the fridge – and unless I have a mains hook-up this has to be run on gas when the vehicle is parked. This is no problem, of course, but I would like to know what the position is before deciding whether to buy a generator – and none of the information I have seen on them so far covers this.
TIA
Hi Mike,
I think you will discover that most of us use the generator just to top up the batteries, as nearly all your on-board stuff runs off 12v. anyway. The 3 way fridge will run off your gas bottles; although of course off mains if you have electric hook-up; and off your generator if you choose.
I think the most I would ever need to run my generator is one hour. This could be for e.g. if my wife decides to use a hair dryer or the microwave for a few minutes. I try to avoid generator usage at all because I am lucky enough to have a 1500W. inverter that runs A/C; but of course I can only use this successfully and safely for a few minutes too.
The exception to this 1 hour useage could be in extremely cold conditions when I really need to get the inside warmed up. In the Dolomites had it running for 3 hours to warm everything up and top everything up in a wild camping situation at -15°, before relying on the batteries for the 12v. blown air heating during the night.
saluti,
eddied
______________________________________________________________ We get too soon old, and too late smart.
you should be aware that running a genny will not exactly help you making friends with any possible neighbours, be they motorhomers or residents. And in many places on the continent where "wild camping" is usually tolerated, generators definitely exceed tolerance levels or are even explicitly forbidden.
So, IMHO a genny should only be a last resort and only be used if you are either really completely alone or all people within hearing range agree.
Even then it should only be run as short time as possible, so to recharge the battery to a reasonable level. Of course, while the genny is running anyway, you can switch over the fridge to mains power to save a little gas.
Maybe you should consider investing in a solar panel?
Best Regards,
Gerhard
______________________________________________________________ Euramobil Sport 585DS (C-class):
Thanks. folks. I had wondered about noise levels - I heard a couple at a site a few months ago and they suprised me as to just how quiet they were - but then I read some reviews whihc commented on the generators being noisy on heavy demand - in my innocence I had assumed that they would be constant speed devices, so the ones that impressed me were probably just on tick-over!
Solar panels? I live in rural Scotland!! Seriously - how good are they?
Hi we live in Spain and don't have solar panels but do have a genny which was used in two of the 4 CL's we used in UK and with absolutely no complaints, we are heavy users (Sat,TV,PS2, 12V cool box,Microwave,and lights until late )as I have said before it's they way you use it, I asked the neighbours on the CL's if it was offensive to them and the answer was not at all, if it had been I would have turned it off when they were about and only used it in their absence, our normal use is at race meetings where everyone has them,ours will be used from 22nd Sept to 2nd Oct when we are back in UK and I don't expect any complaints, we used it a couple of years ago at the Shepton show within earshot of a dozen MHF members hands up who heard it
Bought a genny for the MH a few years back, it came on a 13000 mile holiday, and not used once, but I have a 100 watt solar panel, and the holiday was in the south of France & Spain, it will all depend on the amount of power you use, and the location, ie - north of Scotland in winter or south of France in summer ?
Will you be using a TV for 12 hours a day ? OK 12 hours is a little ott, but its the TV that will pull the power,
If however you intend to wild camp in the far north late in the year, yes a genny will be a good buy, as there are so many places with no neighbours,
I run the fridge, heating, and boiler on LPG, and only use the lights I "need" not the lights I "want" on,
We have never given gennies much thought, that was until last week when we were coming off the Yorkshire dales and looking for somewhere to stop. We arrived in Kettlewell found a great little site right on the edge of the town, there was one pitch left; and next to it was this MH with a gennie revving away ruining the tranquility of the place .
We carried on further down the valley, which was a shame as the town looked to have possibilities for a fun evening.
Hi we live in Spain and don't have solar panels but do have a genny which was used in two of the 4 CL's we used in UK and with absolutely no complaints, we are heavy users (Sat,TV,PS2, 12V cool box,Microwave,and lights until late )
That's because we Brits are too polite/stiff upper lip to complain to the person causing the nuisance (allbeit genny or anything else), but complain behind their backs.
Personally, I am strongly of the view that if you need 240 volts then you should go to a site with a hook up. Generators are anti-social
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