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Sorry if this question has been asked before, I had a quick search but couldn't find similar.
I have never used the motorhome without hookup but will be doing so quite a number of times this year while at motorsport events, Friday night through to Sunday evening typically.
The leisure battery is 110a and we will be using the TV and freeview box on 12v, plus lights, fridge will be on gas, cooking will be gas.
I was considering buying a generator to use to charge the battery during the day (plenty noise at the events anyway so it will not annoy anyone). The Kipor is the probably buy.
The first question I guess is, do I need one or willl the battery last ?
If as I suspect the TV will drain the battery, will a 1Kw generator fit the bill or should I go for a higher output.
Clearly cost is always an issue but weight is just as much an issue, the 1Kw seem to be around 14Kg and the 2Kw around 23K.
As to generators I always think 1kw is enough if it's really only to run your on board charger. No point spending money on buying and running a bigger one than you need.
Whether you need one or not depends on how long you want to do without hook up. You could add another battery and get maybe 3 days or so without recharging.
It also depends on what time of year you want use your van, for summer use a solar panel would probably do your job.
If you want a more detailed answer give us some more info. Regards, Alan.
Depends on how much you are going to use your TV and if your lighting is LED etc.
I run 2 x 110 AH batteries and a 100W solar panel. Never yet run out of juice even in the winter but I dont stay on the same site more than a couple of days. ( several hours TV per evening and sat receiver both run off an inverter, LED lights, !) Your batteries need tio be in good nick though!! Knackered ones will always be knackered!!
I have 2.5Kw genny built in, the only time I start it is at the start of each trip just to make sure it will actually run if I ever need it. Which I have yet to do !
I got some feedback from another competitor who also takes his tv watching wife along with him and he seems to get by with one battery for the weekend no problem.
My van is only a year old so the battery should be in good condition, I hope.
I will probably buy a 1Kw model just to use as backup, it could come in useful for running a drill/grinder in case of car related problems as well as charging the battery if we stay longer.
Murray, it's easy to do the sums. If you have a 110ah battery you can use around 55ah before your voltage gets to low to run stuff and you discharge your battery to the point where you may permanently damage it.
If you add up the power consumption of all the appliances, lights and pumps you use I will be amazed if you are not using at least 40ah per day. In winter average 55ah per day using tele, sat reciever, led lighting and running pumps etc. from time to time. It's less in Summer because we are outside more of the time and need less lighting. All our stuff is 12v, none is run through an inverter as you suffer power losses due to the fact that they are not 100% efficient. Even if you allow that an inverter is 80% efficient you are still wasting power which on the face of it you don't have. If I used an inverter my power consumption would rise by around 10ah per day.
If you need help doing the sums just ask but here is how. Watts = Volts x Amps. Every electrical item has the power consumption marked on it. You will know the voltage, call it 240 for any mains powered device and 12 for anything running from the battery. On the back of my Avtex telly it says 12 volts at 4.5 amps so it uses 4.5 amps every hour. Lets say it's on for 4 hours each evening, that's 18 amp hours so running that for 3 evenings would use just over 50 amp hours which would use all I could safely use from a 110ah battery. Do that calculation for each electrical item you use and get your total. You can see that with your set up I would last barely two days between charges. To cope with that I have an extra 110ah battery, a solar panel and a fuel cell, Alan.
I had years of going to race meetings and had a small genny which was always used. As you say it will bother no one and I bet all around you have one. There is no need to spend much or have more than 1kw. Our last one which I still have was the small Clarke Power 4 stroke one of 700watt. Now as we are not racing I do have a solar panel and a Sterling B2B charger which suits my needs but at much greater cost. If you are like us we used to sit outside till very late with an awning light on while the boys slept ready for the next day. With the genny we could run a 240v light which was better
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What Output Should I Get
