What is best ?

[Velgreeno]

Hey folks. Well I have finally made my interior from scratch in my bus and now im looking to kit her out with a camping stove, cool box fridge etc. What would you folks recommend thats not too expensive and quality too those with camping jnteriors? Also looking for a good power station to power the cool box, lights, phone charger etc with solar too to keep it topped up. So much out there and a bit lost if im honest ha. Cheers .

 

[Coda]

I have a 100Ah leisure battery connected to, well not much at the moment, just some LED lights really. I am planning to add a small chest fridge (I have some in my amazon wish list I'm keeping an eye on, like the Alphacool range) in the place where the dormy had its cool box (long since gone) but I suspect even a small fridge will drain a 100ah battery in a day or two. Solar on the roof is not a good option for a dormy, as you've hardly any roof left to mount anything substantial on, but I think a freestanding foldable solar panel kit may be an option. They are quite expensive for the amount of power they provide though. If you're good at DIY (and low voltage electrics) you should be able to make something that can plug into a leisure battery sitting in your engine bay.

 

[gas1man]

Been checking out the solar stuff recently.From what I have read, do not buy a cheap controller!!!
Yes they are really cheap, however when buying make sure you buy the best you can afford.
I have done the advertised £9 pound job and done the £30 pound falsely advertised MPPT controller.

I have just spent £90 on a genuine MPPT controller. If you use the cheapass ones the power is not optimised.
With a MPPT type controller the power is optimised and the battery gets what it needs. As OZZIE says this
ELECTRICKERY stuff is a bit beyond me. I am sure someone will be along to explain.

Buy right the first time and do the research, it's worth it.

J & P

 

[Coda]

I totally agree, don't buy the cheap crud, get a decent MPPT controller. You dont get much sun here anyway so you need to be as efficient as you can capturing it.

 

[KateLovesPurple]

I'd vote old school. 3 way fridge, gas hob and grill, 100Ah battery with split charge. Hookup with charger and that's pretty much it. I do have led lights, USB ports, TV and electric water pump on the tap.
On hookup, you can last for ever, of grid with the fridge on gas I can run 3 or 4 days without having to start the van. No solar, no controllers, no hassle.

 

[Coda]

I like that idea, the only issue I see is if one is not using campsites with power that fridge will eat a gas bottle quite quickly and they are not cheap.

 

[67westy]

I have a waeco compressor fridge and a 100w solar panel with a votronic mppt controller. When camping for a longer time we normally take the eriba and connect it to the leisure battery in the bus. It powers water pump, charging various devices, lighting in bus and eriba as well as the fridge. We have easily done 10 days in summer without hookup and the battery is often full by the end of the day

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[Coda]

...we normally take the eriba...

What's an 'eriba'?
Edit: Nevermind, I duck-duck-go'd it and found its some sort of caravan.

 

[67westy]

I got the wrong caravan as well don't have the eriba anymore! Should have been Rapido but it's still a small caravan

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