We've done a couple of camping trips now using EHU but want to do a tonne more trips this summer and I was wondering if I could manage without EHU to cut the nightly cost. It's an extra £5 a night for EHU where we go and so far we have only used it for:
* inflating 2 x air beds with a wee top up later in the week
* charging phones and a kindle
We use the stove (bistro type) for boiling water and battery powered torches. It's sooooo light at night I didn't even use them the last trip. Because I hate not having enough sleep I tend to go to bed at the same time as kids and it's still light (10pm) out. So to get to my question do you think we could manage with no EHU and just use the 12V car battery? Am I at risk of running battery down? Do I need to keep running the car to re-charge the battery after each time I charge an appliance?
Like the idea of going without EHU as It reminds me of my childhood camping trips!
Maybe carry a small 85 amp leisure battery to help take the strain? We've been 12v only in a tent for over a year now, I have 2 batteries, a small 85 amp for weekends and a larger 110 amp one for longer trips (backed up with a solar panel) Ours is used for a large LED light strip and charging 3 phones and 2 Ipads. Recently we went away for a weekend in our new inflatable tent and this was also inflated with the battery (85 amp) along with the other stuff that we powered we used a little over half of that battery (that's about as low as I'd want to go). If you can keep the car running while you're doing the inflatables you should get away with it, besides, I'm sure most campers would be happy to help bump start the car!
Waeco do a "Battery Monitor" which can cope upto 5amp I have one in the car to prevent my Aldi Thermoelectric cooler from draining the battery, works perfect it has to be said.
You can get none branded "Battery Monitors" that can handle upto 10amp but I went for the Waeco model as it is a well respected brand.
Back in the day, we used to lug a Leiusure Battery around, we had it in one of those specific Battery Box's which you can get from camping shops, quite cheap and in a fetching white finish with red lid!
I added to the Battery Box a 10amp fuse and panel mounted car type cigar lighter socket, it still is a very handy bit of kit, and you do not need to worry to much if you drain the Battery, although that should really be avoided if you want to preserve the life of the cells in the Battery.
Just to put things in perspective, my 95ah car battery would charge my phone 3.7v 1500ma (from flat ) approx 1800 times .
Just come back from 11 days away & not once started van for charging devices (& only normal tripping about) Each day charged the 7"tv , phones ,gopro & laptop as well as 16 x aa 1900mah batteries for the fishfinder & night lamps.
We have an electric cool box but pointless when saving £5/night we can buy fresh milk & meat every day if needed.
Invest some time to find your cars ( battery/alternator) performance & your camping needs then never look back.
------------- The cheap tat was much better quality when i was young.
For the usage you are suggesting the battery in your car should cope ok so long as you are able to use your cigar lighter without burning out your ignition. Run the engine while pumping up airbeds if you have to switch on the ignition to get power.
Try to recharge electronic devices while driving.
If you want a separate power supply think solar, a 15w folding solar panel should be sufficient for phones and Kindles using a serious power bank.
If you want more you will be moving up to 20w solar panels and a gel leisure battery.
I currently have a hard wired 500w 230v inverter (£50) in my van, apart from at work its very useful for camping as I can charge with mains my lanterns torches etc, also it lets a certain someone use hair straighteners :p I either run the (diesel) engine for an hour or just let things charge while driving.
Although it does sound like the other members suggestions are suffice, a PVpanel trickle charging a leisure battery is usually more than ample for keeping lights going. In my work I scrap a LOT of lead acid batteries so im never short of 12v power for small LED setups.
I would say though always run your engine when using anything apart from the radio especially if its just a car battery. Watch out for cheap USB car chargers... fried my tablet with an overvoltage
I run a 150W inverter from the cigarette lighter socket and that is enough to run a LED 240V bulb and a phone charger without draining the battery (don't leave the engine running while in use). I do usually start the car up after a couple of days just to make sure and i've never come close to draining it down to a level where it's slow to turn over or failed to start. On the last trip I had two 240V LED bulbs and the phone charger running without a problem. The LED bulbs are so much more efficient than the energy saving bulbs that take time to warm up. And I inflate the airbed at the start and use the pump to deflate at the end, both times off the inverter using an extension lead into the tent. This is device I've been using for the past couple of years => https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLINV150ST.html When I first got it I tested it for several hours at home to see if it would drain the battery before using it for real.
Great advice here (as always)! Thank you all. Think we can def do this without EHU. I have bought (and tested) a 12v cigarette lighter air bed pump from Aldi today. We are away again in 2 weeks for a couple of nights on a grass no electric pitch so gonna see how we get on. And maybe invest in some other kit if we feel like we need to.
Many thanks everyone,
Katy
If it's just for keeping phones charged, I'd go with a battery pack and solar charger.
Last time out for us was a two-nighter without EHU. My son spent a fair amount of time on his Hudl, and Clare & I were both using our phones through the day and watching the Euros football on her tablet.
For power we took a single 15000mah battery and emptied it. Most devices were aroung 1/2 battery when we got back. I estimate we were using around 10000mah per day.
We have a 14w solar charger that we didn't take with us (couldn't find it, found it now!). Some rough calculations estimate that it will more or less keep up with that level of usage if it's sunny. In the past we have used it to keep two phones and a single tablet going with no issues.
Cost-wise it's about £35 for the charger and £25 for the battery (both Anker products available on Amazon).
why not get a car battery booster, the type used for jump starting your car, i have one it has a socket for plugging things in and a built in pump, plug it in your car when you go for a drive and its all charged up
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Topic: Using 12v car battery for electricity
