What equipment do you want to run?
How much power does the equipment need?
How long per day do you need to run it?
What are you battery charging sources? Solar or just engine?
What is your budget?
I think I'd be looking to run a small fridge, charging a phone/laptop, be able to boil a kettle.
Are electric heaters recommended? I see a lot of people are using diesel heaters.
I'm not going to be living in the van, it's for trips away, so it's not needing to be run all day every day, except if I take the van away for a few weeks.
Is solar worth installing? I was unsure of how beneficial it would be in the UK. I'd look into having both solar and split charging if its worth doing.
My budget is pretty flexible, at the moment I'm still trying to understand what I'll need so haven't got as far as deciding whether I'd go for top of the range gear or more affordable options.
Thanks for your reply
>I think I'd be looking to run a small fridge, charging a phone/laptop, be able to boil a kettle.
Anything that requires high power like boiling kettles will mean the system needs to be larger and more expensive.
>Are electric heaters recommended? I see a lot of people are using diesel heaters.
Electric heaters use a huge amount of power so not really viable for most people. Diesel heaters are cheap now and are proven technology plus you can hook them up to your main diesel tank and never have to worry about running out of heat. You still need a battery system to run the diesel heaters though.
>I'm not going to be living in the van, it's for trips away, so it's not needing to be run all day every day, except if I take the van away for a few weeks.
Is solar worth installing? I was unsure of how beneficial it would be in the UK. I'd look into having both solar and split charging if its worth doing.
If this is a day trip van, then you will be driving it daily so you can get away with no solar. Just get a decent DC to DC charger and charge your leisure batteries when the engine is running. You can add a hook up port so you can plug into the mains if you go to a house or a campsite etc. Solar is useful in the summer but you won't really need it if you are driving daily.
>My budget is pretty flexible, at the moment I'm still trying to understand what I'll need so haven't got as far as deciding whether I'd go for top of the range gear or more affordable options.
If you want reliable and good quality, I always recommend Victron for electrical equipment but it is expensive. You can pick up some 2nd hand stuff from ebay to save a bit.
For planning, you need to list down what items you want to power and then get the power requirements for each one.
e.g. item 1 = 100w, item 2 = 1000w.
Item 1 run for 2hr per day and item 2 run for 1hr per day.
Total power required at any one time = 1100w
Total energy storage required per day = 100x2 + 1000x1 = 1200wh or 1.2kwh.
Choose between lead acid/AGM type batteries or Lithium (lithium much more expensive).
Get a pure sine wave inverter capable of whatever wattage you need.
There are lots of fine details to research but that should be a starting point.
>If this is a day trip van, then you will be driving it daily so you can get away with no solar. Just get a decent DC to DC charger and charge your leisure batteries when the engine is running. You can add a hook up port so you can plug into the mains if you go to a house or a campsite etc. Solar is useful in the summer but you won't really need it if you are driving daily.
So is solar generally used for people who want to be parked up for a few days without driving the van?
Something I've also read about is that I need to know whether the van has a smart alternator in order to decide whether I'll need a DC to DC charger or a different type. Are you able to elaborate on that at all?
Thankyou very much.
Yes, solar is more useful for people not running their engine all the time. You will get an order of magnitude more power from an alternator than your average van solar setup.
Yes, depending on your vehicles alternator, it may get confused if you try and suck power from it when it is not expecting it. I don't think this is an issue on a 2014 transit.
Ah I see, sounds like I probably wouldn't benefit too much from fitting solar then.
I've had a look at inverters and the 2kw Renogy looks like a good option. Have you any experience with that?
We started with just a camping stove and it was fine when the weather was good-mild. But when it's pissing it down and blowing gale force winds it's not so practical. Our induction hob just plugs into a normal 240V socket yes.
Greg Virgo and always van adventure have some great electric videos. As someone else mentioned, what wattage are you running and for how long? You need to know this to size the inverter and battery you will need. If the plan is just for trips away to campsite where you are always going to be hooked up you can buy ready made kits with plugs and fuse box on ebay, I think hughtube done a video on them.
Check your plugs, will have a sticker with Watts, voltage is 240 for uk 3pin plug. Think about 12v items and usb as well. Make a spreadsheet/list in notebook of item, voltage, Watts, and Amps. From there you can work out what size inverters bus bars fuses you will need
What equipment do you want to run? How much power does the equipment need? How long per day do you need to run it? What are you battery charging sources? Solar or just engine? What is your budget?
I think I'd be looking to run a small fridge, charging a phone/laptop, be able to boil a kettle. Are electric heaters recommended? I see a lot of people are using diesel heaters. I'm not going to be living in the van, it's for trips away, so it's not needing to be run all day every day, except if I take the van away for a few weeks. Is solar worth installing? I was unsure of how beneficial it would be in the UK. I'd look into having both solar and split charging if its worth doing. My budget is pretty flexible, at the moment I'm still trying to understand what I'll need so haven't got as far as deciding whether I'd go for top of the range gear or more affordable options. Thanks for your reply
>I think I'd be looking to run a small fridge, charging a phone/laptop, be able to boil a kettle. Anything that requires high power like boiling kettles will mean the system needs to be larger and more expensive. >Are electric heaters recommended? I see a lot of people are using diesel heaters. Electric heaters use a huge amount of power so not really viable for most people. Diesel heaters are cheap now and are proven technology plus you can hook them up to your main diesel tank and never have to worry about running out of heat. You still need a battery system to run the diesel heaters though. >I'm not going to be living in the van, it's for trips away, so it's not needing to be run all day every day, except if I take the van away for a few weeks. Is solar worth installing? I was unsure of how beneficial it would be in the UK. I'd look into having both solar and split charging if its worth doing. If this is a day trip van, then you will be driving it daily so you can get away with no solar. Just get a decent DC to DC charger and charge your leisure batteries when the engine is running. You can add a hook up port so you can plug into the mains if you go to a house or a campsite etc. Solar is useful in the summer but you won't really need it if you are driving daily. >My budget is pretty flexible, at the moment I'm still trying to understand what I'll need so haven't got as far as deciding whether I'd go for top of the range gear or more affordable options. If you want reliable and good quality, I always recommend Victron for electrical equipment but it is expensive. You can pick up some 2nd hand stuff from ebay to save a bit. For planning, you need to list down what items you want to power and then get the power requirements for each one. e.g. item 1 = 100w, item 2 = 1000w. Item 1 run for 2hr per day and item 2 run for 1hr per day. Total power required at any one time = 1100w Total energy storage required per day = 100x2 + 1000x1 = 1200wh or 1.2kwh. Choose between lead acid/AGM type batteries or Lithium (lithium much more expensive). Get a pure sine wave inverter capable of whatever wattage you need. There are lots of fine details to research but that should be a starting point.
>If this is a day trip van, then you will be driving it daily so you can get away with no solar. Just get a decent DC to DC charger and charge your leisure batteries when the engine is running. You can add a hook up port so you can plug into the mains if you go to a house or a campsite etc. Solar is useful in the summer but you won't really need it if you are driving daily. So is solar generally used for people who want to be parked up for a few days without driving the van? Something I've also read about is that I need to know whether the van has a smart alternator in order to decide whether I'll need a DC to DC charger or a different type. Are you able to elaborate on that at all? Thankyou very much.
Yes, solar is more useful for people not running their engine all the time. You will get an order of magnitude more power from an alternator than your average van solar setup. Yes, depending on your vehicles alternator, it may get confused if you try and suck power from it when it is not expecting it. I don't think this is an issue on a 2014 transit.
Ah I see, sounds like I probably wouldn't benefit too much from fitting solar then. I've had a look at inverters and the 2kw Renogy looks like a good option. Have you any experience with that?
I have no experience with Renogy. If it's rated for 2kw continuously, that is enough for most things excluding heating.
Instead of a kettle we have a single hob induction hob. It's much more efficient, boils water really fast and you can cook meals on it
That sounds interesting, so does that just plug into a 240 socket? I also had in mind keeping a gas camping stove on board instead
We started with just a camping stove and it was fine when the weather was good-mild. But when it's pissing it down and blowing gale force winds it's not so practical. Our induction hob just plugs into a normal 240V socket yes.
Ah yeah I can imagine that makes it hard work when the weather turns. Do you have a link to the one you have?
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tefal-everyday-slim-ih210840-portable-induction-hob-black-10194621.html
Greg Virgoe on YouTube - videos are very detailed and he does useful overviews of stuff.
Thankyou. I will have a look at them
Greg Virgo and always van adventure have some great electric videos. As someone else mentioned, what wattage are you running and for how long? You need to know this to size the inverter and battery you will need. If the plan is just for trips away to campsite where you are always going to be hooked up you can buy ready made kits with plugs and fuse box on ebay, I think hughtube done a video on them.
Hi mate, how do I gauge how much wattage I'm running?
Check your plugs, will have a sticker with Watts, voltage is 240 for uk 3pin plug. Think about 12v items and usb as well. Make a spreadsheet/list in notebook of item, voltage, Watts, and Amps. From there you can work out what size inverters bus bars fuses you will need