All Electric camper

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Has anyone ever explored the idea of an all electric camper?

What I mean by this is electric cooker, electric heating etc?
 
I cant see that it would be popular, or even viable. Most people with vans are constantly thinking about conserving 12 volt power, or thinking about ways to give themselves more amp hr supply.
Imagine the amount of power that cooking food and heating the van would consume on 12 volt.
I think the only way it would be feasible, if you only camped on sites and had EHU.
 
You can get large inverters quite cheaply now, a 5000w (10000w peak) can be purchased for about £250.00. I am going to buy a 3000w inverter charger which is £200.00 including delivery. The good thing about this one is that you connect it to the electric hookup and it recharges the batteries and switches the inverters sockets over to mains.

The next problem is batteries. You can get used UPS gel batteries from ebay for about £25.00 or £20.00 if you buy four or more. They range form 90 - 110ah, so £100 would but you about 500Ah. They have different dimensions to leisure batteries (51cm * 29.5cm * 11cm typically) and can be mounted in any direction. They are also sealed so can be mount internally without any venting.

The big cost is the solar panels, normally you will pay £3- £4 per watt for good quality panels. A 2m by 1m panel could deliver as much as 240watts.

You will also need a charge controller to handle the solar and split charging.

So what will 3000 watts with 500 Ah give you?

Theoretically 3000 watts / 12 volt = 250 amps

So if you ran the inverter at full power the best you could hope for is 2 hours!

But you have to remember that inverter is 85% efficient so it is actually closer to 287.5 amps. Then the batteries will not give their full rated capacity so we are probably looking at around 90 minutes at full load.

90 minutes??? not much good for a weekend away is it....... but.....

Think how long it takes to boil a kettle? 5 minutes at 2000 watts?
27 times from one charge.
 
May I suggest that you have a look at www.sbmcc.co.uk because they have had a lot of correspondence about UPS batteries. The reason that they are being sold is because they have reached the end of their life.
I wouldn't rely on an inverter being particularly efficient either. The big ones eat power like there is no tomorrow
 
Admin said:
Has anyone ever explored the idea of an all electric camper?

What I mean by this is electric cooker, electric heating etc?
Click to expand...

Hi Admin. My initial reaction to this is why should anyone want to, but then this lead my thinking to this recent "popular" idea of gas less motorhomes, I realy can't understand what the advantage is. LPG has been used very successfully on lesure vehicles for many years, quite honestly nothing else can get close to it in terms of cleaness,reliability and cost effectiveness. Dispite all the scare mongery caused by some of the regulations, gas equipment is incredably simple hence it's reliability and probably safer to use than liquid fueled equipment. It also appears that problems with exchanging gas bottles, particularly abroad, concerns people, can anyone please explain to me why they are prepared to spend 40k+ on a motorhome that has not got a fixed LPG tank, my 30yr old Yank had one fitted. Why don't more manufacturers fit them, I don't believe cost can be used as an excuse because if fitted from new the cost of fitting a locker as well as the hire charge of the bottles can be ofset against it. Shall we start a campain. (Time to get off soapbox). Sorry to hijack your electric's thread but I do feel it's a valid point in the discusion.

Regards Geoff.​
 
If one looks at this from the energy requirement level we need to have the following power (my suggestions):

Fridge 100w for 12 hr =1200 Whr (more in summer less in winter)
Heating 1000w for 3hr =3000 Whr (less in summer)
Hot Water 1000w for 1/2hr =500 Whr
Cooking 1000w for 1/2hr =500 Whr
Lights / pump 100w for 1hr =100Whr

So a total daily requirement of around 5000Whrs.

If solar panels were used for 10 hours /day they would need to generate 500W per hour.
Batteries to store that amount over 400 ah

All the above assumes 100% efficiency in any conversion (inverter) and also with the batteries!!

So I would guess the only way forward might be a roof full of solar panels, a wind turbine feeding 4 110ah batteries, augmented by a 1KVa generator to charge the batteries and run some of the load.
 
ian81 said:
If one looks at this from the energy requirement level we need to have the following power (my suggestions):

Fridge 100w for 12 hr =1200 Whr (more in summer less in winter)
Heating 1000w for 3hr =3000 Whr (less in summer)
Hot Water 1000w for 1/2hr =500 Whr
Cooking 1000w for 1/2hr =500 Whr
Lights / pump 100w for 1hr =100Whr

So a total daily requirement of around 5000Whrs.

If solar panels were used for 10 hours /day they would need to generate 500W per hour.
Batteries to store that amount over 400 ah

All the above assumes 100% efficiency in any conversion (inverter) and also with the batteries!!

So I would guess the only way forward might be a roof full of solar panels, a wind turbine feeding 4 110ah batteries, augmented by a 1KVa generator to charge the batteries and run some of the load.
Click to expand...

Makes a gas bottle sound a lot easier doesnt it? :)
 
how about a hamster wheel connected to a dynamo and feed the hamster on steroids and......maybe not. ;)

Back to the drawing board:rolleyes:
 
Well you could always run your generator on water then the energy would be free. And just incase you are wondering, you can run an engine on water if you crack it first into hydrogen and oxygen. The best thing is; no carbon, so no carbon dioxide or monoxide. However the method is patented by one of the large fuel companies and I think the gov would find it hard to tax water!
 
Admin said:
Well you could always run your generator on water then the energy would be free. And just incase you are wondering, you can run an engine on water if you crack it first into hydrogen and oxygen. The best thing is; no carbon, so no carbon dioxide or monoxide. However the method is patented by one of the large fuel companies and I think the gov would find it hard to tax water!
Click to expand...

oh! no they wouldn't!​
:
:cool: :cool: sundown​
 
However the method is patented by one of the large fuel companies

Sorry Admin urban myth. Common misconception is that holding a patent keeps an idea secret, it does just the opposite. All patents can I believe viewed at the patents office. Holding a patent prevents anyone else from making commercial gain from your ideas, i don't think even making use of them for further experimentation or demonstration for educational use is prevented.
By the way cracking water is not that difficult, pass an electric current through acidic water the electrodes will gas oxygen on one and hydrogen on the other. I think that is how it's done but it is 35yrs since I did it in 3rd form chemistry. Problem is it takes much more power to "crack" it than you can get from it.

Regards Geoff.​
 
Hydrogen cars

Sorry gang your all to late there is allready a car up & running in UNST in the Shetlands,sorry to rain on your parade.
snowgoose.:D
 
I agree with you geoff,
but dont you think that some-one, some-where, is managing to hold back technological advancements, which would benifit the general public?, unless they are making money out of it
It takes a large war to bring out these advancements,as proved in
pinamundie, blechlie park, nevada desert, etc., etc.,
the german enigma code was 100 years ahead of its time
yet they cracked it 60 odd years ago
dont tell me they cant crack something as easy as cracking water
I think that we'd all be surprised if we discovered what they could use for a "new" power source
 
snowgoose said:
Sorry gang your all to late there is allready a car up & running in UNST in the Shetlands,sorry to rain on your parade.
snowgoose.:D
Click to expand...


Interesting. How are they refueling, any idea?
I have seen the Merc being refueled and it is a scary operation. It is all done remotely. You don't get out and handle anything at all: Something to do with the boiling point at -252.87 º C :D
I think that there is still a YouTube video somewhere.
 
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