power packs

CARJEM

Guest
looking at EZA lithium power packs fitted with a 1500w inverter, as we want to be as self sufficient as possible. (hoping not to pay for electric hook ups.)
this is going to be our home, not holidays and a girl needs her hairdryer!
any advice please........
 
£2800 for the cheapest one with 125Ah capacity ? Thanks but no thanks. And you still need to charge them same as "normal" leisure batteries.
I would spend the money on some decent lead/acid batteries and upgrade the vehicle charing system. Solar, B2B or even one of these battery charger generators.
 
For the price of one, you can have at least 500 hookups. Or a state of the art solar and lead acid system professionally installed.

Richard
 
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. So, lithium is great, but no more efficient than any other battery.

How will you charge it?
 
CARJEM said:
looking at EZA lithium power packs fitted with a 1500w inverter, as we want to be as self sufficient as possible. (hoping not to pay for electric hook ups.)
this is going to be our home, not holidays and a girl needs her hairdryer!
any advice please........
Click to expand...

I have a 12 v h/dryer and its just about ok ,use a towel.
Dont wast dosh on power pack just add more batts and solar panels 3/400 watts and a big bank of l/acid batts ,4 to 6 will be fine if you must use a inverter but i would stick to 12v goods.
 
CARJEM said:
looking at EZA lithium power packs fitted with a 1500w inverter, as we want to be as self sufficient as possible. (hoping not to pay for electric hook ups.)
this is going to be our home, not holidays and a girl needs her hairdryer!
any advice please........
Click to expand...

Crew cut ???? ;)
 
swiftcamper said:
To really be self sufficient with power supply you will need a combination of several sources.
Contary to popular belief solar is all but useless in the UK between September and May.
Battery to battery chargers are supposed to work well but unless you are running the engine again not much use, a generator is great but unless you have really good chargers and a matched size of battery bank it will only provide instant power.
You really can spend a fortune and still end up with a useless system.
Do your research and ignore most of the rubbish you will be told.
Click to expand...

I dont agree - I have been out in the van for many weeks in the autumn, winter and early spring using only one solar panel and no electrical hook ups. I have one engine battery and three leisure batteries. As long as you measure your batteries daily, and if they drop below the acceptable level, then either run the engine or go for a short drive you will have power. Having said that I do not use 240 volt appliances - and I have long hair which I let dry naturally.

Some compromises when living in a van permanently are inevitable.. hair drying is one of them.....
 
delicagirl said:
I dont agree
Click to expand...

I think you're very conservative with your battery - which is good. I completely agree with you that it's possible to live like that, but you're running the bare minimum. Start adding TV, DVD, blown air heating and it gets significantly more difficult.
 
get a small suitcase generator with electric start, put it somewhere sensible,like a back box or side entry cupboard. use to top up batts and run heavier stuff when necessary,if you have to go and sit in a layby for a couple of hours to run it , that's part of it, and you'll have charged the batts enough to run the heating and lights etc
 
swiftcamper said:
You are talking total nonsense try really doing it for real unlike most who are weekend warriors we have lived in a van for over 5 years.
We really do not use much power and certainly do not dry hair.
Click to expand...

A bit harsh there baldly,should have offered to go round and towel here down.:lol-049:
 
st3v3 said:
I think you're very conservative with your battery - which is good. I completely agree with you that it's possible to live like that, but you're running the bare minimum. Start adding TV, DVD, blown air heating and it gets significantly more difficult.
Click to expand...

You are right I am frugal with power usage.... i have a gas fire for heating, and I dont have a TV and use my laptop for writing and CD playing music, so my electrical needs are relatively few. Replacing all my lighting with LED also made a difference to my power needs.
 
swiftcamper said:
We so all that too but once you use any form of blown air heating that really uses the power big time.
Click to expand...

Agreed Charlie. I've changed the controller as I was talking about and with the main two lights on and the heating I'm well over 4 amps - loads.

Clear winter day the solar was putting in an Amp while it was bright from a 120W panel - it's not going to last long.

That 25A power supply/3 stage charger I've bought does exactly what it says on the tin, so hoping when I go for a weekend off grid the battery will start at a level to support us :)
 
at least with a genny you have power when you want it. very nice if all the clever stuff works as you hope, but if there's any hiccups, it's reassuring to know the genny will sort you out .we had 2 when fulltiming,a 600 for charging ,lights and a bit of telly sometimes,and a 3.5 for power tools and welding. sod the noise,life goes on !
 
swiftcamper said:
We have the 2 ,the on-board and the Honda eu20i but at about £6 per hour to run the on-board generator we really only use it for short periods just to run the microwave or similar.
Saving up the pennies to spend out on battery to battery charger and a really decent mains charger.
Click to expand...
if you stopped eating so much meat and ate more salad, vegetables, lentils and pasta, you'd be healthier and wealthier,and could soon afford these things .
vegans rule ok!
 
Charlie - beef wellington? Finest beef medium rare, cracking sauce and 'something' around the outside - what do you reckon?
 
That Battery to Battery sounds a good idea for you, I cant get my head around these petrol generators, even the Honda EU20i only puts out 8amps, it will take forever to charge your battery bank at that rate
 
The Batt 2 Batt I have puts out 120amps, charges the batts up from 50% in about 20/25mins off of the MH engine
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top