2 x Leisure Batteries or 1 Big Battery?

[TOAD on Tour]

Hi - I am looking at replacing my 2 x 100ah AGM batteries. Finding 2 that will fit under the seat in the habitation area is proving a little challenging, but I see plenty of 220ah/230ah AGM’s that would fit in the space where the 2 currently are. We usually go EHU with occasional off grid and have a 150w solar panel on the roof, so lithium and even Gel’s seem a little pricey for our needs, van is also always on our drive and can and is hooked up to electric.
is it beneficial to stick with 2 or better to go with 1 larger battery? Thanks in advance for any guidance!

 

[68c]

There are two advantages in having double batteries. Firstly each battery is lighter and easier to lift in and out. The second is redundancy.
Should one fail while away on a tour you have the other. Although you rarely go off grid it could be said that only connecting one battery does mean one can run that battery down, safe in the knowledge you have the spare as it is never that easy to know the state of charge accurately. Seen enough problems on this forum about battery monitoring not being accurate.

 

[TOAD on Tour]

There are two advantages in having double batteries. Firstly each battery is lighter and easier to lift in and out. The second is redundancy.
Should one fail while away on a tour you have the other. Although you rarely go off grid it could be said that only connecting one battery does mean one can run that battery down, safe in the knowledge you have the spare as it is never that easy to know the state of charge accurately. Seen enough problems on this forum about battery monitoring not being accurate.

Good points! Thanks for the recommendations

 

[Hoovie]

As he says. Lead Batteries can be extremely unwieldy as they get heavier. I fitted a trio of 210Ah Lead Carbon Batteries in my last campervan and each battery was 70Kg! That is not something that is easy to move.

 

[Lenny HB]

I would go for to much easier for reasons stated. I certainly wouldn't fit AGM pretty useless for leisure use.
Gels are are very good value comp ared to SLA, much longer life and more available power.

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[TOAD on Tour]

I would go for to much easier for reasons stated. I certainly wouldn't fit AGM pretty useless for leisure use.
Gels are are very good value comp ared to SLA, much longer life and more available power.

Thanks Lenny, I will take a look at Gels. Is it just a case of changing the switch on the solar controller to Gel (from AGM)?

 

[HugoBNB]

Hello.
I have just stumbled across this old thread which seems slightly relevant to my question.
We do not spend a fantastic amount of time off grid, just the occasional stopover en-route to somewhere. However, sometimes we feel we would like to stay put for a couple of nights if we stumble across a nice town or area to explore a bit more. This is usually more in the summer than winter as we do prefer an EHU then. We do not have, or need, an inverter. Usually we are just charging phones, and watching a bit of TV (3hrs a day ish). The fridge is on gas and the heating is Truma air.
I am thinking of doubling-up the 110ah leisure battery and doing without a solar panel (I don't fancy the holes in the roof) as I guess the batteries would suffice for 2-3 days off grid and then would re-charge as we travelled to our next destination, where we would probably be back on an EHU anyway. Weight and space is not an issue. If this is a goer in your opinion, would I need to match the existing battery in all aspects of specification?
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks, and safe travels all.