Electrical equipment use in motorhome

[Beverlyo]

Dear All,
We have just bought our first (second hand) motorhome. We plan to live in it for 4 months over the summer in mainland Europe. I am not sure what electrical equipment would be considered safe to plug in when attached to mains.

It we arnt plugged in then Id be too nervous in running down the battery if we plugged anything in whilst "wild camping"

I have a slow cooker which I thought I'd take as we do not not have an oven. Or I have an electric grill/stewing pan. The later is 1500 watts. The slow cooker is old and I have no idea what its watts are.

As you can tell, I am no very knowledgeable about power levels values etc. I dont want to fuse the van or the site !!

Someone mentioned an inverter and EHU in a posting. No idea what they are so going to rty looking it up now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Beverly

 

[SMB]

Hi Beverly

There have been numerous posts on here regarding electrics, batteries etc by people who know a LOT more about electric than me and motorhoming a lot longer as well. EHU is electric hook-up, this is the power supply you connect to on campsites and aires where available. An inverter basically converts the 12V power from your leisure battery into 240V supply like you have in your house. When on hook-up you will need to know the available amp supply as it can vary from 3-16 amps.
If you use a high-wattage electrical item it may trip the supply. Using a high-wattage item with your leisure battery could drain it very quickly. Thats the basics, I'm sure another funster will give you a more detailed explanation! Paul

 

[TheBig1]

er sorry to break it to you, but the slow cooker and anything else will only work if you plug into a 240v supply, either on a site or using a generator. running anything like that or a hairdryer on an inverter will flatten an average battery within the hour, so maybe cook part of the meal before the lights go out.
I presume that you have made arrangements for how you plan to recharge batteries whilst wild camping.

 

[Puddleduck]

Treat yourself to a new slow-cooker in the sales! Ours takes a max of 90w. We use it when on electric hook up (EHU) and on the inverter when we are travelling. The slow cooker goes on a non-slip mat in a washing up bowl. The wash up bowl has it's own mat and is wedged firmly in place on the floor in a corner with the bed extension cushion (which we don't need) and a lot of other cushions. The interver has it's own shelf and can't fall.

There is also something called Mr D's termal cooker
http://mrdscookware.com/
I haven't used one but people that have them swear by them. They don't need an external power source so worth thinking about.

 

[gibbon]

Get yourself a Remoska, it's a low wattage(400 I think) work top cooking pot with the heating element in the lid. Available at all branches of Lakeland & comes with a no quibble lifetime guarantee .
Many on this forum use & enthuse about them.
For off grid(wild) camping you really need a decent solar panel & high quality leisure battery(s)

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

The majority of Europes campsites only provide 6 amps (or even 5 amps) hookup which is 1380 watts (1150 watts).

You need to fnd out what each appliances uses from the label underneath it and add all the watts together if using more than one item at once.

You need to allow a little for your battery charger as well.

If you go over the 1380 watts you will most likely trip the hookup breaker and need to have it reset.

If the hookup is 10amps that allows you 2300 watts and 16 amp is 3680 watts

 

[sleep e carr]

Hi Beverly we run with a 11o amp hour leisure battery which runs all our lights, and lasted a week no prob last trip, oct H/term this trip over Christmas and new year it will need to last two weeks but I have no doubts about it, that it will.
we have also invested in a handy little gadget that you fit in your van connect to your leisure battery when you press button the gauge shows what you have in battery hope this helps

 

[Wildman]

Van batteries are 12volt. Mains appliences are 240v, the can be run off the batteries and discharge them at an alarming rate via an inverter which changes 12v to 240v. If you intend to 240v items when NOT on Electric hookup (EHU) then you must have a serious means of recharging your batteries.
Main, Generator, Solar panels or whilst running the vehicle engine a B2B charger. the standard split charge relay system is not very efficient. Newbies often forget they do not have unlimited electricity it is the number one mistake people make.

 

[Beverlyo]

Thnaks for all those comments.
I have to rush now, but I will read them all later and get back to you all properly.
x