First trip off-grid

[Jeannette van den Oever]

Currently planning our first trip, which will be to Somerset at Easter.
There's nothing like a hefty, mortgage type, monthly deduction for your new MH on the horizon to focus the mind when choosing where to stay, is there?
I fancy spending some time around cheddar first and so can either drop £36/night with EHU at the CC site, or can get a couple of freebie stops (plus a pint) without.
Since we're only travelling down to arrive at around 10pm (patrons willing) ideally, we'd only need to 'cope' for around 38 hours off-grid, (before moving to a site with facilities) almost half of which we'll be asleep, plus play-time in the village.
We have alde heating, so I guess we won't use much electricity at night, right? No microwave either!
I'm fairly certain this will be fine - the van won't have any solar power initially, but will come with 2 x 95ah batteries. Husband's muttering about needing the phones/laptop charging and that we'll run out of juice, but like I said we'll either be unconscious, or out, in my view, so it'll be OK.
I guess this will let us know how power hungry we really are as a family.

 

[DP+JAY]

It's the laptop that'll eat your battery
I found them to be very power hungry & switched to a tablet

 

[Masman]

If you do need a site straight across from the cc cite@ cheddar there is a cl.but not stayed on it

 

[Ockerron]

Totally understand where you're coming from! We were so nervous about our first trip away (last September) as we had always been on EHU with our caravan....this was a whole new ball game! We went to Pembrey on a Fun meet so we had help if it all went wrong. Two nights with no EHU...how would we cope? And with only one battery! Ron was totally fixated on checking the battery levels every time we touched a light switch. Only the consumption of a large quantity of alcohol helped him relax! Well, we survived, but have just had a solar panel and extra battery fitted (thanks @eddievanbitz! ) so can't wait til Easter when we rejoin our Fun Family at Chester! Only worry I have is not having a hairdryer as my hair is longer now than it has been in years. Am still looking for solutions to that one. Anyhow, I hope you have an absolutely amazing time in your new baby, I'm sure you'll love it as much SW we do. Hope our paths cross sometime!

 

[PaulyP]

Phone ( and anything else) plugged into cigarette lighter charger whilst travelling, arrive with fully charged phones etc.
Simples.

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[DP+JAY]

Totally understand where you're coming from! We were so nervous about our first trip away (last September) as we had always been on EHU with our caravan....this was a whole new ball game! We went to Pembrey on a Fun meet so we had help if it all went wrong. Two nights with no EHU...how would we cope? And with only one battery! Ron was totally fixated on checking the battery levels every time we touched a light switch. Only the consumption of a large quantity of alcohol helped him relax! Well, we survived, but have just had a solar panel and extra battery fitted (thanks @eddievanbitz! ) so can't wait til Easter when we rejoin our Fun Family at Chester! Only worry I have is not having a hairdryer as my hair is longer now than it has been in years. Am still looking for solutions to that one!

Scissors?

 

[Ockerron]

Scissors?

It has been suggested! He reckons that's cheaper than an inverter!

 

[Robert Clark]

Get a cigarette lighter inverter and use a slow cooker to prepare dinner while you're driving to your destination.... The wonderful cooking aromas as you're driving along will make the journey all the better too

 

[Jeannette van den Oever]

Yes - the laptop! Max power of 600w = just under 2 hours on the battery, I think. HWMBO isn't going to have much time to use it, if he's honest, he's just trying to make me cross.
Must have missed the cl site, Masman - I'll have another look on uk campsite!
Haha Gerri, one of the reasons I KEEP my hair long is that I don't need to style it with tongs or a hairdryer. It does annoy me when I go running though - I threaten to use scissors then.

 

[hilldweller]

Husband's muttering about needing the phones/laptop charging and that we'll run out of juice

He's trying not to frighten you. What he know is if he lets you loose on this insane scheme you will surely die.

You're doomed I tell yea, doomed.

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[sedge]

Gerri - check out the Babyliss gas powered range of hair must haves (Braun used to make them and I've had a succession of their heated brushes and tongs for 20? or more years)

Your hair does need to be only damp to begin with, if I'm in a hurry we can turn the (gas) heating on and I'll stick my head next to a vent. If it's too warm out for the heating, 5 minutes in the fresh air sorts the drying out enough as long as you keep lifting it off your head by running your fingers through it in all directions.

You can then use either your gas heated brush or straighteners (or both LOL) to finish styling.

Just make sure you stock up on cartridges before you step off the White Cliffs though!

 

[Jeannette van den Oever]

Get a cigarette lighter inverter and use a slow cooker to prepare dinner while you're driving to your destination.... The wonderful cooking aromas as you're driving along will make the journey all the better too

Interesting idea, Robert. I do like the sound of our dinner cooking en route. However, does that mean the cooker has to sit in the passenger footwell? Not sure I fancy the 'fires of Mount Doom' being thrown in my lap by some heavy-footed breaking!
Told you I know nothing about this MH malarkey.

 

[Jeannette van den Oever]

He's trying not to frighten you. What he know is if he lets you loose on this insane scheme you will surely die.

You're doomed I tell yea, doomed.

I know. What bloke wouldn't want their wife to save some money?
Normally he suffers from this affliction whereby it's perfectly OK to spend thousands, but not a tenner.

 

[Robert Clark]

Interesting idea, Robert. I do like the sound of our dinner cooking en route. However, does that mean the cooker has to sit in the passenger footwell? Not sure I fancy the 'fires of Mount Doom' being thrown in my lap by some heavy-footed breaking!
Told you I know nothing about this MH malarkey.

The slow cooker sits in our sink with a damp cloth on the lid. It connects to the inverter with a standard extension lead - simples!

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

For phones etc you can get those portable charger packs which you charge up before leaving home. Personally, I think sometimes it's s good thing to be disconnected from the world...

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[hilldweller]

Normally he suffers from this affliction whereby it's perfectly OK to spend thousands, but not a tenner.

The old saying...... Penny wise, pound foolish.

I have a relative, thinks a fish pond fountain is too expensive to run yet he runs a plane.

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes - the laptop! Max power of 600w = just under 2 hours on the battery,

Blimey what's size is your laptop sounds like it has a 50" screen.

I think you mean 60 watts, (5amps) if you get a 12v car power supply for it that is more efficient than running it via an inverter. My netbook is 40watts takes 3.5 amps for a couple of hours to charge then will run off its battery for 5 hours plus.

With your batteries you should last 3-4 days easy, or longer depending on your power usage.

 

[namwaldog]

The CL across from the Cheddar CC site is (I think) Witheridge Farm CL ...
www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=12310

There is also .... www.cheddarbridge.co.uk nearby

 

[Jeannette van den Oever]

Blimey what's size is your laptop sounds like it has a 50" screen.

I think you mean 60 watts, (5amps) if you get a 12v car power supply for it that is more efficient than running it via an inverter. My netbook is 40watts takes 3.5 amps for a couple of hours to charge then will run off its battery for 5 hours plus.

With your batteries you should last 3-4 days easy, or longer depending on your power usage.

Embarrassingly it IS 600w (quad core, dual graphics card something or other) - you'd think it would make a cup of tea as well, wouldn't you? Told him he's only allowed to use it at EHU sites!

The CL across from the Cheddar CC site is (I think) Witheridge Farm CL ...
www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/details.asp?revid=12310

There is also .... www.cheddarbridge.co.uk nearby

Found the CL site, namwaldog thanks!

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I would invest in solar as soon as possible. We have 200W of solar and 2x 110ah leisure batteries and we've been off grid through the winter for a week at a time without any issues.

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[Lenny HB]

Embarrassingly it IS 600w (quad core, dual graphics card something or other)

I reckon he's telling porkies that's 50 amps, you wouldn't be able to use as Laptop it would fry your legs, and the power cable would need to be an inch in diameter.

 

[Techno]

I would invest in a macbook air. At least 13 hrs on battery non stop! Starts up instantly where you left off.

 

[Archer]

We were at Witheridge farm cl last week for 4 days not the best we have been to but ok there's no toilet or showers just 2 taps one for fresh water and one where you empty your cassette 12 pounds a night ten minutes walk to town if you want a nice meal out can recommend Lao thai in the high street hope you have a nice time PS you empty grey waste in he's hedge.
Gary.

 

[TheCaller]

Embarrassingly it IS 600w (quad core, dual graphics card something or other) - you'd think it would make a cup of tea as well, wouldn't you? Told him he's only allowed to use it at EHU sites!

I thought mine was bad at 190W!!

600W is more than half way to being a one bar electric fire! It would be a bit warm on the lap - it might not boil the kettle but it would certainly keep a cup of tea hot.

I suspect it's an over-specified power supply rated at 600W - I doubt the laptop ever draws that much, even when running a video game at full rate & simultaneously charging a flat battery.

Bet it weighs a fair bit too. Tell him he'd have more fun & less strain on his knees if he put you on his lap instead.

But seriously, unless he needs to do something with it while away that needs all that power, it might be cheaper to get a tablet for use in the van.

 

[Jeroen van den Oever]

Hey all

I reckon he's telling porkies that's 50 amps

Yes I was exaggerating a little. Its 20V @ 18A nominal = 360W, and a bit more (400W) for peak draw.

This is a mobile workstation, not a laptop. It needs a cooler underneath it! Put this on your lap, and you'll get 3rd degree burns!

The CPU alone is a Intel i7 4940MX overclocked at 4.8GHz, drawing 100W (up from its TDP of 57W). On top of that it has 2 x nVidia SLI GTX 980M (122W TDP per GPU x 2 = 240W). Luckily the remaining 3 TB of storage is SSD not typical HDD, so that's the most efficient bit. And it has 64GB of super-clocked memory, so that also takes some power.

So you can see that 360W goes pretty quick!

I work on specialist artificial intelligence engines that need all the GPU and CPU power I can get my hands on, and for extended periods of time. And I'd like to tinker with my engine for an hour a night when away.

I also use hefty compilers, and need the entire development environment (source control, confluence documentation website, JIRA ticket management etc) on my machine, which also all takes CPU, memory and SSD power.

I would invest in a macbook air. At least 13 hrs on battery non stop! Starts up instantly where you left off.

Wouldn't cut it even remotely, the MacBook Air is pretty weedy (for my needs) I'm afraid. It would meltdown within seconds of booting into the development environment. Not to mention I don't like MacOS.

I thought mine was bad at 190W!!

I suspect it's an over-specified power supply rated at 600W - I doubt the laptop ever draws that much, even when running a video game at full rate & simultaneously charging a flat battery.

My laptop is "efficient" in its class. I almost bought a slightly more uprated one that draws 600W! But I didn't. As above - it uses that power quite readily

To put this into perspective, my home workstation is an 8 core 5960X with 128GB of RAM, and 12TB of storage with two Titan-Z Blacks in SLI. And that draws 1400W!

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[Techno]

I would recommend leaving it at work and enjoy less demanding stuff

 

[Jeroen van den Oever]

This is my hobby

I do something different for work

 

[Chockswahay]

Crikey Am I the only one who considers it normal to not want to stay on an overpriced campsite, or manage without EHU ?

Leave all the 'goodies' at home

 

[Chockswahay]

£36/night with EHU ??

 

[Techno]

It's simply supply and demand. If you only have two bottles of beer in the fridge then you make do or go tut pub!