Newbie & 1st trip to continent

[Ju.Ca]

Hi everyone. We’re ‘newbies’ to campervanning. Not long had our new Hymer 540 blue evolution camper. Small but perfectly formed! Been on a couple of uk campsites & all with EHU.
Advice needed:
1. If we go over to France/continent now (ie November chasing late sun) are campsites/aires open as seems lots close in uk from November. Anybody have advice on where to go this time of year to catch some late sun? It would not be a long trip - maybe 2 or 3 weeks. I don’t mind driving as long as I can take breaks along the way.
2. Are EHU’s plentiful on campsites on the continent & what is a good app to look at to see a site is available & has EHU? (In the UK we’ve looked at caravan & camping sites & shows if they have EHU’s).
3. We have no solar. Use a small induction hob & so use the EHU provided on site. We’ve taken out the small gas cylinder & so the EHU on site is for heating & cooking on the induction. So - the matter is - if we are completely reliant on having EHU ( not taking gas on the continent) is this a risk too far? We’re thinking it is and so getting an underslung refillable gas cylinder. (This would provide heating & cooking if a site has no EHU). But - it’s an expensive option if not needed.
4. Solar panels. We use the camper daily when travelling & so the alternator would keep battery topped I guess to some degree. Not sure if a day with no EHU & just using small led’s & a 12v tv & powering a wifi router would exhaust our leisure battery? Guess I need to try on my driveway! But what would solar provide in winter? Again, it’s quite a cost, & Hymer quote 2x 110w Solar Panels with Vitron Charger and Battery Combiner - Fitted cost: £1295.00 inc vat. I wonder what size of solar would you recommend & is this Hymer quote reasonable? Any other companies to consider?

Well, look forward with interest if anyone has advice on the above & apologise in advance for so many questions.

 

[chaser]

Welcome.
First thing is get some solar panels, quite easy to do yourself for a couple of hundred pounds, you will be struggling to rely on electric hookup unless on sites.
Refillable gas is also a no brainer, this is also possible to fit yourself but a bit more complicated than the solar.
Park4night is your best friend for finding Aires.
Everything else can be sorted easily, but solar is a must if you are relying on electricity, as much as you can fit on.

 

[chaser]

Another thing is make sure you have enough water tanks, as water may be turned off at that time of year.

 

[Richard n Ann]

All sites will be closed in France, some will be open in Spain, all of them in Benidorm

They'll all have EHU, some are metered so you just pay for what you use, ours is 40c/kwh.
Some you'll need an adapter for...

 

[flatpackchicken]

Abroad if you can find a site open be very aware that a lot of them only have low ehu about 6A supply against uk 16A !!!!!! You may be in trouble trying to run electric heating along with other things on this type of power, as your hidden eaters if ehu can eat up your available supply ie: battery charger comes on automatically and that may use anything between 400w and 600w and with only 6A supply you only get max 1380w use (6A x 230A = 1380w) so you only got about 700w spare for heating without using anything else !!!!! Suggest fitting a Chinese diesel heater cost about £100 + fitting but provides good heat and an extra heating source. Underslung gas tank great idea as lpg readily available in eu. Solar panels and controller should not cost more than about £500/600 area including fitting. Remember not to run batteries down past 50% as past this point you could start damaging battery.

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[Richard n Ann]

I bought one of these 500w fan heaters. It will only use 2 amps and is great for our size of van, we can leave it on all night when cold and you don't wake up sweltered at 3am like with a bigger one

Pro Breeze® Mini Heater - Ceramic Fan Heater perfect for Desks and Tables - Personal PTC Heater, White Amazon product ASIN B0778ZK42G
Oh, also it's a PTC element so totally safe and self limiting.

 

[Grianan]

Aires will be open. I would head for the Med. Gruissan will be open and free but no electricity. Get a Camping Car Park card and use their sites. Most open year round and have electricity and water. You really could do with 2 leisure batteries snd solar. I’ve been asking this Q on a thread about how to stay off grid longer. Definitely worth reading the excellent answers before you part with cash.

 

[Spriddler]

Hi everyone. We’re ‘newbies’ to campervanning. Not long had our new Hymer 540 blue evolution camper. Small but perfectly formed! Been on a couple of uk campsites & all with EHU.
Advice needed:
1. If we go over to France/continent now (ie November chasing late sun) are campsites/aires open as seems lots close in uk from November. Anybody have advice on where to go this time of year to catch some late sun? It would not be a long trip - maybe 2 or 3 weeks. I don’t mind driving as long as I can take breaks along the way.

You're unlikely to find many sites open in France. I found a couple in November 2019 but it seems the Gov't paid them to open out of season to accommodate gens da voyage ('Travellers'). They were such a mess that I didn't stay there.

2. Are EHU’s plentiful on campsites on the continent

Yes, if they are open.

4. Not sure if a day with no EHU & just using small led’s & a 12v tv & powering a wifi router would exhaust our leisure battery?

If off-grid 12v will also be required from the hab battery for the water pump and for the control circuits of your fridge and water heater even when they are running on gas.
Your T.V. will probably take the most power from your hab battery.
I have just one 90Ah leisure battery but no solar, running just the equipment that I mentioned above but no T.V. or MiFi and can last 3 or 4 days off-grid (in summer with light evenings so little need for lights).

P.S. Just for interest I'd add that my 'Leisure' battery is a four year old Bosch starter battery.

 

[mikebeaches]

I've got a Camping and Caravanning Club guide to Winter Sun Camping 2019/20, which lists 14 French sites that are open all year. The club has identified them to help folk heading south to the sun. Their website also lists the sites with links (though confusingly, in a slightly different order to the hard copy guide for 19/20).

Travel Abroad - The Camping and Caravanning Club

www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk

The image is from the 19/20 guide and has the sat nav co-ordinates for each site. (The last 2 at the bottom of the list are of course in Spain, but that still leaves 14 French ones that are open). I'm sure they's all have electric hook-ups, so you'd be OK on that score, although as others have mentioned, may be as little as 6 amps.

 

[Clarky]

As others have said, there won’t be many campsites open in France. Those that are may only have a max of 6a hookup.
Almost all aires will be open but many, particularly in the north, may turn off water during the winter months.
Electric hookup is often shown as available on aires but in most cases it is really only to top up batteries and might need a Jetton (token) to pay for 60 minutes and you have to drive over to the bourne (empty and fill station)
The Camping-Car Parks aires are worth looking at as most have hookup on the pitch

The price quoted by Hymer for a solar system is well over the top. A decent dealer or one of several good and well known companies will likely do a better job at a better price.

If you’ve not driven through France before do look carefully at how far you want to drive in the short winter days. France is a big country, far bigger than it appears when you glance at a map.

Grianan suggestion of Gruissan, near Narbonne, I will heartily endorse. It seems to have its own climate there and is often warmer than other parts of France. Also, from November on it will be free but will have water and dump facilities. No lecky though.

Whatever you decide, good luck and enjoy your trip.

Richard.