thinking of going electric inside MH

[Lockie]

Has anyone gone down the route of getting rid of Truma or similar and got rid of gas for cooking and going all electric.
We have had nothing but problems with heating and water since buying our motorhome.
We have to choose sites where we are assured electricity , as we have equipment for our handicapped son that needs charging overnight, so were wondering whether to remove Truma system and gas cooking ,maybe get ceramic heaters for inside, and possibly find an immersion for water heating.We already have a couple of Ikea plug in hotplates we could use.
We do have to do some internal alterations before journey to Spain in May , so have been contemplating going all electric inside .
If we did would The 6A and 10A power supplies at sites be ok or would it keep tripping

 

[Riverbankannie]

It depends how many of your appliances you need at once. If it’s cold and you need heating and hot water and the fridge and lights are on and the battery is charging etc, you are certainly likely to trip the 6amp and possiblr the 10 amp ones and then, if they are in locked cabinets, you could be stuck overnight.
You could also build up quite an electricity bill for your usage.
I would keep the gas system on board if possible.

 

[tonka]

Anything to do with heat like cooking and water take power.
Low amp sites at 6 and 10 are not going to allow you to do to much.
Also most sites abroad charge for electric and some can be several times the actual cost.. example my apartment was 15c a KW but I know a campsite down the road charge 45c so 3 times the price.

Electric only and on UK campsites would be possible as most have a 16amp supply.

Gas for cooking is still the best option..

 

[tacr2man]

don't put all your eggs in one basket , better to get your truma overhauled/replaced as they are generally reliable . all electric rigs usually have big battery banks /inverter /genset for standy , on heavy chassis

 

[Lockie]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like going to have to do a lot more research.
Unfortunately, our experience of ‘Motorhome Specialists’ and auto electricians in Uk have not been too good, especially on water and electrics, from wrong size leisure batteries fitted water pipes incorrectly fitted not understanding Benimar electric control paneletc etc, so was thinking of simplifying things.
I do get the impression though that Truma are quite helpful, so may start there.

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[DBK]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like going to have to do a lot more research.
Unfortunately, our experience of ‘Motorhome Specialists’ and auto electricians in Uk have not been too good, especially on water and electrics, from wrong size leisure batteries fitted water pipes incorrectly fitted not understanding Benimar electric control paneletc etc, so was thinking of simplifying things.
I do get the impression though that Truma are quite helpful, so may start there.

As has already been suggested I think its a non-starter if you intend to travel outside the UK. Our diesel heater can also use electric but it's lowest setting for hot water or space heating is 1000W which is 4 amps. Throw in your fridge and you will tripping 6A supplies which is what you will find on many sites. Even 3 amp isn't unknown. If you are very careful where you stop you might be able to find 10 amp supplies but don't count on it, especially travelling through France.

I fear you are just going to have to get the MH sorted out.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Whereabouts do you live? There are quite a lot of reviews of traders who have done a good job listed under the Reviews tab at the top.
If you don’t see one there, then post again in a new thread stating your area and asking for recommendations.
Good luck.

 

[Rapido925M]

Also consider resale potential: how many other folk want electricity only?

Gordon

 

[Guigsy]

There's been a move to 2-way (electric only) fridges for a while. I've seen a few 2020 vans that are fitted with diesel Trumas for water and the internal heating. Then they then have a very small gas bottle that's only for the hob, keeping the gas setup much simpler... However, diesel heaters are externally more complex than gas because they've got a pump for the fuel (which draws a couple of 12v amps). Not sure if they are internally simpler or more reliable though?

 

[Lenny HB]

I would say it's not practical. A Truma C6 combi heater has an output of 6 KW to get the same heat from mains electric you would need 26 amp. OK you may get away with using 3 kw of electric heating but on a cold night it will take a lot longer to warm the van and you will not get the whole van heated evenly. Then you will need another 10 amps for water heating. Gas hobs are equivalent to 1.8 kw so about 8 amps per ring.

What are you going to do if you stop on route overnight with no EHU.

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[mikebeaches]

We did a 5-week trip around Spain and Portugal a few years ago and didn't turn the gas on.

BUT, it was late spring (ie quite warm in Iberia), the space heating was diesel and we had a hook-up every night on the campsites.

It started because our van - at the time - would only accommodate a single 6kg bottle of Calor gas, and we didn't want to faff around with Spanish gas bottles. We thought we'd just see how it went, not intending to avoid use of gas at the outset, but cooking on electric, heating water in the electric kettle, fridge always on mains while camping - we didn't turn on the gas.

However, I wouldn't want to be wholly reliant on avoiding gas. In fact now we have 2 bottles, one of which is 11kg refillable. Our space heating is truma blown air on gas and because it's now easy to replenish abroad we use it all the time.

Like everybody else, my advice would be to get the truma sorted out. Definitely don't remove it, otherwise, as others have mentioned, it will seriously devalue your van.

Hope you can get it fixed!

 

[Off da Grid]

Agree as above keep the gas.
Keep as much equipment running on 12v or usb as you can as it’s more efficient than mains adapters dropping the voltage back down again.

Your particular circumstances would probably be helped by increasing the size of your battery bank and maybe an inverter and solar panels to help change everything backup, change all the lights to led.

When we’re abroad we only have the mains for the fridge, the solar panel keeps the batteries topped up, usually by 10 in the morning!

You should then be able to get away with the lower amperage of foreign sites.
There are some very reasonably priced plugin induction hobs that limit the amps they use as to not trip campsite electric.

Let us know how you get on, you have our support

 

[Dorwyn]

Mind you, hearing about the recent motorhome gas explosion that killed the 2 occupants did give me pause for thought when I was checking the gas system the other day. All electric might have its attractions! Just not practical for us tourers!

 

[Rapido925M]

Another thought: do you use the van for days out?
No ehu in car parks but every opportunity to enjoy a view and a cuppa!

Gordon

 

[autorouter]

When it comes to energy storage, you are up against the inescapable fact that 25kg of lead-acid battery stores about 1 kWh, but 25 kg of LPG stores 340 kWh.

Heating, especially water heating, takes a lot of energy, which is why most motorhomes use gas or diesel for space heating, water heating and cooking. Appliances used for short bursts, like coffee makers, hair dryers and microwaves are quite popular, but they need a big battery bank and an inverter of about 2 kW.

Big battery banks and inverters are easily available and quite simple to fit, but that's not the problem. The main problem is how you are going to fill up the battery bank as fast as you are draining it. In summer a big array of solar, 500 to 1000 watts, will go some way towards this, but you may need to run a generator for short periods if the weather isn't good.

If you are usually on campsites, maybe with 6 or 10 amp limit, a good option is a Victron Multiplus or Quattro inverter, which has a 'Power Assist' function. For example, if it's a 2 kW Multiplus, you can set the maximum power from the EHU to be 6 amps (1380 watts).

It will take 6 amps to charge the batteries if nothing else is being used. If a small load is switched on, it will reduce the battery charging so that it still only takes 6 amps from the EHU.

The best thing is, if you switch on 3 kW of load, it will still only take 1380 watts = 6 amps from the EHU, and will draw power from the batteries to make up the difference. The maximum the 2kW Multiplus will supply is 3380 watts, ie 2 kW + 1380 watts. When the load reduces, it automatically starts charging the batteries again from the EHU.

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[peterc10]

Mind you, hearing about the recent motorhome gas explosion that killed the 2 occupants did give me pause for thought when I was checking the gas system the other day. All electric might have its attractions! Just not practical for us tourers!

Haven't heard about that. Can you give a link please?

 

[Lenny HB]

Haven't heard about that. Can you give a link please?

I think he is referring to the one on a Spanish Aire last week, 70 year old Dutch guy died, draughter got out of the van.

Is this true?

I've just had this email from someone called Mellissa, I won't share her email address. Not sure whether to believe it or not. Have you heard anything? Hi there! I have a very important message to share with Motorhomers, I hope you can pass this on. This morning, just before 8am in Puerto de...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Coolcats]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like going to have to do a lot more research.
Unfortunately, our experience of ‘Motorhome Specialists’ and auto electricians in Uk have not been too good, especially on water and electrics, from wrong size leisure batteries fitted water pipes incorrectly fitted not understanding Benimar electric control paneletc etc, so was thinking of simplifying things.
I do get the impression though that Truma are quite helpful, so may start there.

Truma are very helpful, personally If I were having issues I would start there <Broken link removed>

regarding power why not contact Vanbitz they are a knowledgable and respected power supplier you should get a sensible conversation with the guys.

I suspect all electric is going to be quite an investment.

 

[peterc10]

I think he is referring to the one on a Spanish Aire last week, 70 year old Dutch guy died, draughter got out of the van.

Is this true?

I've just had this email from someone called Mellissa, I won't share her email address. Not sure whether to believe it or not. Have you heard anything? Hi there! I have a very important message to share with Motorhomers, I hope you can pass this on. This morning, just before 8am in Puerto de...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I would hardly call that a gas explosion. By all accounts somebody put a mattress under the motorhome and lit it! With or without gas it would have still burnt out.