Am i right in thinking that my leisure battery will provide 12v to 12v sockets and then i will have seperate 240v sockets when i use a mains hook up? In which case i will need both a 12v and a 240v kettle for example?
12v or 240v accessories?
- Thread starter thewifeshusband14
- Start date
Yes, you have two independent circuits. In this way you can go ‘off grid’ for a short while depending on your usage, battery size and if you have solar charging.
12 volt kettles are useless. And they will kill a battery quickly.
John
The two systems are separate excepting that the mains will keep your battery charged while on EHU. There will be things like the electric loo flush and the water pump and lights that run on 12v. We only ever use a gas kettle and have no microwave and have only gas hob so I guess our mains use is comparatively low. Water heating, fridge, the TV and keeping the battery charged as well as few sundry items like phone or camera battery chargers.
Damian
Moderator
I could not agree more !!!
When caravans first appeared they had gas and that's it.
Then came 12v for lights.
Then came 230v for things like TV's fridges, heaters.
When not hooked up to mains the 12v in a modern van supply power to things like the lights, water pumps, fridge controls (but not the cooling element).and heater controls (but not the electric elements)
When off mains power the fridge, water heater, space heater and cooker all work on gas.
I've got a low-wattage mains kettle in the caravan, to be honest I can't remember the last time I used it - or for that matter whether I ever have. The gas kettle does everything I need. I certainly wouldn't use a 12v kettle unless it was connected to a car with the engine running, for the reasons others have said.
As you only gave kettles as an example, looking a bit broader, many of the things you might want in a caravan come in versions that can use either 12 or 240v - TVs for example. In that case you could just use the 12v connection even when you've got the mains connected, the 12v will come from the caravan battery and the mains will keep the battery topped up*. Or you could plug directly into the mains, which is marginally more electrically efficient, but as you're probably paying a fixed price for your mains hook up that doesn't really matter.
That said, if you rarely intend to go without a mains hook-up, in many cases a 240v - only TV will be much cheaper than one that can work on 12v as well.
* I know I've over-simplified that statement, but in the interests of answering the actual question I've resisted going into too much detail about how caravan electrical systems work!
As you only gave kettles as an example, looking a bit broader, many of the things you might want in a caravan come in versions that can use either 12 or 240v - TVs for example. In that case you could just use the 12v connection even when you've got the mains connected, the 12v will come from the caravan battery and the mains will keep the battery topped up*. Or you could plug directly into the mains, which is marginally more electrically efficient, but as you're probably paying a fixed price for your mains hook up that doesn't really matter.
That said, if you rarely intend to go without a mains hook-up, in many cases a 240v - only TV will be much cheaper than one that can work on 12v as well.
* I know I've over-simplified that statement, but in the interests of answering the actual question I've resisted going into too much detail about how caravan electrical systems work!
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I had not thought about it... just so use to everything being 'electric' at home and this is my first time touring.
No problem - welcome to the hobby and the forum! We were all new once, but there's a huge array of experience on this forum and people are only too pleased to help. I've been caravanning about 20 years - much longer if you include going with my parents when I was a kid - and I still regularly come here to ask advice from those more knowledgeable than me!
We have a 240v LG Smart TV in our caravan as we never go off grid. A lot cheaper than 12v/240v TVs. We can watch Prime or Netflix.
Likewise the TV - we use a small mains Samsung which apart from usually needing the stations retuning when we are on site works totally fine from a mains socket in the caravan, connected to the OEM caravan rooftop aerial.
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