Hello

[Benscribbles]

Hi, I'm Ben
Completely new to caravanning. I'm looking for my first caravan and wondered if any of you could part with some advice.

I regularly travel to France for work with a small group of guys. Currently, I am paying over 100 euros per night putting them up in a chambre d,hote. The general consensus would be they would prefer to stay in a caravan on the nearby caravan site.

So, I think what I'm looking for is a 4 berth twin axle caravan with airconditioning. My budget is up to £5000.

A good shower capable of washing 4 dirty men is imperative, although not all at the same time.

Most of our meals will be in restaurants so kitchen is not an overriding priority
What I would like to know is....

1) is my assumption of my requirements reasonable
2) are there makes and models I should avoid
3) what should I be looking for when inspecting caravans
4) are the airconditioning systems ok or are they more trouble than they're worth.

Many thanks

Ben

 

[brian_c]

Welcome to the Forum Ben. I'm not much help regarding the advice you need but I'm sure some of the very knowledgable members of the Forum will have comments.
Best wishes Brian

 

[LizziePope]

Hi Ben and a very warm welcome to the Practical Caravan forum!

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

A good shower capable of washing 4 dirty men is imperative, although not all at the same time.

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure any 'touring' caravan would have a shower capable of withstanding the washing of 4 dirty men, especially if it was daily. That sort of usage is best done in a shower block. Also think of the fetching and carrying/returning of the water required, unless you were on a serviced pitch.

 

[Hutch]

Hi Ben, I am with WC, the shower pump might take a bit of a pounding, with four lads, For the last five years my wife and myself have been going over to France for 4 weeks every 12 weeks, using our shower , its a lot of water 40 liters for two people, but washing up etc. Plus trying to reheat the water takes about 15 to 20 minutes if you have a 7 minute shower. Best if the site has showers,

I some time take vans to festivals and see lads putting up and taking down festivals, and living in them for a week at a time, so YES it can be done.
We have only really wanted an A/C unit in August/ September. We can get by with a good fan. Depends whhich area of France you work in.
Hutch.

Edit, One van that I take to festivals has a large rear shower, I think its an Avondale, I will fimd out the model and repost for you, but thats possibly what you might like. Also look for damp.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Ben,

I don't think a typical touring caravan is going to meet your requirements. Woodlands has pointed out the limitation of the management and quantity of waster, but the other major flaw is the water heaters in caravans are small storage devices, and they take about half an hour to heat up about 9 or 10 Litres of water. to about 60 to 65C Even when mixed with cold water for showering, they tend to only be capable of supplying two consecutive showers and that is with very careful water usage.

Caravans are designed for leisure activities and not industrial or heavy domestic usage, so if you have four grimey lads a touring caravan is simply not going to cut the mustard. Caravan shower cubicles tend to be on the small size, and made with relatively brittle components so its easy to damage things.
The cramped conditions also apply to the rest of the caravan. Usually one set of beds makes the main seating area, so two people can't go to bed until everyone else decides its time. You will have to become very matey with your colleagues.

As for air conditioning, because caravans are designed for touring the mains supply is limited to 16A max, and many continental sites actually limit you to even less than this, so the most power full AC unit you could have is about a 3Kw unit, which in the context of AC is relatively small. If the sites supply s less than 16A you may be limited to only having about a 1Kw setting on the AC. To put this into context, most cars AC units consume between 8 to 10kW for the cabin of a car which is far smaller than that of a caravan so even 3kw doesn't go far, and 1lw even less.

I don't know what the site your considering charges, but don't underestimate them. If they are anything like UK sites, they can charge per caravan plus the number using the site, extra for hook up,consumables such as electricity and gas tend to be more expensive than normal domestic rates. Where do you do the washing of bed sheets etc, Who empties the loo, who's responsible for restocking things like loo paper and hand soap, Who will be responsible for cleaning etc, its all these services that suddenly you will become responsible for sorting out, which takes time, and costs.

Alternatives? Buy them each a tent!

It may work for a week but beyond that the novelty will soon wear off and the lads will be yearning for a bit more space, privacy and the luxury of a servicesd room. Also if you are employing these gents, then you have set a precedent of using serviced rooms this could be construed as a material change in working conditions, a reduction in income or benefit in kind, and even as means for constructive dismissal.

 

[Hutch]

Ben, the other thing to consider is will you be taking the caravan back and fro to France or leaving it there, an empty pitch can still cost upto 20€ a night. Where as taking back an fro, costs on the ferry, and you will be limited to weight for 4 adults, and as the prof says Cabin fever gets to people quite quick. Especially if raining.
Ask the campsite if they have chalets, they can come in at a good price.
Hutch.

 

[Hutch]

Ben, the caravan , I was thinking abought was a Bailey Senator, large back shower, but talking to lad would only really sleep three, due to double bed. .
Ok mate let you think on all that lot, especially as the Prof has reminded , low power supplies 6 to maybe 10 amp if your lucky. .
Hutch.

 

[Benscribbles]

Hi,

I have taken on board the following points.
Main problem to look out for when looking at caravans is damp.
AC sounds pretty useless so shouldn't be considered a deal breaker.
Toilets and shower aren't so important as we'll be using the facilities at the camp site.
Main consideration should be bed space. Ideally 4 singles although 2 singles and a double would be also ok as i'd probably use it for the odd family camping trip.

Is there a scale of build quality as there is with cars? For example Lada 1 to Mercedes 10? The caravans i'm browsing on eBay that fall into my budget are Avondales, Baileys and Lunars.

Also, I'm assuming that a double axle would be better as I have a number of double and triple axle trailers. Is this the case? Or are single axles fine. The towing weight of a caravan would be considerably less than what i'm usually towing.

Many thanks

Ben