Hooked up at home ?

[KnL]

Been very busy for the past month or so preparing the side of our house to take our caravan, rather than it remaining in storage, where it's been stored since we bought it.

One of the advantages of having it at home is that I have been able to provide an exterior 240v socket for the hook up, but I'm not sure if it's better to leave the power connected to the van permanently or to just connect up and top the battery up prior to going away.

Any advice from you old hands would be appreciated.

 

[trucker]

Ken mine is plugged in 24/7 and has been for the past 5 years whilst the van is in the garden. It doesnt appear to have had a detremental effect on the battery.

Kevin

 

[Glenn_5132962]

It might have a detrimental effect on yer leccy bill though! lol.

On older vans with the 3 position car/off/van switch the battery would only be charged if the switch was set to van. Dunno about new vans though.

 

[RogerP]

I only usually hook up a few daqys before I'm due to go away just to get the fridge cooling.

I've left it all over the winter period (probably close to 6 months between use) and the battery was still man enough to use the motor mover when I needed to take it to the dealer.

A neighbour has a motorhome and he generally hooks up for a couple of days a month but his alarms drain both the leisure and vehicle battery if left too long

 

[easyt]

I leave mine on 24/7 and have done for 4 years. The only cost for leccy is topping the battery. No problems.

 

[Pat_374304630]

Hi,

Mine is hooked up 24/7 with no problems.

 

[RayS]

I've always (15+ years) kept my van at home and connected to mains. I fitted an exterior socket as you get on site and use a shortened version of a normal EHU cable.

As well as keeping the battery topped up, I keep the fridge on which avoids mould, and also provides me space to keep beer and wine cold without a domestic with HID. Very useful too party times or anytime else extra fridge space needed.

Also means you can run the heat on 500w with the thermostat set low to keep everything dry in winter (or use a small fan heater via a timeswitch)

 

[foshy]

Hi All,

Our van goes in the back garden and is connected to the mains electric. I run a separate top up/conditioner type battery charger and a de humidifier all the time. In the winter months I add an oil filled radiator on low to keep the chill off. Most importantly we cool the fridge down a day or so before we use the van and as previously mentioned the fridge is sometimes used at party times for extra food and drink storage. The Caravan has occasionally been used as extra living space when guests stay over - we move into the van to save any damage! and with mains hook up and mains water supply its better than a superior pitch. As for cost, I have not noticed much of an increase on the electric bill, but its been about 4 years now. The gains out weigh the costs I think.

 

[KnL]

Thanks for all your replies.

I'm especially liking the idea of a secret stash of cool beers out in the garden !!

 

[vernon]

My caravan is plugged into the my garage via a 7 day timer which switches on once a week for a few hours to top up the battery. Also in the winter I have a couple of occilating fans which come on via the timer to circulate air around the 'van.

 

[Phillipcharnwoodforest]

Hiya everyone, our caravan is plugged into the mains all the time except when we are travelling to or from a site, it's on 12v then from the car. We always have to have a electric hook up due to the wifes health and it's never been any trouble to us.