Isolate battery charger from Fridge to use solar for charging caravan battery

[cencerrita]

Caravans and motor homes have been fitted at build with manufactures consumer units that do not allow the mains battery charger to be switched off and the fridge on! This is due to the fact they have a combined circuit breaker of 6A. Consequently at night when using 12 volts your charger with be topping up the battery. This could be left until daylight to allow your solar panel(s) to carry out this task. As we have often gone off grid camping with the caravan I can assure you that you do not need your mains electric battery charger. Save the planet!

With more sites either charging for electricity or having a small amount in the price you should could be switching off your battery charger and saving money. You will also be helping to save the planet using solar!

It has been common practice for many years to fit a roof top solar panel on caravans which keeps your battery charged when in storage / not in use. So it is about time that manufactures fit a consumer unit that allows you to isolate the charger when you are using your caravan and taking the advantages of having a solar panel.

Even more annoying is that the consumer unit was designed for an extra circuit breaker to be fitted. It had “knock outs” on the fascia to allow the positioning of this.

To carry out the modification is quite simple for a competent person and full details on how to do this can be found on our web site using the link below. It includes a detailed description and photos showing how to do this step by step.

How isolate fridge and battery charger.

 

[otherclive]

Some good points but if you look at Gridwatch you would be surprised how much electricity comes from Renewable and Carbon Neutral sources, and it’s only going to increase. At the moment it’s 70%

 

[cencerrita]

Very true, but this saves me money on sites that charge for electric by unit.

 

[Jcloughie]

My consumer unit was very different from yours and not wired the same. But I cannot remember what the circuit charger was on.

Your premis seems to suggest that all caravans are wired the same.

Another way to achieve this is to fit a switch on the feed for the charger. In fact my last van, with a Sergent unit, had such a switch.



John

 

[JTQ]

But, how much energy are you saving not using an EHU to charge our typical batteries?
Given a 110 Ah LA battery offers a useful 55 Ah, so the usable stored energy is 2/3rd of a standard "unit" of electricity, which in turn if we are charged the cap rate of 27p /kWh, is 18p worth. That is of course if our usage takes all the battery can, typically we would not. Looked at another way, in 19 days we will have saved enough for a decent coffee.

Realistically, is doing any mods worth it?

 

[cencerrita]

For £7.52 to save electric charge on site this would be 18.55 KW use at 40p a unit and going up on sites.

 

[GUMPY]

I have the mains feed to my charger routed through a Sonoff WiFi switch so it can be switched on and off from anywhere 😎

Amazon.co.uk

The spare two ways in the CU are taken up by the power meter, that can also be accessed from anywhere

https://amzn.eu/d/b19bQ4m

 

[cencerrita]

My consumer unit was very different from yours and not wired the same. But I cannot remember what the circuit charger was on.

Your premis seems to suggest that all caravans are wired the same.

Another way to achieve this is to fit a switch on the feed for the charger. In fact my last van, with a Sergent unit, had such a switch.

View attachment 8658

John

Great but no space to fit a switch only in the consumer unit as a MCB on my unit

 

[cencerrita]

Exactly what Elddis should have done!

 

[Mr Plodd]

The amount of money saved by switching off a charger would be pretty negligible and realistically hardly worth the effort.