Day: May 4, 2023

Let’s Talk Camper Van Electrical Systems This particular guide is focused on helping you size the components of your camper van electrical system correctly. If that is not what you are looking for, we have two other guides that might interest you: Start Here in the Planning Stages: Camper Van Electrical 101 Continue Here When You Undestand the Basics: Deep Dive into Van Electrical Systems Daily Power Usage Audit The very first step in determine in your camper van electrical needs is determine how much power you will use in one day.  Once you have that number, you can extract it out to all of the components.  To determine your van life daily power usage, we built the below calculator.  Fill it out, and continue on with your “Total Daily Power Consumption” number.  We recommend filling it out with a winter mindset so you are prepared for those months where you are inside more. Sizing Your Van Batteries We believe that your camper van house batteries should be able to “keep you powered” for 2 full days in the winter without taking in any charge.  This means that the amount of battery capacity you have on board should be at a minimum 2x your Total Daily Power Consumption calculated with a winter mindset.  For our continued example, we are going to say our Total Daily Power Consumption is 180 amp hours. We are looking to have a minimum of 360 amp hours on board.  So, let’s go with 400 amp hours, a nice round number. Winter Mindset We mention “winter mindset” often because those are the months that the solar angle is going to be lower and you are going to be inside. more.  Both of those factors result in drawing your battery usage lower. AGM vs LiFePO4 If you using LiFePO4 batteries, nothing to see here, your formula is the same! If you are opting for AGM batteries, you will need to multiply your battery capacity by 2.  So now, we have Total Daily Power Consumption x 4.  This is because AGM batteries only allow for a 50% discharge floor safely.  We discuss this further in our Deep Dive to Camper Van Electrical Systems. Camper Van Battery Recommendations You will most likely be purchasing multiple batteries, not just one.  To do this, it is super simple! Just add the capacities together and wire them in parallel when the time comes.  We are looking for 400ah, so we will most likely find 4 x100 ah batteries.  Below our some of our recommendations for common battery sizes. Sizing Your Inverter If you will have AC power in your camper van conversion, you will need an inverter to convert DC power to AC power. To properly size your inverter, all you need to do is determine the max amount of AC load you will pull at any given time.  The best way to do this is by looking at your AC Power Audit and adding up the power draws of appliances you might use together.  Often