Building your camper van electrical system is often the most daunting stages of a DIY van build. In these guides, we strive to not only give you the information you need to DIY your electrical system, but to fully understand why and how everything works together.
For an understanding of house power in a camper van.
Into installing and selecting your components.
Looking for more 1:1 help?
We offer Virtual Van Build Consulting and electrical systems are our most requested sessions. Feel free to schedule some time on our calendar, even if just for a sanity check of your diagram before you start.
There are 3 ways to charge your camper van house batteries. We recommend having a minimum of two of the following:
Most van lifers opt to have solar power. However, in the winter, or if you are at northern latitudes when the solar is at a lower angle, it can be tough to fully rely on. We recommend supplementing with a DC to DC charger, or shore power.
Having enough battery capacity to fuel your van life is important. It is also important that all your components are sized correctly to keep your electrical system running smoothly. Here are the steps to sizing your camper van electrical system properly:
Visit our Sizing Your Camper Van Electrical Components for in depth guidance on all of the steps above.
Absolutely, you can download our Camper Van Electrical System Diagram for free.
There are two main types of batteries used in camper vans: Lithium and AGM. The decision on which one to use is often brought down to a combination of budget, weight, and battery life. AGM batteries are cheaper and heavier, but can only be discharged to half capacity before sustaining damage. Lithium batteries are lighter, more expensive, and can be depleted nearly 100% of capacity safely.
Let’s work through an example. Say you need 200ah of battery capacity. Then, you would only need 200ah of Lithium batteries; however, if you choose AGM, you need 400ah of batteries to achieve the 200ah of usable capacity.
There are only two pieces of information you need to select proper wire gauge: the current of the load, and the distance that load has to travel from power source to appliance (ie wire length). You can always use a larger gauge wire, but the reverse is not true and can result in catastrophic failure of your system. The downside to larger gauge wire is that it is harder to work with and more expensive.
In residential wiring, solid copper wire is the “norm” but when building a van stranded copper wire is needed as it is much more resistant to the daily vibrations your van is subjected to. Can you use solid copper wire? Sure. Do we recommend it? No.
Head to our Camper Van Electrical Guide for a wire gauge sizing chart.
The electrical system is often the most difficult system to install in camper vans, and the one with the highest consequences. Here are some of our tips to ensure safety of your system:
