The versatile campervan
Here at Compact RV we are always on the lookout for small vans that punch above their weight.
The latest Westfalia Kepler One van certainly fits the bill. A regular VW Kombi Transporter fitted out to seat and sleep 4 people, with a shower and toilet!
Compact but classy!
Like most Campervan travellers, we have always kept an eye on our batteries’ State of Charge (SoC), and as the price of Lithium batteries has slowly tumbled we wondered if it might be worth going for something a bit bigger in the energy storage department.
But as we have recently discovered, there are other options available to extend our off-grid electrical energy sustainability.
Turns out, it’s not all about battery capacity. Especially if you have a not-so-new van. Continue reading “Maybe you don’t need a bigger battery?”
American motorhome manufacturer, Winnebago, has revealed its highly-anticipated electric RV prototype, the eRV2, in response to the changing community expectations for sustainable forms of road travel.
A fully-operational prototype of its all-electric, zero-emission RV was revealed at the Florida RV SuperShow in January 2023.
The motorhome is built on a Ford E-Transit chassis, and is powered by a proprietary IonBlade lithium house battery, which has more than 15,000 usable watt-hours.
More info in the video above.
We recently converted our road bikes to e-Bikes, installing a Swytch conversion kit – a hub motor and lightweight battery. We can still ride the bikes as ‘regular’ pedal bikes, but have the option to flick a switch to fire up the battery for that long climb.
Most importantly, we have only added 3.5kg to each bike, so that they can still be carried on our rear door-mounted rack, without exceeding the rack load limit.
Don’t have a Campervan, but still want to glamp-up your campsite with a fridge, and a 12V power supply?
A portable fridge is a great piece of camping kit for weekends away in the back of a van or in a tent – but you do need a reliable 12V power supply, not only to run the fridge, but also to hookup lights, and for charging phones and other devices.
Affordable portable fridges are now widely available, and it is pretty straightforward to setup a portable power supply, using a 12V deep-cycle battery fitted in a powered Battery Box – then just plug in a portable fridge, and even hook up a solar panel to recharge the battery for longer off-grid excursions.
A low-power inverter is also an option to provide a 230V outlet for charging drone and camera batteries or a laptop.
Or, if you have a slightly larger budget, a Portable Power Station is a one-stop-package that does it all!
A cold fridge is at the heart of every modern campsite, and a reliable (and sustainable) 12V power supply is critical in keeping that fridge cold, along with supplying electrical energy for lighting, cooking, device recharging and water pumping.
There are 4 important factors in maintaining your 12V energy supply:
It is a relatively straightforward project to remove and repair a Winegard TV antenna.
Here is a step by step guide to removing and repairing the elevating mechanism.
Includes details about lubricating the rotation operating mechanism and elevating gears. This should be undertaken every six months.
Not so long ago people were happy running their basic camping kit from a 12V battery or an LPG bottle. Inverters were clunky old boxes that were used by those working away from a mains power source, firing up the angle grinder to repair the hinge on the gate in the bottom paddock.
Fast forward to the present, and inverter technology has improved to the point where these devices are well and truly accepted in the ‘mainstream’. It seems that every Campervan, Mobilehome or Caravan is equipped with a sleek high-power inverter used to run modern domestic appliances from their 12V battery. Continue reading “Do you need an Inverter?”
With a couple of extended trips on the horizon, we have taken the plunge and invested in two Lithium batteries to replace our two AGM batteries.
By replacing the AGM batteries with Lithium batteries we have almost doubled our off-grid 12V energy capacity while more than halving our battery weight.
While Lithium batteries are expensive, the increase in battery performance is amazing. But there can be significant costs, other than the batteries, in making the move to Lithium.
An inverter gives you the option of running 230V appliances from your 12V batteries when you are free camping.
You will need a solid battery and cabling infrastructure, but if you have these basics, installing an inverter is a reasonably straightforward project.
Ideally the inverter is installed close to the batteries, and powered on and off with a remote switch in the kitchen area.
Share our experiences choosing, installing and using an inverter, including the installation of an easily accessible remote switch….