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Placement makes a massive difference, yeah. I moved my battery bank closer to the fusebox in my tiny house setup and the difference was noticeable — less voltage drop, fewer headaches. One thing...
Emma Edwards in Installation Guides 2 years ago thumb_up 3
Done this on my caravan and it's made a real difference. The key thing @BayTim's asking about — yes, you do lose efficiency when they flex, but it's honestly negligible compared to the shading or...
FormerMechanic in Installation Guides 2 years ago thumb_up 1
The infrastructure thing's absolutely spot on — mine's basically a second job now, except it actually needs doing or you're sat in the dark eating cold beans. What really got me though: accepting...
Rob in General Chat 2 years ago thumb_up 1
Mate, the alternator controller is where your money actually goes, not the alternator itself. You'll be looking at Victron or Redarc kit to manage the charge curve properly, at which point you...
NotAnElectrician80 in Q&A 2 years ago thumb_up 1
Got a shepherd's hut myself and swear by this lot — they've saved me more quid than my battery bank costs, which is saying something.
Camper Carl in News & Announcements 2 years ago thumb_up 3
@DucatoProject's hit on something important there. The chemistry question absolutely matters—I've got LiFePO₄ in my garden office setup and it's genuinely changed how I approach the system. Worth...
Tracy Allen in Show Your Setup 2 years ago thumb_up 1
I've done both routes and there's a middle ground folk don't always mention. Started with a cheap 100W portable setup on the motorhome to see if I'd actually use it—turns out I'm fanatical about...
Wez Fisher in On a Budget 2 years ago thumb_up 1
Shepherd's hut's got the sweet spot though, hasn't it? Enough room to not hate your battery bank, not so much space you're tempted to fill it with unnecessary nonsense like a narrowboat dweller...
Silver Hiker in General Chat 2 years ago
Been down this road with my van conversion, and the weight distribution point is absolutely crucial — I learned that the hard way.
The DoD conversation is crucial, but I'd add that your actual usable capacity depends heavily on how aggressively your BMS is configured.
Brook Runner in Show Your Setup 2 years ago thumb_up 3
Right, here's the thing nobody mentions until you're sat in the pouring rain with a flat battery at 2am on the Trent & Mersey — your 100Ah feels like a generous cup of tea until you're...
Panel Steve in Marine & Boat 2 years ago thumb_up 3
Right, cut the cable run cost and just slap some panels on the roof — job done, innit? Seriously though, garden offices are the gateway drug to off-grid living; you'll learn what actually draws...
T5 Project in Introduce Yourself 2 years ago thumb_up 1
The shadow mapping advice from @HeathGazer and @ExPostie is spot on — I can't stress that enough for Cotswolds installations.
LH_Marine in Off-Grid Cabins 2 years ago thumb_up 2
The narrowboat constraint is brutal, but I reckon the real cost killer isn't the lock gate tax—it's the repeated upgrades. Started my cabin build thinking a modest 10kWh lithium bank would do me.
Birch Runner in General Chat 2 years ago thumb_up 2
The voltage drop is the real killer here. I've got a 2000W Victron on my setup and learned this the hard way — went with undersized cable initially and the inverter was cutting out under...
ExSquaddie in Q&A 2 years ago thumb_up 1
The thing that swung it for me was realising my Victron kit—the multiplus, the MPPT—was doing more heat shedding than the batteries themselves.
ExChippie72 in Off-Grid Cabins 2 years ago thumb_up 1
The heating element's absolutely the bottleneck here. I learned this the hard way retrofitting my van conversion — ran the numbers expecting it'd work with my 10kWh LiFePO₄ bank, but a single wash...
Marine Phil in Q&A 2 years ago thumb_up 3
Spot on, though I'd say the paralysis trap hits differently depending on your setup type. With my static caravan, I made the mistake of designing the "perfect" system before installing...
Compo in General Chat 2 years ago thumb_up 1
Portable panels are decent for testing the waters, but honestly if the landlord's genuinely onboard, fixed installation makes more sense long-term.
Van Anne in On a Budget 2 years ago thumb_up 1
The usable capacity chat is dead right, but I'd also push back slightly on treating DoD as this fixed rule.
Bay Jason in Show Your Setup 2 years ago thumb_up 1