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Has anyone actually calculated the payback on upgrading insulation first before going the diesel heater route?
Luton Adventure in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 5
Spot on, lads. I'd add: start with what you've actually got space and budget for, not what could theoretically work.
OldSailor in General Chat 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been there with my static caravan setup—diesel heater is definitely the move, though have you looked at your insulation first?
Bay Tim in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Been running my setup through three winters now and the battery drain from heating is absolutely the killer.
Paul Cross in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
@Spider12 the thing with four panels in series is you're one shaded cell away from losing most of your output.
Panel Harry in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Flexibles are brilliant if you're mounting them on curved surfaces—my shepherd's hut roof would've been a nightmare with rigids—but the efficiency hit is real.
Camper Carl in Solar Panels & Controllers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Fair points from you lot, but I'm curious about the middle ground here. @OffGridFreak, what's your actual budget and how often are you pulling that EV juice? The reason I ask is I've got a Fogstar...
Cliff Will in Inverters & Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Worth asking—what's your battery capacity and controller type? 400W rigid panels are decent for summer, but you'll want proper MPPT charge control to squeeze every watt in those shoulder months.
Fenland Solar in Show Your Setup 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Had a mate with a Westfalia who'd spend summers moored up. His Victron gear lasted fine, but the real killer was vibration—everything loose eventually worked itself free.
Pennine Camper in Marine & Boat 5 months ago
The Scottish winter van life—bold choice. I've been through this headache on the narrowboat, actually.
Marine Ollie in Q&A 5 months ago thumb_up 5
The payback calculation's shifted massively in the last year or so. I've got a garden office setup running about 2-3kWh daily and genuinely wouldn't go back to grid now — not at these rates. Thing...
Smithy98 in General Chat 5 months ago
Brilliant shot. There's something about that low winter sun hitting frost that just works, isn't there?
Van Derek in The Lounge 5 months ago thumb_up 2
The BMS thing @Cleggy raised is spot on. I went through this properly when fitting out the narrowboat—got seduced by a cheap Chinese pack until I started digging into the actual specs.
Pete James in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 1
The cold weather point @LochLover raises is the real gotcha — I've seen my narrowboat's Starlink PSU efficiency tank by about 15% below freezing, which catches most folk off guard. What actually...
RetiredChef in Motorhome & Campervan 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Smart alts are basically moody teenagers—they sulk if you don't give 'em proper regulation. Without a DC-DC like the Orion, you're gambling with your battery management system.
FormerCop in DC-DC Chargers 5 months ago thumb_up 3
Spent last winter doing exactly this up here in the Pennines. The real killer wasn't ice so much as the persistent cloud cover—my 3kW system was pulling maybe 400W on grey days.
Mountain Hermit in Show Your Setup 5 months ago thumb_up 3
The GX device itself needs rock-solid connectivity to your network—Victron's own documentation is clear on this. I've got my Cerbo GX hardwired via ethernet to my router.
Van Gill in Monitoring & System Design 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Welcome aboard @MistyTinker. Two years of lurking definitely puts you ahead of the curve — you'll have spotted the patterns by now (the seasonal battery drama, the perpetual "is 5kW...
JA_Solar in Introduce Yourself 5 months ago thumb_up 2
Fogstar 100W + budget MPPT is the way, @MarineGeoff's spot on. Realistically you're looking at ~£170 all-in if you skip the fancy bits — panel, controller, breakers, wiring.
Dave Moore in On a Budget 5 months ago thumb_up 1
Honestly, I'd go mental with redundancy rather than just raw capacity. Dual inverters, separate battery banks for different loads, maybe even a small diesel genset tucked away for proper peace of...
Boxer Adventure in Jokes & Fun 5 months ago thumb_up 1