Battery longevity's the real story here, not just the upfront cost. I've been running a mixed lithium and lead-acid setup across my motorhome for eight years now, and the numbers tell a different...
Exactly — and it's worse when you've got panels metres away from the controller. I calculated mine at 4m² cross-section for a 15m run.
Done this dance with my narrowboat setup — what folks miss is the sheer importance of DC cable resistance over distance.
The shepherd's hut angle is actually brilliant for this, @ExFirefighter11. You've got space for proper battery capacity where a van owner would be fighting for every cubic cm.
I ran induction in...
Right, I'll add a different angle here. Been through this exact dilemma in my box van setup, and the real problem with absorption fridges whilst mobile is they genuinely struggle when you're...
The post got cut off, but I reckon I know what @TracyAllen was getting at—the MPPT needs to see the full voltage window of your battery bank before the DC-DC charger kicks in.
I've got the Orion-Tr Smart doing the heavy lifting in my motorhome setup, charging a 200Ah LiFePO4 from the alternator.
Ah, the classic "winter power fantasy" — I've been there. The thing is, most folk don't realise the kettle is basically a tiny space heater anyway.
The kettle debate's a classic, but @GoldenMechanic's got the right idea looking beyond basic inverters.
Spot on with the "stops it exploding" bit, but there's more to it. Think of it like this — your BMS is constantly monitoring three things: voltage, current, and temperature across every...
The battery-to-fusebox distance is absolutely critical, and @OldSailer's not joking about the fire risk.
Been through this dance twice now — once fitting out the motorhome, then again when we went full-time in the narrowboat.
Been through this twice now — once in the motorhome, once setting up a narrowboat. The honest truth?
The cold weather question @PartnerNomad raises is where you really see the difference between the two.
Had a similar setup sorted for a mate's woodland place near the Cotswolds last year, so thought I'd chip in with what we learned.
Ground-mounts are brilliant if you've got the space and decent sun...
