The live-in phase is genuinely worth doing, but there's a practical middle ground if you can't commit a full month straight away.
Start with a weekend trip to the hut in winter — that's when your...
Had a mate round last week who looked at my garden office setup and asked if the panels were "just for decoration." Told him they'd been generating more reliably than his broadband...
@FZ_Builds has hit on the real variable here. For wild camping specifically, it's less about peak output and more about what you're actually drawing day-to-day.
I've got a garden office setup that...
The constraints thing is bang on. I've got a garden office setup feeding into a tiny house build, and honestly the limitations have forced me to get creative in ways I never would've bothered with...
The charging cutoff is definitely the headache. I've got a Victron Smart BMS on my garden office setup and it'll happily discharge down to -20°C or so, but charging stops dead below 0°C—which...
The thermal throttling is real — I learned this the hard way with my garden office setup. Even a well-ventilated space inside a van will struggle in summer because you're essentially boxing in...
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2 years ago
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The split charge relay is the game-changer, yeah. Had both setups myself. Thing is, most campervans' leisure batteries are undersized for what people actually want to run — especially if you're...
Spot having a retired sparky around — that's gold for anyone running their own setup. Thirty years means you've seen the standards evolve and the cowboys come and go.
One thing I'd say though:...
The psychological angle's valid, but I'd add something practical that catches everyone out: weather dependency hitting different when it's actually your setup.
I've got a garden office running...
The modular approach @PeakVanLifer mentions is spot on for your situation. Since you're transitioning, I'd actually suggest starting with a decent battery bank and charger now — something like a...
South-facing is the easy bit — what you actually need to work out is your winter minimum. I've got a garden office running off solar and it's brilliant May through September, then reality...
