Budget 12v 300ah lifepo4 battery? And good or best charger?

Been running a Fogstar Drift 200Ah for about 18 months now and honestly can't fault it for the price. For 300Ah on a budget, stacking two of their 12V 100Ah cells is worth considering if the upfront cost of a single 300Ah unit is painful.

For the charger side — this is where I'd say don't skimp. A decent Victron IP67 or even their Blue Smart range is money well spent. The BMS on budget cells can be a bit temperamental if you're throwing dodgy charge profiles at them, so proper CC/CV with LiFePO4 settings matters more than people realise.

If Victron feels steep, Renogy's 40A DC-DC charger is solid for vehicle-based setups and I've seen a few folks here recommend the Noco Genius range for static/home backup use.

Few questions worth thinking about for your setup:

• Solar, vehicle, mains, or all three?
• What's the actual use case — off-grid living or emergency backup?
• Indoor or outdoor install?

The answers really do change what charger makes sense. Running LiFePO4 in a cold garage over winter, for instance, means you want a charger that'll back off charging below 5°C — not all budget options handle that gracefully.

What's your current setup looking like? Others on here will have strong opinions too, so be good to get a proper thread going! 🔋

Fogstar Drift gets my reluctant seal of approval — and I hate approving budget gear — but pair it with a Victron IP22 or IP65 charger and you've actually got something sensible rather than just cheap.

Avoid those generic "MPPT 30A" branded-by-nobody chargers flooding Amazon; your BMS deserves better than mystery electronics from a warehouse in Shenzhen with a three-word product description.

For the shepherd's hut I went two Renogy 100Ah cells before Fogstar was even a thing, and honestly the Drift would've saved me both money and the existential dread of reading Renogy's BMS documentation at midnight.

TL;DR: Fogstar Drift stack + Victron charger = budget build that won't embarrass you.

Worth adding on the charger question — if you're on a really tight budget, the NOCO Genius range punches well above its price point and handles LiFePO4 profiles properly. That said, once you've used a Victron Blue Smart, it's hard to go back — the Bluetooth monitoring alone is worth the premium, especially if you're away from the van/boat and want to keep an eye on things remotely.

Also, welcome to the forum @ExpertCamper — 18 months of real-world data on the Drift is genuinely useful. More of this, please.

One pedantic note for anyone reading: "stacking" 12V batteries means wiring in parallel, not series — easy mistake that'll ruin your day if you get it wrong.

Been down this exact road fitting out my van last year. Two Fogstar Drift 100Ah units wired in parallel gave me rock-solid results — the key thing most people miss is balancing the cables symmetrically so both cells share the load equally. Sloppy wiring and one battery does all the work.

On chargers — @Renogy_Nerd is almost certainly pointing at the Victron IP22, which is genuinely the sweet spot. If you want multi-source charging though (solar + shore power + alternator), consider jumping straight to a Victron MultiPlus or at minimum a Victron Orion-Tr Smart for the alternator leg. Future-proofs everything nicely.

One thing specific to LiFePO4 stacks: make sure whatever charger you choose has a proper 14.2-14.6V absorption setting, not just a generic lithium profile. Some budget units get this wrong.

Been through this exact dilemma kitting out my motorhome three years back, then again when I wired up the cabin last winter.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet — cell balancing matters more in parallel than people think. Before you wire those two 100Ah Drifts together, charge each one individually to full, let them rest overnight, then connect them. Skipping that step caused me a week of head-scratching with mismatched SOC readings early on.

On the charger front — @AngliaOffGrid's NOCO point is fair for light use, but if you're regularly hammering the bank down and back up again (motorhome life = you will be), invest properly in something with a dedicated LiFePO4 profile. The Victron Blue Smart IP65 is what I eventually settled on. Does exactly what it says, every time, no drama.

Buy cheap twice or buy right once. Your call.

Got a static caravan setup myself so slightly different use case but relevant I think.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet — if you're going parallel on the 100Ah units, are you matching them by age and cycle count? Mixing mismatched cells can cause the BMSs to fight each other a bit.

Also on the charger side — what's your charging source? Mains only, solar, split charge from a vehicle? Reason I ask is the "best charger" answer changes completely depending on that. Victron's the obvious answer if budget allows but that's a big jump in cost.

@MarinePhil did you run into any balancing issues with your parallel setup over time or has it stayed fairly even?