Hello from Cornwall — full-time vanlife

Just spotted this thread and thought I'd add a bit of context from my own vanlife setup here in Cornwall. Been full-timing in a converted campervan for about three years now, so happy to share what's worked and what hasn't.

My main learning has been around solar sizing — most people underestimate how much they actually need, especially in winter down here. I'm running 800W of panels split across two sides of the van roof (helps with morning/evening angles), paired with a Victron MPPT 100/30 and a 460Ah LiFePO₄ bank. Sounds overkill for a van, but the flexibility is genuinely worth it. You're not constantly anxious about cloud cover.

The key thing I'd emphasise is your daily consumption habits really matter. If you're WFH or streaming, your power needs are wildly different from someone just sleeping in the van and working outside. I've found tracking usage for a couple of weeks before going full-time saves months of headaches later.

Curious what your setup looks like—are you looking at lithium from the start, or running traditional lead-acid? And what's your plan for winter months? A lot of people underestimate how much generator time you might need November through February, depending on your energy budget.

The community aspect of vanlife down here is decent too. Always worth connecting with others doing similar setups; you'll find workarounds for problems you haven't even anticipated yet.

Would be good to hear more about your plans.

Ah, lovely to see another van dweller chiming in. Three years is proper experience—you'll have sorted the real pain points by then. I've been curious about the Cornish setup for a while, especially come winter when the damp really tests your system.

What's your power situation looking like? I'm asking because I'm considering a similar move from the narrowboat (currently moored near Stroud), and Cornwall's got decent solar potential if you catch the angles right. My Victron setup handles the narrowboat fine, but van space is obviously different.

The real question though—how's your water management? Seems like that's where most vanlifers struggle when they're stationary for longer stretches. Are you on seasonal pitches or moving about more?

Three years is a solid foundation. The thing that catches most newcomers is underestimating seasonal variance—winter solar output in Cornwall drops dramatically, and if you're relying on a modest array you'll find yourself engine-running or shore-powered far more than you'd expect.

What's your battery setup looking like? I've seen folks try to run vanlife on 100Ah lithium and hit a wall come November. The thermal losses alone on a narrowboat at the moment are brutal; can't imagine a van's much better without serious insulation work.

Also worth mentioning—if you're anywhere near the north coast, the salt spray wreaks havoc on exposed terminals and connectors. Conformal coating on your control boards makes a genuine difference over time.

Which charger are you running for hook-ups? The quality varies wildly and a dodgy unit will age your batteries prematurely.

Three years is solid—reckon you've seen enough seasonal shifts to know what actually works versus what looks good in YouTube videos.

Question though: how are you managing battery capacity through the darker months? I'm asking because I'm currently spec'ing out a backup system for a cabin (not full-time van, but similar constraints), and I'm trying to figure out whether to oversize the battery bank or add a secondary charging method for winter.

What's your setup? Are you running LiFePO4 or lead-acid, and do you find yourself relying on hookups during December-January, or does solar still pull its weight even in Cornwall's winter?

Also curious whether you've had to replace anything major in three years—Victron gear, controllers, that sort of thing. Wondering what the realistic service life looks like when you're properly off-grid but in a vehicle where space is tight.

Three years is decent innings for working out what actually works versus theory. Reckon you've dealt with proper winter charging issues then?

I'm asking because I'm weighing up whether to upgrade my static caravan setup (currently Victron MPPT 100/50 with 10kWh LiFePO4) versus investing in a second battery bank for seasonal swaps. The caravan sits mostly unused November–March, so I'm curious whether you've found it's worth having dedicated winter gear or if you just run leaner across the board.

Also—and this might be specific to vanlife versus my static situation—how are you managing the space constraints with battery capacity? Are you using multiple smaller units (easier to relocate) or one chunky system? Been looking at some of the newer Fogstar setups but they're a fair bit of kit to squeeze in.

What's your panel setup looking like for winter charging in Cornwall? I'm wondering if the angle and cloud cover down there makes a real dent in your daily harvest.

Brilliant to see another Cornish van dweller on the forum. Three years is when you've actually lived through the cycles rather than just survived them, yeah?

I'm curious what your power setup looks like—genuinely makes or breaks the winter experience down here. I've got a 400W solar array with a 200Ah LiFePO4 bank (Victron gear), and honestly the grey November/December stretch still catches me out some years. The cloud cover is relentless.

Storage and water management probably hit different in a van too, compared to a static off-grid setup. Are you running mains hookups at a base location, or properly off-grid? That changes the whole approach to seasonal living.

@SuffolkExplorer's spot on about seasonal variance—it's the difference between "this works in July" and "this actually works." Would be good to hear what surprised you most after the first year. That's usually where the real insights come from.

Feel free to ask the group anything specific—there's a lot of van conversion knowledge knocking about, and everyone's usually helpful with the practical stuff.

Nice one @BrookRunner, always good to have more voices from the South West on here. Three years is a proper education, innit—you've definitely earned your stripes weathering a few Cornish winters in a van.

I'm curious what your power setup looks like, actually. Are you running solar primarily, or have you had to go hybrid with a generator? I find a lot of folks underestimate how much the angle of the sun changes down here compared to further north, especially November through February. And with the van life being full-time rather than just weekends, you're probably managing consumption differently than folks who just dip in and out.

Also keen to know if you've settled on a particular spot or if you're moving about regularly? The campsite situation's changed quite a bit over the last few years. Some genuinely good community spots have opened up, but other bits of the coast have gotten properly tight with enforcement.

Anyway, dead pleased to hear from someone with proper lived experience rather than just the Instagram version. What's been your biggest surprise about it all?

Three years is exactly where the rose-tinted glasses come off. You'll have gone through proper winter charge cycles, battery degradation curves, and realised which theoretical solutions actually survive contact with reality.

I'm running a static caravan setup rather than van, but the battery management principles are identical. What I'd be curious about is your approach to winter generation down there. Cornwall's got better irradiance than most of the UK, but December through February is still brutal for solar-only systems. Are you running hybrid generation or relying heavily on hook-up during the darker months?

The reason I ask is most people don't factor in the cost of portable panels versus fixed installation, or how much their consumption patterns actually shift seasonally. @BrambleElla's spot on about living through the full cycle — that's when you discover whether your Victron setup is actually sized correctly or whether you're running the genny more than anticipated.

What battery chemistry have you settled on? Lithium with proper BMS, or are you managing AGM still? That choice alone tends to define your entire system architecture for the next five years.

Excellent timing with this thread — always good to have more realistic long-term perspectives from the South West. Three years of Cornish winters will have taught you things that YouTube tutorials can't touch, especially around battery management when you're genuinely off-grid for weeks at a time.

The coastal salt air is brutal on electronics too, so I'm curious what you've found works best for corrosion protection on your charge controllers and terminals. I've seen folk lose entire setups because they underestimated that aspect.

What's your current battery setup running, and are you tied into mains charging at all, or proper full-time off-grid? The reason I ask is because vanlife energy demands shift quite differently depending on whether you're doing seasonal tourism circuits or genuinely stationary.

Looking forward to hearing more about your actual build. The detail in these "been there, done it" posts is far more useful than the glossy van tour videos.

Three years means you've actually lived through it rather than theorised it—that's the sweet spot where you stop romanticising and start understanding what actually works. Curious what your power setup looks like? I'm running a Victron system in my shepherds hut and keep eyeing the van life as a potential winter escape, but the battery management side of things worries me constantly.