7 sleeps in Scotland with no hook up?

[hannah]

I'm attending a course in Glasgow over Easter for 7 days. So looking forward to having my van all to myself, no kids, dog or husband, just me,

The only campsite near to my course has no electric hook up. I won't be driving my van all week, it will be in situ for all 7 days.

Can I get by for 7 nights with the leisure battery? I'll need fridge, evening lights, a little heating to take away the Scottish chills.

All other sites are about 10 miles away from my course. Would so love to not have to pack away awning, hook up etc every morning.

Has anyone gone so long without electric without driving around during the day to recharge?

How long does the battery last? How long is a piece of string?!!!!! Thanks for advice.

 

[WelshGas]

I'm attending a course in Glasgow over Easter for 7 days. So looking forward to having my van all to myself, no kids, dog or husband, just me,

The only campsite near to my course has no electric hook up. I won't be driving my van all week, it will be in situ for all 7 days.

Can I get by for 7 nights with the leisure battery? I'll need fridge, evening lights, a little heating to take away the Scottish chills.

All other sites are about 10 miles away from my course. Would so love to not have to pack away awning, hook up etc every morning.

Has anyone gone so long without electric without driving around during the day to recharge?

How long does the battery last? How long is a piece of string?!!!!! Thanks for advice.

Normally 3-4 days, possibly stretching it to 5.
The fridge will obviously use less power if the weather remains cool. Firing up the Parking Heater takes significantly more power to start up than to run for a few hours.
I think you will be stretching it to get more than 5 days, tops. Now if you had a Solar Panel, very possible.

Why would you have to use an Awning if you are on your own.

Why not split between the 2 sites?

 

[Gavinskii]

Unfortunately I think you will struggle much past 4 days.
Adding a solar panel will ensure that you are ok, and perhaps the savings you are making by being in a more basic campsite (+ not saying for a hotel) could help to ease the cost of installation.
I had mine fitted almost a year ago and I love the flexibility it adds to be off the grid + it keeps the batteries nicely topped up when parked at home, without the need to hook up every month (assuming yours isn't a daily driver).

 

[kave]

Is it possible to switch off the fridge during the day if it is cold enough anyway? I just spent three days with my Beach (only one leisure battery) without hookup in -5 to -18C so fridge never turned on. I started the engine to charge the battery and let it run for a while. Worked out fine but mightnot be a good idea on a camping spot?
Keep roof down at night and you might not need heater at all?

 

[hannah]

Thank you all for your responses. Some great tips to conserve energy. I really fancied being a hippy for a week, camping on a farm site, cycling from the site to my yoga course!!!


I may take the advantage of electric hook up though at beautiful Loch Lomond, 10 miles away. Will mean I'll have to drive in and out but as it's just me in the van, packing up each morning will be a breeze.

Can't wait to have our van to myself, feels so indulgent. We had fights over who was going to have her over the Easter holidays, my husband said he was going to go away in her to Orkney with the girls, I thought that was mighty unfair, Orkney without me? I so wanted the van, did stress that I'm saving us a fortune in accommodation costs....... !

Thanks all for the input, it's great to get help from you experts out there

 

[MattBW]

Plug your van in and get the fridge cold before you leave too so that the fridge is already cold, blue freezer blocks will laos help it stay cold without power for longer, extending your power.

Another trick I've done when I had no blue blocks was to freeze bottles of water and put them in. This keeps the fridge cold but also means you have nice cold water too.

 

[DM]

The obvious answer for me would be to increase the capacity of the leisure battery. I've not done this in the Cali so I don't know how complex it would be. But I easily added a leisure battery in my old Volvo estate for camping purposes. I had some wiring put in to connect the battery in parallel with the car battery when driving to charge it and then isolate it when camping so as to not run down the engine battery.

 

[Paulro]

Solar panel is the way to go. Plenty of advice on from Roger Donaghue

 

[andyinluton]

Why not just do one night in the middle on hook up at Loch Lomond? or is that too simple a solution.

 

[BikerGran]

Plug your van in and get the fridge cold before you leave too so that the fridge is already cold, blue freezer blocks will laos help it stay cold without power for longer, extending your power.

Another trick I've done when I had no blue blocks was to freeze bottles of water and put them in. This keeps the fridge cold but also means you have nice cold water too.

I use large pop bottles full of ice in preference to the blocks, they stay frozen longer and keep the fridge really cold! But there's not a lot that needs to be kept cold in winter, if you use UHT skimmed milk it doesn't taste like UHT and it keeps for several days even when open. Take some tins and packets of stuff to eat. Butter will be ok unless your van is going to be very warm, anything that really needs to be kept cold you can put in a sealed plastic container under the van.

 

[briwy]

You could always run the engine for a while to charge the leisure batteries.
If you get the engine up to temperature and you have Climatronic press the rest button after turning the engine off and the heater will come on for a while. May be counter productive though as it will use power but only from the main battery. Stops automatically after a while.

 

[BerndRos]

You will be just fine...fridge on low but adequate, lights, frugal. That will get you 5 days. Then run the engine for about 90 mins a day for the 6th day and possible the 7th, although by then I guess you will be driving off.

I have done this maybe about a 100 times on my 2010 Cali and much more on my yacht and batteries on both just fine.

 

[campandfly]

Here are a few tips I wrote for an article.....

Tips for maintaining an electric fridge while camping to conserve battery power.

When driving to your campsite put the fridge on the coldest you can without damaging delicates eg. salad, fruit and veg.
If you dont set off with these items go for max and get the temp of the fridge including its insulation and drinks as cold as poss.
Arriving on site and on battery set the fridge to a more moderate setting.
Before opening your fridge try and decide what you want to get out or do. Do it quick without wasting time and leaving the door open. Keep your fridge tidy use a basket or sealed containers rummaging around loses precious energy. Keep opening and closing to a minimum.
Frozen or semi frozen drinks when you set off from home will give you more free cooling.
Plan your menu to include a couple of occasional frozen items that you can allow to defrost in the fridge.
eg. bags of frozen veg or meat. The quality of some frozen veg is very good. Chuck a couple of bags in and use them after they have defrosted.
Buy drinks to put in your fridge that are from a shop fridge not off the shelf.
Do not buy items that you have to chill right down eg beers and wine. Buy it already chilled if you can.
Even buying chilled veg and salad rather than ambient items can save precious energy.
If you are anywhere there is a freezer nearby eg. camp kitchen, friends house or pub carry one of those cheap blue freezer blocks and ask to put it in their freezer overnight. A friendly barperson or restaurant may give you some ice if you have a suitable container. If you dont have a blue ice pack just use bottled water.
Park in the shade if you can.
If you can ventilate your vehicle safely eg leave a window or door open do it so the ambient temp in the vehicle is lower.
If there is no one around run your motor for a short while or even better go for a scenic drive.
Warning! remember to keep an eye on defrosting risky items like Poultry, Meat, Fish once it is nearly defrosted Use it! don't risk making yourself or your family sick while on holiday. Vacuum packed items are generally safer than those open to the air.
The above tips are for when you don't have access to any form of power.
Other options are
Plan your day to go for a scenic drive and top up the Liesure batteries.
Run your engine onsite for a while if it does not upset the neighbours.
Carry an additional liesure (deep cycle not starter) battery
Use solar panels, these are becoming more and more popular
Use a small quiet generator

 

[hirsty]

how'd it go @hannah ?