Energy Crisis? What Energy Crisis?

For many motorcaravanners - including me - "Wild camping" or, as I prefer to call it, selective parking is absolutely the best part of motorcaravanning. The ability to park somewhere that takes your fancy and be completely self-sufficient is so wonderful and, anyway, what's the point of dragging round a shower, oven, fridge, water tank, lavatory, etc, if you're not going to use them in earnest? Waking up and looking through the window to see the sun rising over the sea and then having dinner at the top of a mountain is something that only rich people with several homes or those with suitable vehicles or very strong legs can do. Having said that, I do appreciate that a lot of people prefer the security and facilities offered by camp sites and I'm sure they have a marvellous time too.

The biggest problem for people who don't use camp sites is the electrical power. The Laika has two 110Ah batteries but when I'm using the laptop via an inverter (of which more later) it alone consumes approx 9 Amps. Constant testing of all the satellite dishes and frequent use of the 12V microwave oven at 80Ah also takes its toll. The Laika does have one of Charles Sterling's excellent devices which will charge the leisure batteries at up to 50 Amps an hour and that's how we manage to stay charged.

Most motorcaravanners that I talk to seem to think that the built-in charger will keep their batteries topped up and that the built-in display will show them what kind of condition they're in. Unfortunately, this just isn't so. Most on-board chargers have a maximum output of less than 10 Amps at a constant voltage. Most on-board fridges have a current consumption of around 8 Amps, meaning that during a 4-hour trip with the fridge on, the battery will be fed less than 10 Amps at best. During cold weather - as we discovered in Andorra - battery performance drops dramatically, making a good charging regime even more important.


For anyone relying on battery power, we strongly recommend the following:

• Get sufficient batteries to supply the amount of power you're going to need. This needs some serious calculations and I'm working on a chart which will help with this.
• Get a Sterling battery to battery charger or advanced regulator so that your leisure batteries are charged properly as you drive.
• Keep your batteries topped up with distilled water and check them regularly with a hydrometer.
  
• Get a power management panel which shows not only volts but also current consumption in Amps. This is the only way to ensure that you don't run short of power and that your batteries are being charged correctly. In my opinion, this is an essential piece of equipment. Manufacturers don't usually fit them because they cost a lot more than a volt meter and I suppose that they consider that most people will be plugging into mains power on a regular basis. maybe they're right!
• If you're going to be parked up for prolonged periods of time so that the batteries won't be charged while you're travelling, solar panels do work well as long as there's sun. Unfortunately, there's no room available on the Laika to fit one. I might have to build an extension. There are many sizes of panel available and several different types. Some are a lot better than others and buying on the basis of price alone is definitely a bad idea. One model that we sell, the Phenix, tracks the sun across the sky and ensures that the maximum amount of power is produced. That really does make a huge difference, especially at times of the year when the sun is low in the sky.