RV FEATURE
LITHIUM BATTERIES
To allow for all the extra 12V equipment that we use, I upgraded the house battery from AGM to lithium and at the same time, added an additional battery. This took our battery capacity from 120Ah of AGM to 240Ah of lithium. This was another easy DIY for me and would be for most DIYers( though of course you should see a specialist if uncertain).
The advantage of lithium batteries in a caravan is that you get more available power for the weight. Not only is a lithium battery less than half the weight of an AGM battery of the same capacity, it can also be safely discharged to 5 per cent of its capacity( may vary with battery specification). Compare this with an AGM battery, which can only be safely discharged to 50 per cent of its capacity.
While upgrading to lithium batteries, I also added a shunt. This is a device that measures all the power going in and out of the battery and it can tell you the state of charge( percentage of energy left in the battery). It can also calculate how long the battery will last with its current draw. I have a version that sends all this info to an app via Bluetooth – very handy when off-grid.
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