Keep your fridge cool . If you can , park your van so the fridge side doesn ’ t get the full heat of the afternoon sun . Some caravans with 12V fridges have external body vents that you can open to allow your fridge to ‘ breathe ’ better and operate more efficiently .
Only cool and heat what ’ s necessary . Unless you ’ re planning a party , don ’ t waste energy cooling things that you don ’ t need , or heating things more often than necessary .
CONSIDER A GENERATOR
It might be a good idea to carry a portable generator and some fuel just in case . It may be 40 degrees , with the only respite found indoors with the air-conditioner on .
But be sure that generator will start the AC first ! The rooftop Truma unit has a ‘ soft start ’ function that requires less than 2kVA to fire it up , while afterwards it will draw only out about 1.65kVA to run . Other ACs require up to 2.5kVA to start .
And if you have a big inverter , don ’ t assume that a 3000W unit will start and run your caravan AC . It might not . Check the specs and test it before you go and expect it to be power-hungry .
Of course , you can overcome a lot of this ‘ range anxiety ’ by making sure you have more battery and solar power to start with . But this costs extra money and adds weight . I ’ d regard about 200-250Ah of batteries fed by a good solar charger drawing from about 300W ( two 150W panels ) of solar on the roof as a good standard for anyone planning regular shortterm ‘ off grid ’ camping .
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