Water/Solar Panels

Bravehearts · Veteran Member

Water/Solar Panels

Rip and Rosie · Guru

Welcome to the forum!

Not sure how much water is too much, suppose it depends on where you are going, what's available there and how long you want to stay.

Basically you need 5 litres of water per person per day, well, that's what we carry anyway. More if you have a shower and washing machine etc.

As for power, basically you need to work out what you want to run. If you want fridge, freezer, air con, microwave etc, you'll need lots.

If you use solar lights, gas for cooking, live without a TV and use little else, you won't need much.

Rosie

spida · Guru

I keep my tanks full at all times - never know where you will get water next - or what the quality will be.

petengail · Guru

As water weighs a kilo per litre, thats 200 kgs just in water, quite a lot of weight. As most of our washing, which is a heavy water user we usually use rough water from dams or rivers for clothes washing. That said, we are not talking of ball gowns and tuxedo's either. We only use our battery for lights and find that our 80W solar panel is quite adequate. Our van fridge/freezer and our other fridge/freezer (AKA beer fridge) are both 3 way so when bush camping they run off gas.

Roving-Dutchy · Guru

I have found that water is usually easy to find , if the quality is poor there is nearly always potable water available sufficient for drinking this is when your 20 litre container is handy as you can always fill that, but the potable water is not always available to fill the van tanks so these then needed to be filled with water for washing but not drinking according how long you will be away from the supply.
you will soon know how much water to carry to supply your own needs it will probably mean that you don't need to carry 190 litres
how many solar panels and batteries you need are dependant on your use of 12 volts for your lighting etc what you already have may be sufficient for your needs.
Cheers
David

Gerty Dancer · Guru

In Central and NW Australia you might find good quality water hard to find,,, It is mostly bore water and although usually safe to drink, it lines the insides of your kettle with calcium stuff. We always check the taste before filling the drinking-water tank, but sometimes beggars cant be choosers.
Your water tanks are underneath the caravan and keeping that much weight there helps to stabilise the van, well at least thats what we were told.

Loki · Senior Member

RE batteries & solar:-
In my HiAce I have two 105AH AGM deep cycle batteries, 100W portable solar panel and a Morningstar regulator. It supplies my needs, which are mainly a 12V (single way) fridge & laptop.

I was informed that deep cycle battery in banks should all be the same age and AH rating; also they generally shouldn't be allowed to run down below half charge (~12.1V in my case), to get the longest life from them.

If you aren't sure of your 12V requirements AND your current battery is due for replacement in the near future I'd consider running as you are now to determine what your needs are. As you have a generator you have good backup. You can then upgrade when convenient. PM me if I can further assist.