Is there life without propane?
- Thread starter zip
- Start date
zip
I prefer social distancing.
PM sent
zip
I prefer social distancing.
Fantastic. Very happy for you.
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
I'll play.
First some maths: Two of us in an expedition camper with a two door electric refrigerator, toaster, espresso machine, microwave, etc., use about 125Ah to fix dinner and continental breakfast. Up to 150Ah for a really complex dinner and eggs for breakfast. Under 100Ah if we grill outside. We ignore lunch as there is usually enough solar gain during the day to make that load disappear.
So, if you budget 125Ah per day, then you can do two days of camping in the rain on 300Ah of battery, etc. We did this easily with AGM, lithium simply makes it easier and lighter. Fast idling the engine, assuming a good charging system can get you through emergencies. We have done this once in ten years, during a tropical storm.
All of this assumes a well designed system with good alternator charge, say at least 50A and solar. Assume 5A per 100w of panel in "perfect" sun, say, 9AM to 3PM.
We don't use propane for two reasons. The first is fire. (See picture from a campground in Sweden last month.)
The second it adapters for international travel. Plus many countries will only allow you to refill tanks that are certified refillable and their default value is that your tank is not.
You don't need an elaborate induction stove or monster inverter. We have a 2Kw inverter and a single hob unit works well - just have hot pads for the pans as you rotate them. We also use the microwave a lot.
Bottom line, you don't need massive batteries, but more is certainly better. The real question is: "How many days do you need to go with no sunlight and not driving? Guess at least 125Ah for each of those days.
First some maths: Two of us in an expedition camper with a two door electric refrigerator, toaster, espresso machine, microwave, etc., use about 125Ah to fix dinner and continental breakfast. Up to 150Ah for a really complex dinner and eggs for breakfast. Under 100Ah if we grill outside. We ignore lunch as there is usually enough solar gain during the day to make that load disappear.
So, if you budget 125Ah per day, then you can do two days of camping in the rain on 300Ah of battery, etc. We did this easily with AGM, lithium simply makes it easier and lighter. Fast idling the engine, assuming a good charging system can get you through emergencies. We have done this once in ten years, during a tropical storm.
All of this assumes a well designed system with good alternator charge, say at least 50A and solar. Assume 5A per 100w of panel in "perfect" sun, say, 9AM to 3PM.
We don't use propane for two reasons. The first is fire. (See picture from a campground in Sweden last month.)
The second it adapters for international travel. Plus many countries will only allow you to refill tanks that are certified refillable and their default value is that your tank is not.
You don't need an elaborate induction stove or monster inverter. We have a 2Kw inverter and a single hob unit works well - just have hot pads for the pans as you rotate them. We also use the microwave a lot.
Bottom line, you don't need massive batteries, but more is certainly better. The real question is: "How many days do you need to go with no sunlight and not driving? Guess at least 125Ah for each of those days.
Attachments
Similar threads
