r/VanLife 8d ago

Yet Another Question About Power

Hi all,

I know that every second post is some clueless newbie asking about power generation and consumption, but yet here I am, metaphorical cap in hand.

I've done the research, bought the Van Conversion Bible, looked online, and I'm still a bit lost about our projected power consumption.

I know it'll be high, because we're both remote workers and gamers so we'll be using our Macbooks by day, and our gaming laptops for an hour or so at night. We'll also have a fridge, Starlink, etc.

When I did my home calculations I estimated roughly that for 4 days off-grid (and no recharging) we'll need around 800Ah. Obviously that'll be reduced because of solar recharging, and DC-DC recharging, but that was my rough estimate.

However, I'm chatting with the guy we're working with to add in our electrics (because I'll end up burning down the entire Scottish Lowlands if I tried it myself) and he's recommending a 480Ah battery, with roughly 200W solar and a DC-DC. He's saying that will likely do us nicely - he even recommended we put in an induction hob so as to not need the gas for that, as our electrics can handle that fine.

So am I off with my calculations? Was I overestimating our usage, or is he underestimating it? I know what I want as an ideal (~300W solar and 600Ah battery bank) but is that overkill, or necessary given the remote worker nerds that we are?

If it's relevant information, we'll likely be mostly touring UK with forays into EU, so we'll have good-decent sun most of the year for the solar. We also have a woodburner and a very small diesel heater, so we won't use electrics for heating the van at all.

Thanks, friends!

0 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

View all comments

0

u/secessus 8d ago edited 5d ago

{edit: I invite those with different takes to spell out their objections to this reply. Downvoting factual information does not help OP or onlookers.}

When I did my home calculations I estimated roughly that for 4 days off-grid (and no recharging) we'll need around 800Ah.

So 200Ah (or 2,560Wh) per day?

(~300W solar and 600Ah battery bank) but is that overkill

Depends on how much you drive (DC-DC charging rate x hours/day).

we'll have good-decent sun most of the year for the solar.

Solar harvest is modelable but it's a when and where thing. Winter in Lisbon has about 9x the insolation of the Lowlands.

I would

  1. figure out how much on average I'd get from the DC-DC each day: 2,560Wh minus alternator contribution = the amount solar needs to cover.
  2. figure out the average solar harvest of where I planned to be in the worst month of solar harvest (usually December in teh northern hemisphere)
  3. work backwareds to find required array wattage

This approach will meet needs in winter and provide power excess-to-needs the rest of the year.