Campsites without EHU and no leisure battery

[Macp]

Afternoon folks

Swmbo and I are trying to plan 3 or 4 days away, but most of the available campsites have no EHU. My van has no leisure battery currently. We only have the vans 12v electrics and a small Bluetti AC50B power station. We also have a 35L 12/240v fridge and at a guess the powerstation would run it for about a day. I guess the answer is threefold 1) get a leisure battery installed 2) get a larger powerstation 3) get a solar panel.

Trouble is whilst signed off and no certainty that my employer will continue to keep me on full pay, money is a wee bit of a concern.

Not sure why im writing this as I guess the answer is simply book somewhere with EHU and stop being so stoopid.

 

[drinfinity]

Lots of freezer blocks for the fridge, and freeze what you can in advance. I remember camping for a few days in Eric’s Barn in Tremadoc, and we had just a cool box with freezer blocks, and we had some stuff at the end that still needed to be defrosted.

 

[DXX]

Shop daily, that’s what people did before fridges.

 

[Frigo110]

Shop daily, that’s what people did before fridges.

Yeah, bring your cow and plant some potatoes...

 

[FWhite]

Yeah, bring your cow and plant some potatoes...

I understand your point, your nickname (translated to Italian ) says it all.
Sorry I couldn't resist.

 

[manfrotto]

I assume you can take your little Bluetti into the kitchen area of the campground and charge it up. They are very quick to recharge.
I also carry a jumpstarter just in case I accidentally run the start batter flat.

 

[Frigo110]

I understand your point, your nickname (translated to Italian ) says it all.
Sorry I couldn't resist.

I just couldn´t imagine going shopping 5x a day for a cold water bottle or a beer/wine.
Get fresh bacon and sausages every morning...

Even during our student and tent times years ago we always had a fridge with us.

 

[PhillH]

If you are struggling for site availability with EHI, have a look at joining the caravan and motorhome club. You can browse the app and there is a lot of availability. You can stay one night and move on if you wanted

 

[Qnapper]

As DXX states buy food each day or eat out. Take the small Bluetti AC50B to the wash areas and plug it in to charge (we see loads of folk across EU doing this now and they sit outside smoking or reading until charged). Its doable as most of the time you will be out and about and only sleeping in van. Go for it.

 

[John A]

Shop daily, that’s what people did before fridges.

Impractical if you are in a rural location and you've set your van up for the duration (awning, etc), and driving it would mean packing up each time.

I hate camping. I do it when I go to the three or four festivals I attend each year. I had an Igloo cooler and have replaced it with a Ninja Frostvault as it has a dry drawer. It'll happily keep the contents fridge cold for a good 3-4 days.
I have thought about buying a compressor fridge, just because it would stop the stuff you want to keep dry swimming in meltwater, but my use doesn't justify it. The compressor fridges a bit more efficient than coolers that run constantly and the freezer versions would keep a couple of kilos of ice on standby for gin and tonics.
With a decent capacity power station (1000+ Wh) and a solar panel, you would have no trouble keeping that running, but you are looking at a grand by the time you've bought the fridge, power pack and the solar.

 

[Howzat]

portable solar panel but you wouldn't have got much out of it this week.

 

[Macp]

Amazing responses folks thankyou all. I may take a solar panel along as backup, and take the brilliant advice you all gave. Doing some research a 200w panel is about £150 think I got some stuff I can flog

 

[DXX]

Many campsites have communal fridges / freezers if you need to keep the Pellegrinio chilled!
Water out of tap with a buried supply is pretty good too.

 

[sam_glasgow]

Impractical if you are in a rural location and you've set your van up for the duration (awning, etc), and driving it would mean packing up each time.

I hate camping. I do it when I go to the three or four festivals I attend each year. I had an Igloo cooler and have replaced it with a Ninja Frostvault as it has a dry drawer. It'll happily keep the contents fridge cold for a good 3-4 days.
I have thought about buying a compressor fridge, just because it would stop the stuff you want to keep dry swimming in meltwater, but my use doesn't justify it. The compressor fridges a bit more efficient than coolers that run constantly and the freezer versions would keep a couple of kilos of ice on standby for gin and tonics.
With a decent capacity power station (1000+ Wh) and a solar panel, you would have no trouble keeping that running, but you are looking at a grand by the time you've bought the fridge, power pack and the solar.

this - get a cooler box. I think you can get ones with an internal battery and use that for your long term storage for meats etc. use UHT milk. keep it in your fridge and just turn it off, its still cold and insulated. could add a few ice packs in there too. could probably stretch you to 2 days or more, so if you can charge your power bank and or cooler once youre golden. or visit a shop and buy a bunch of ice to top up the cooler.

i use one of these for traditional camping and its fine for 2 nights https://www.costco.co.uk/Sports-Spa...6ixW3_a2fv7OHj7QFsTAbH3-n29zv_PAi_9ZA5uc4ooxJ

 

[Macp]

Cheers @sam_glasgow excellent advice.

 

[darkman884]

As per post @1
Complete all 3 of your suggestions,,
Or try and free load , with no electric/battery/solar/ or hook up .
GLWT
And do t forget,,,,
ENJOY the respite from the work ,,, take the the time off off to relax and enjoy

 

[Snoopi-y-Fan]

I agree with @sam_glasgow, cool boxes are vastly overlooked. We have one that uses a 12v fan and lump of finned aluminium that acts like a heat sink. Three ice blocks and careful use will last a couple of days.

I adjust our diet whilst away, and eat and drink things that don't need chilling quite so critically. We drink black coffee, eat hard cheese, tinned and packet food etc etc.

It does help that I don't like cold beer and can drown myself in red wine quite successfully.

For us, the great outdoors isn't about fridges and battery packs. Homelife and vanlife have very different qualities and they should remain very distinct.

 

[Macp]

I agree with @sam_glasgow,

For us, the great outdoors isn't about fridges and battery packs. Homelife and vanlife have very different qualities and they should remain very distinct.

Now that is very true and I genuinely appreciate the reminder.

 

[doncarlyon]

Amazing responses folks thankyou all. I may take a solar panel along as backup, and take the brilliant advice you all gave. Doing some research a 200w panel is about £150 think I got some stuff I can flog

That money would be better used towards a better power station or leisure battery.

 

[Macp]

That money would be better used towards a better power station or leisure battery.

Too late

Panel just got delivered.