Is it a waste of money and effort to get electricals if I only wanted them to power some dry heat in the few dry months?

[QPiepelr65]

I initially thought I could do without electrics at all. My main goal with getting into vanlife was to simplify my life and having started to buy some of the solar kit I started to think this is going backwards and thinking of scrapping it altogether.

Even so dry heat is a must at the moment which I desperately want. I guess the only non electric requiring option is a wood stove. It may be possible but that would be even more expensive than hooking up simple solar to power CDH or such so I suppose that makes it pointless, plus I wonder if it would even fit in my transit connect van. I looked a little ago and the wood stoves cost like £2000+.

My longer term goal is to buy land and so only plan to live in the van a couple of years to save up until something suitable comes along with the land.

I was thinking I am not bothered about power and using a torch to see what I am doing in the mornings but then the batteries ran out, again, and thought oh maybe that is a useful thing for some solar. It will only be dark early for a couple more months though so I could still do with just replacing batteries every week or so until things get light longer again.

I spent £160 for 2x 100w on solar panels and then bought a lifepo4 battery for £369 yesterday. The former 2 have been sent, I may send them back on change of mind unless people give me good reasons to keep.

For the battery, if I only intend to vanlife a couple of years so isnt that overkill for me? I eventually want to live like an amish cut off from the world and technology however to achieve that I see that I will still want internet to do research on my new lifestyle for a good while, which will require power of some kind, but I thought I could simply get a cheap smartphone for that which takes less power than a computer and probably charge from the van.

The battery isnt sent yet, and it is weekend, I am thinking should I just cancel that and, if still going with some sort of power, get a cheaper non lifepo4 one since the main draw of the lifepo4s is longevity which isnt really an issue for me given the shortish time I am planning on vanlifing exclusively. I could always get one later down the line if plans change.

I am using my mums power right now but would like to be self-sufficient in my van. I am just wondering if electrics are something I can skip or if I should get a very tiny solar setup to charge little things like heater and batteries for lights, phone and such.

I just dont want to overspend on stuff that is redundant as saving money for land is my long term goal.

 

[Dellmassive]

got some pics of your van and current setup?

 

[jimc91]

Sounds to me for your life style a decent solar set up is perfect, if you can afford the battery I would get it, you can always sell it on. Living in a van is different to camping in one and winter can be miserable without reliable heat and light, good luck with the search

 

[QPiepelr65]

you can always sell it on.

Due to their depreciation of efficacy from continued use I thought that the same would go for the price giving them very little resale value. How would a potential buyer know if they were getting an almost duff battery or not?

 

[DXX]

I eventually want to live like an amish cut off from the world and technology

Amish don’t use Forums, they follow their beliefs regardless of outside influences.

 

[sparkzer]

It sounds like you are fighting with yourself with regard to the proposed lifestyle, simultaneously wanting technology whilst not wanting it.

Perhaps for the time being build the best van you can with all the technology you need to have a comfortable life, then once you buy the land, you can sell the van with all the goodies in it and buy yourself a horse?

 

[whodat]

Seems to be a bit of 'wanting' to rough it vs what would make your life a bit easier.
Free electricity - if nothing else, a solar panel, leisure battery, AA battery charger and some Eneloops and you won't have to run out of torchlight - at the very least.
Hope you saw it through this miserable winter and figured out what is best for you though.

 

[QPiepelr65]

Seems to be a bit of 'wanting' to rough it vs what would make your life a bit easier.
Free electricity - if nothing else, a solar panel, leisure battery, AA battery charger and some Eneloops and you won't have to run out of torchlight - at the very least.
Hope you saw it through this miserable winter and figured out what is best for you though.

Yes, thanks. Besides a few weeks in the heart of december, where I had to ration it but still didn't run out, the electrics have been providing me far more than enough. I can just tighten my belt for a few weeks again when the nights get super short and only use for cooking and heating and entertain myself in other ways until the nights get longer again.

I am amazed how much I am getting from just 200w of panels. Only regular use item, aside from cooker, is laptop which seems to barely use any juice. Phone would charge once in a blue moon as I use internet for most communication and this phone seems to last months without requiring a recharge as I only turn it on to make the occasional call or text - unlike others I have had which would discharge within a couple of weeks even if switched off.

I am on 100% charge nearly all the time. Kind of feels wasteful and have been wondering how I could put all this excess to good use during these longer days. Not really bothered about getting a cooler as work my eating habits around cooking for one day and cook each morning for the day.

I would want something useful not just some gadgetry for its own sake.

 

[whodat]

Glad you made it through without getting too wet.

I did the same many many years ago but no vehicle/electric and it was a, shall we say, a character building experience. Now my character has been built in the shape of a warped, frostbitten and miserable old b*****d.