12 volt appliances ??

[2bits]

SoCal Tom nailed the subjective topic here. You may want to back up the bus and ask yourself will you ever really need 12v at all? I made all these grand boondock plans on my teadrops and ended up using a power strip hooked up to the state park campsite. I don't know where you are but you might want to realistically consider where you will be camping before investing in stuff you'll never need.

[rustytoolss]

Well part of the reason I want to install a 12 volt system is, If at sometime I want to sell the trailer. It will appeal to more people. , And having 12 volts , may come in handy.

[kudzu]

We've now been in campgrounds twice when the power went out. We could have managed without 12v but it sure was handy to have & helped keep us more comfortable until we had 120v again. Of course, we spent many years camping without using any electricity other than batteries for flashlights & a little radio. Neither 120v nor 12v are necessary for camping, but I'm not in a big hurry to go back to that style of camping.

[rustytoolss]

Modern Primitive camping= electricity (of some type 120v,12v,battery cells AA/C/D, Solar, hamster wheel ???) Cell phone/smart phone, pizza delivery, TV to watch the game, port a potty nearby, AC incase it's hot inside your camper, Cold Adult beverages , and a camp fire under the stars, with friends /family...now that's roughing it....aaaaaahhhhh, peace and quiet

[booyah]

So we may be odd, but its nice to park down the end of dead end dirt road out in national forest or state land, by a river and just camp. Right there. You'll never get me to give up my 12v system. I love my tent camping for the same reason, but the TD sure is more comfy

[tony.latham]

A few good reasons to have a 12 volt system:















I can't imagine being limited to campgrounds with 120 volts. There's a piece of the pie for us all but when you live and camp in the west, camp spots with current bushes, are few and far between.

Tony

[kudzu]

Tony & booyah, that's why I added solar! Though most of my camping is done in the SE at US ACE campgrounds so we end up with electric hook-ups, whether we need it or not. However, when in nat'l forest sites, we usually forgo the electric in favor of more scenic sites. And the 12v is very handy on our trips out West. We do primarily use established campgrounds, but most have no hook ups. We may not be as adventurous as some others, but having 12v to power the furnace fan helped us enjoy 36 hours of sub-freezing temps at Chisos Basin in Big Bend and a multiple days of over night freezing temps near & in Yellowstone. This Southern gal was thrilled to get a couple days of snow in Yellowstone. Bison in the snow, live & in person. Super cool, in all senses of the word.

My pictures aren't as scenic as yours, Tony, but here's one from Chisos Basin. You might be able to see a little hoarfrost left that afternoon, despite it being in the 60's at lower elevation. My little camper has greatly improved the quality of our vacations!!

[Rhino Ray]

Most converters installed in your 12v systems will charge your battery when connected to shore power and convert the 110v to 12v at the same time. So when you are connected to shore power you are not using power from your battery, just converted power. There is no real need for an inverter as all your appliances can be 12v thus illuminating the need for 110v. You can even get 12v hair dryers

[Socal Tom]

Personally, I think a 12V system is worth having. Even if its a small battery that just powers lights and charges the phone. However, fancy 12V appliances aren't worth spending extra on unless you are going to be off the grid a lot. Even then, things that draw a lot of power like coffee makers, Air conditioners are better left at 120v. Either camp at a park with power, or get a generator that can pull it. The 12V system that can pull an AC unit would be really spendy, and a coffee maker or 12V heater would put a real strain on the battery.
Tom