Anti-12 volters

[Modstock]

How many anti-12 volters do we have here ?
In my early years of camping ive always wanted to add a battery and lights, charging ports, ect like most people but never got around to it.
These last few years ive learned its really not nessesary.
I did add some small LED touch lights that take 3 aaa batteries and those have lasted about 3 seasons going on a 4th.
Now we add up the pro's vs cons of this and the cons outweigh the pros.
1.) Battery adds more weight
2.) The cost of batteries has gone up
3.) The maintenance
4.) Additions like solar. More $$$
Cant seem to justify it all.

Once I needed to charge my camera batteries cause I forgot before a trip, also forgot the charger for that.
Guess i'll need to get an inverter for the jeep when thats needed.

Pros.
1.) Having a battery available to jump start the vehicle would be nice but jumper boxes are getting smaller these days.




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[TimC]

I'm not anti at all but I did contemplate doing the battery/rechargeable route prior to building. It would have simplified alot. I didn't know about the "solar generator" units back then and it would have probably been fine ($$$$) for a 12v fridge.

Lights, fans, charging packs for electronics... they can all be powered via portable batteries.

But I've found the hardwiring and battery bank install fun and challenging. I've gone full on with the "light side" now.

[John61CT]

I'm a 24V fan myself, and probably moving to 48V.

The House bank alone is worth more than the truck, and gets used for the sailboat and off grid homes as well.

I make sure to buy the truck to suit my needs

rather than trying to live within the limits of the truck.

I make my living on the internet, and my galley alone consumes 100+ Ah per day

so really, best generalisation is, to each their own, every use case is different.

[MtnDon]

As John said, it is a personal choice. No right or wrong.

Some people sleep in tents. I don't like to anymore.

[DrewsBrews]

Don't have to ditch 12v, can just ditch the battery at powered sites...

Technically I just want my trailer to be a tent replacement.. in order to minimize setup/breakdown and have much more comfortable sleep. I really dislike the idea of maintaining a battery, so I could see myself going basic to speed up the build. Though I'm not afraid of a little wiring, and a few built-ins go a long way for comfort. A teardrop doesn't need much anyway (I know that can be used for both sides of the argument). I plan to use the trailer at powered campgrounds so Ill be using a laptop computer style power supply wired to a small fuse block for the led lighting and fans. If I find I want a battery later I can just move the wiring over.

[tony.latham]

'Lectricity ain't for everyone.





Tony

[saltydawg]

Sorry I like my 12 volts, it does things like the radio, the water pump, the water heater for hot showers, the fans so I dont over sweat all night and I can charge my phone.

Plus I can stream my chrome book to the radio and watch movies with much better sound.

Yes it is my portable home.

[saywhatthat]

with the advancement in chargeable batteries I can see going 50/50 because I can never give up my fan. are water pump as far as the rest .Portable lights would be great as far wiring Charging my phone I can do it in my tow vehicle.

[twisted lines]

I fit today; had N0 volts in my dump trailer

[Tom&Shelly]

How many anti-12 volters do we have here ?
In my early years of camping ive always wanted to add a battery and lights, charging ports, ect like most people but never got around to it.
These last few years ive learned its really not nessesary.
I did add some small LED touch lights that take 3 aaa batteries and those have lasted about 3 seasons going on a 4th.
Now we add up the pro's vs cons of this and the cons outweigh the pros.
1.) Battery adds more weight
2.) The cost of batteries has gone up
3.) The maintenance
4.) Additions like solar. More $$$
Cant seem to justify it all.

Once I needed to charge my camera batteries cause I forgot before a trip, also forgot the charger for that.
Guess i'll need to get an inverter for the jeep when thats needed.

Pros.
1.) Having a battery available to jump start the vehicle would be nice but jumper boxes are getting smaller these days.




Sent from my SM-A115AP using Tapatalk

We started (as a pair of tent campers) thinking we could just use flashlights, or stick-on "hockey puck lights", and I think we would have been fine. But, I'm also an electrical engineer and hobbyist and...hydro-electric dam it all, designing and building a 12 volt system looked like fun!

Then Mom said, "if you're going to build a camper, you should come back East and see me!", which means driving through the midwest in Summer (see the grey states), which means air conditioning, which means shore power, so I re-designed the tear for that too. It was a classic case of "mission creep"!

Anyway, I'm happy we have what we have. This past week, we were staying at campsites without shore power in New England, and I don't know what we would have done without our overhead fan. (It was rainy, warm, and humid during the nights, even at what constitutes higher elevations in those parts.) On the other hand, I agree with all of your points!

Tom

[Squigie]

Summer trips, with no chance of needing the furnace to keep the wife happy, might have the battery left at home*. Flashlights and lanterns get the job done.
But fall and winter trips always have the battery onboard to run the furnace. If it is just me, the thermostat is set to just keep things from freezing. But if the wife is with me, that battery is only good for about 2 nights, even with the solar tender on it ... because she'll set the thermostat to 65+ F.
*(But propane always goes, for cooking.)

The trailer battery is never used to charge electronics. It is there for the furnace, and almost nothing more.
Phones, cameras, tablets, etc. get charged with the vehicle. And, though I try not to use it, I do have an inverter in the truck for the rare 110v device. (One of my cameras needs 110v, as do the laptops - if, for some reason, we had to take one.)

On the subject of weight, I do sometimes make what some people would view as a strange decision:
Ditch the spare tire.
If I am within a couple hours of home, or will be even closer to an easy point of repair or replacement, and weight is a notable issue, having the spare trailer tire on hand is not critical.

We all have our own ideas of what is important and what is not; and some of us adjust/adapt that for each trip, while others keep the trailer in the same configuration at all times.
Different strokes.

[Shadow Catcher]

12V (solar) powers most of the goodies that are an upgrade from the tent (did that for 55+ years). Chargers for camera, cell, cell booster, laptop, XM radio, TV/DVD, fans, Dometic refigerator...

[Cosmo]

Great topic. I love 12V. These days unless you have an electric refrigerator or Propex heater etc electric can be handled a lot of different ways .
Obviously if you don’t use lots of electric gear its not important. Jackery or other types of power boxes can fill most gaps. Of course Those batteries usually have 12V output too.
The primary advantage of 12V is since cars use 12V almost everything I could possibly want to run will run on 12 volt. Fan, Blender, TV, Radio massage gun etc you name it and its probably available for 12V.

=Cosmo

[GTS225]

SHOOT! Even my CPAP runs on the 12vdc output from the 120VAC-12VDC power converter.

12 volts is a viable power source for a small camper, especially if one expects to be in remote situations.

Roger

[MickinOz]

If I were to describe myself as anti anything, it would be anti shore power.
Not rabidly opposed but, whereas I wouldn't be without my 12v supply in my trailer, I don't think I miss 240V one bit.

The 12V powers my TV/DVD, our phone chargers, a small fan and a few lights.
The light situation is a matter of convenience to me.
I do have a flashlight in the trailer, but I kinda like having lights mounted where they do the most good and work at the flick of a switch.

Part of the issue is the whole legality side.
In Oz, shore power systems have to be installed and certified by qualified and licensed people.
I don't know myself if they ever do, but I've been told by more than one RV'er that park management can ask to see the compliance certificate before they allow you to plug in.
240V electricity (actually 230V now) has the advantage of needing only half the amps to supply the same power as 110V, but it sure has the ability to boot you into the middle of next year, so that migt have a bearing on things.