Generator to supply power to static caravan?

[Ejfraz]

Hi all,

 

we will be shortly moving into a static caravan with 3 kids and a dog. Going to be an adventure or a nightmare. 
 

we are waiting for sse to hook us up to power which could take some time. 
 

In the meantime what is the best option for powering the caravan? Would a silent generator be the answer. If so, what type requirements for a generator should I be looking at?

 

many thanks 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Ejfraz

[nod]

I hired a 10 Kva silent generator for a wedding weekend Pricy But very quiet 

Ran all weekend without refueling 

Have you considered Buying a normal generator and building soundproofing around it We have been using a shed with a Scaf poll for an exhaust 

[SteamyTea]

If you are going to self install (rather than an MCS installation) PV and batteries on your house, then you could buy some of the kit early and use it to wire the the van up.

Or just a couple of Honda generators and a leisure battery/small inverter for lighting/fridge/radio.

 

How are you going to do space heating and DHW?

[Bozza]

Petrol generators can be quite expensive to run , as I found during storm Erwin etc.  Have a look at LPG generators which are cheaper to run as long as you are closish to a petrol station that supplies LPG.  Look at an invertor generator for your electronics. 

 

When building your house get your sparky to wire up a changeover switch, and appropriate hook up so you can use the genny as a back up. didn’t do this, regret it, and will have to do so retrospectively at increase cost.  It’s a great insurance policy.  Ideally have an accessible undercover, but not enclosed,  location for the genny away from the house.  An external bin store that can become a genny shed is an option.

 

I have a cheap genny from toolstation it’s fine and has been a lifesaver but it is noisy

 https://www.toolstation.com/draper-28kw-open-frame-inverter-generator/p54979.

 

Google searches will help you identify the appropriate sized genny for your needs.  you ought not to need a huge generator for the caravan,  heating is the biggest consumer., obviously.

 

LED lights, telly, etc consumer very little.

Static home with family on home build site in Inverness?  During the winter ? Good luck !

 

 

[Ejfraz]

2 hours ago, Bozza said:

Petrol generators can be quite expensive to run , as I found during storm Erwin etc.  Have a look at LPG generators which are cheaper to run as long as you are closish to a petrol station that supplies LPG.  Look at an invertor generator for your electronics. 

 

When building your house get your sparky to wire up a changeover switch, and appropriate hook up so you can use the genny as a back up. didn’t do this, regret it, and will have to do so retrospectively at increase cost.  It’s a great insurance policy.  Ideally have an accessible undercover, but not enclosed,  location for the genny away from the house.  An external bin store that can become a genny shed is an option.

 

I have a cheap genny from toolstation it’s fine and has been a lifesaver but it is noisy

 https://www.toolstation.com/draper-28kw-open-frame-inverter-generator/p54979.

 

Google searches will help you identify the appropriate sized genny for your needs.  you ought not to need a huge generator for the caravan,  heating is the biggest consumer., obviously.

 

LED lights, telly, etc consumer very little.

Static home with family on home build site in Inverness?  During the winter ? Good luck !

 

 

Thanks for all the info. Luckily heating and cooker are both gas. Hopefully it won’t take too long for services to be connected. my parents live a mile away so there’s always a warm bed there as a last resort - a bit of a squeeze with all the kids!
 

How many hours a day did you run generator? We’d be looking at 4pm - until bedtime? And then a couple hours in the morning. 
 

can we connect to a battery overnight? For turning on lights if needed?

 

Completely clueless - but learning something new everyday!
 

 

[Bozza]

40 minutes ago, Ejfraz said:

Thanks for all the info. Luckily heating and cooker are both gas. Hopefully it won’t take too long for services to be connected. my parents live a mile away so there’s always a warm bed there as a last resort - a bit of a squeeze with all the kids!
 

How many hours a day did you run generator? We’d be looking at 4pm - until bedtime? And then a couple hours in the morning. 
 

can we connect to a battery overnight? For turning on lights if needed?

 

Completely clueless - but learning something new everyday!
 

 

Ok so if you’re talking about just lighting, TV, Charging mobiles, fridge freezer,internet that kind of stuff the likes of that generator I have is ample for example.  We did that plus a plus a plug in electric heater for the house and it would run for maybes 5 hours between being refuelled with petrol.

 

Generators with invertor technology basically regulates the electricity supply so electronics cannot be damaged.  Yes you could plug is and recharge a large battery storage back device to the generator the likes of what you can get on Amazon, then use that to power plug in lights etc for during the night assuming it’s one with a three pin socket.  They are quite pricey many £hundreds but handy thing right have if you’re in the country.
 

so basically you run a cable between the generator and your caravan it will have a hook up socket.  When the generator is on it gives your caravan power.  You can plug a battery storage device into the caravan sockets to inside to charge it (or directly into the generator)  Then at night turn off the generator and plug in lamps into the battery storage device which is obviously silent.  You’d need to make sure that your plug in lamps are LED.   How many hours of usage will depend on the storage capacity of the battery storage device and how many lights you run, but LEDS consume incredibly little electricity.   There are online calculators to work that stuff out for you.

 

If thinking about turning off generator at night remember the fridge and freezer.  A freezer will keep food frozen for about 5 hours without power.  But with nearby family……that may not be needed.    Our mains electricity has been off for a total of about 10 days in last year due to storms etc.    Living with a generator is a PITA but we did survive it’s just a case of getting into a routine with filling up the genny, runs to petrol stations etc.    For us that routine will be easier when we have our generator system integrated into the house mains supply as opposed to running extensions around the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Iceverge]

I'm waiting for a pure sine wave inverter to arrive from Amazon as a backup for the house via a changeover switch. 

 

Wired to my car alternator of 150A it should be able to power the lights, TV, fridge, borehole pump without too much trouble. 

 

I tried did try previously with a cheap modified sine wave inverter but it didn't play ball with the LED light bulbs, induction hob (ok that was pushing it) and the electric fence energiser. 

 

It worked perfectly for any electronics's with a built in adapter/rectifier (TV laptop) and any dumb appliances like incandescent lightbulbs. It even had a good attempt at the 2kw kettle although when I tried this it must have really "squared" off the sine wave because all the LED bulbs went haywire. 

 

@markocosic came up with the idea here if you want to read more. https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/24440-back-up-generator-advice/?do=findComment&comment=375675

 

I will report back in the next week or so hopefully. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SteamyTea]

33 minutes ago, Iceverge said:

I'm waiting for a pure sine wave inverter to arrive

Please report back on how it goes.  I would quite like to run one ring on my induction hob and the grill on my oven at 15pkWh (plus conversation inefficiencies) rather than the over 56p/kWh (or whatever it is now) on the day rate.

Be a bit of fun to do as well.

Should be possible with my energy profile.  11, 12 and 12 are the lunch time hours.

Edited January 15, 2023 by SteamyTea

[Iceverge]

Reporting back. 

 

I wired up the inverter today to the tractor. Nothing . Tried the car too but the same story. 

 

It wouldn't power a 40w soldering iron via the 230v AC outlet. It did make one brief flash of a worklamp when I plugged it in on one try.  The 5A USB outlet was working fine. The input voltage was a constant 14.4V. 

 

I think it's bust so it's heading back to Amazon. Annoying for €300+ 

 

With a billion 5* reviews I assumed it would at least operate for a while. Reading the 1* reviews it doesn't appear to be an isolated problem. I am often suspicious of the Amazon reviews system, now even moreso. 

 

 

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, Iceverge said:

It wouldn't power a 40w soldering iron via the 230v AC outlet. It did make one brief flash of a worklamp when I plugged it in on one try.  The 5A USB outlet was working fine. The input voltage was a constant 14.4V. 

Some of these inverters have a minimum load, wired in one that would shut down unless it was greater than 200W.

Try a heavy load on it.