Would going gas-free be a worthwhile conversion?

[PaulW2]

My van (6m PVC) is quite reliant on gas. Boiler, hob, 3-way fridge.

I will need to replace my 2x11 kg Gaslow bottles in about a year.

I have wondered (at this stage only idly) whether it would be worth thinking about switching to a diesel Truma heater, compressor fridge and induction hob.

The space that presently holds the gas bottles could then presumably be repurposed to hold a large battery bank which could be connected to my existing leisure lithium and B2B setup.

Is this something that others have done? Is it worth considering?

 

[jumar]

What a great thread...lots of forward thinking ideas...reducing gas, increasing Lithium and Solar and doing away with the need to hook up...the redundant gas locker idea MisterB came up with was something I viewed as a possibility...I took my gas cylinders out just a few months back and looked at this great storage void...which just so happens is adjacent to my lithium number one location....I didn't do this..and put in a lightweight refillable instead..
There are so many options available to those who want to MH differently..and not be tied to EHU... interesting stuff....anyone gone down the wind turbine route?

 

[MisterB]

What a great thread...lots of forward thinking ideas...reducing gas, increasing Lithium and Solar and doing away with the need to hook up...the redundant gas locker idea Mr B came up with was something I viewed as a possibility...I took my gas cylinders out just a few months back and looked at this great storage void...which just so happens is adjacent to my lithium number one location....I didn't do this..and put in a lightweight refillable instead..
There are so many options available to those who want to MH differently..and not be tied to EHU... interesting stuff....anyone gone down the wind turbine route?

Assuming it might be me, instead of the other MrB .... It was seeing photos of other motorhomes with an external locker full of electrics that got me thinking along those lines, so not really my idea. It would also free up space under the seats inside the motorhome as a bonus, as internal storage is often 'over subscribed'

 

[jumar]

Assuming it might be me, instead of the other MrB .... It was seeing photos of other motorhomes with an external locker full of electrics that got me thinking along those lines, so not really my idea. It would also free up space under the seats inside the motorhome as a bonus, as internal storage is often 'over subscribed'

Sorry...my mistake...I did mean you, not the other member... I've corrected it but I feel the damage has already been done, administration is not my strongest asset..

 

[L' Hobo]

Drifting slightly, if anyone had a home, or van, relying TOTALLY on electricity, what would you do near Heathrow at the moment?

Heathrow Airport closed for 24hrs and 16000 Homes without electricity because of ONE fire at an Electricity Sub Station!

Ridiculous!

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[Lenny HB]

anyone gone down the wind turbine route?

Total waste of time in a Motorhome, if look at the specs on them you will see they only really produce any amount of useable power in gale force winds.

Sounds like a good idea and you think I lose my solar power when the sun goes down but I have a wind turbine. In practice most of the year when the sun goes down the wind drops as well.

 

[MisterB]

Drifting slightly, if anyone had a home, or van, relying TOTALLY on electricity, what would you do near Heathrow at the moment?

Heathrow Airport closed for 24hrs and 16000 Homes without electricity because of ONE fire at an Electricity Sub Station!

Ridiculous!

We are all electric at home but have solar and batteries, so this time of year less of an issue, BUT we are lucky because we have an escape pod to evacuate into .... Others are not as lucky !!

 

[PaulW2]

Gaslow all three of them

Interesting, I didn’t know they made 13kg bottles. I’ve only seen the 11kg ones I’ve got and the smaller ones.

 

[jumar]

Total waste of time in a Motorhome, if look at the specs on them you will see they only really produce any amount of useable power in gale force winds.

Sounds like a good idea and you think I lose my solar power when the sun goes down but I have a wind turbine. In practice most of the year when the sun goes down the wind drops as well.

Just thought I would throw the idea into the ring....not that I would consider such ideas...having so much Solar on tap.

 

[L' Hobo]

Total waste of time in a Motorhome, if look at the specs on them you will see they only really produce any amount of useable power in gale force winds.

Sounds like a good idea and you think I lose my solar power when the sun goes down but I have a wind turbine. In practice most of the year when the sun goes down the wind drops as well.

If it was portable, anyone travelling every couple of days could stick it out the window?

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[MisterB]

Interesting, I didn’t know they made 13kg bottles. I’ve only seen the 11kg ones I’ve got and the smaller ones.

Maybe that's what I've got, I just assumed they were 13kg ....lol

 

[L' Hobo]

Just thought I would throw the idea into the ring....not that I would consider such ideas...having so much Solar on tap.

But it would come in handy during a British winter when there is less sun and more wind!

 

[jumar]

Maybe that's what I've got, I just assumed they were 13kg ....lol

Don't commit yourself, use 2 Big 1 small...

 

[MisterB]

If it was portable, anyone travelling every couple of days could stick it out the window?

We do exactly that with the usb fan, it then rotates backwards and charges itself. We also have a centrifugal sink mounted waste water generation system .....

 

[L' Hobo]

Interesting, I didn’t know they made 13kg bottles. I’ve only seen the 11kg ones I’ve got and the smaller ones.

I have got a 2 x 11kgs (one full and the other half full) that I can bring to the Swaffham Bash if anyones interested?

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[Minxy]

We do exactly that with the usb fan, it then rotates backwards and charges itself. We also have a centrifugal sink mounted waste water generation system .....

L' Hobo please tell me that your giving that post an 'informative' like doesn't mean you took it seriously!

 

[PaulW2]

I have got a 2 x 11kgs (one full and the other half full) that I can bring to the Swaffham Bash if anyones interested?

Thanks L'Hobo, that's kind.

I won't be there. I probably won't change immediately and don't need to do it right now.

(I only need to change mine in about a year, they're presently full, and between surgery in the next few weeks, imposed convalescence followed by planned travel thereafter the logistics of changing bottles at this stage may be a little tricky!)

 

[L' Hobo]

L' Hobo please tell me that your giving that post an 'informative' like doesn't mean you took it seriously!

It worked on the lift up windscreen on my Model T Ford using an old dynamo and a plane propeller, so why not?

As for the water waste thingy, I think that was added later.

 

[Abgs]

My ML-t has a Truama 6E Diesel Heater for heat and hot water and a compressor fridge. Gas is only used for the hob and for the not used as yet, oven.

Power wise - I have 320aA lithium, a 70A B2B but no solar as yet. The battery will last me three to four days if standing with out being too careful. Maybe the air-fryer one day, bit of electric kettle use, TV, heater pump, laptop charging etc.

Once the solar is set up I reckon with a few sunny days I should get it to about 10 days of standing self sufficiency. When driving I put about 15 - 20% charge back into the battery per hour.

I have one 5Kg Gasbank lightweight refillable bottle. On my last trip I used less than 20% of the bottle in 5 weeks so looks like the bottle will probably last me a year.

I pondered that in the future going all electric may be an option but then I realised I quite like cooking outdoors so I'd still need to carry some gas for the pizza oven and the Cadac hob.

 

[PaulW2]

My ML-t has a Truama 6E Diesel Heater for heat and hot water and a compressor fridge. Gas is only used for the hob and for the not used as yet, oven.

Power wise - I have 320aA lithium, a 70A B2B but no solar as yet. The battery will last me three to four days if standing with out being too careful. Maybe the air-fryer one day, bit of electric kettle use, TV, heater pump, laptop charging etc.

Once the solar is set up I reckon with a few sunny days I should get it to about 10 days of standing self sufficiency. When driving I put about 15 - 20% charge back into the battery per hour.

I have one 5Kg Gasbank lightweight refillable bottle. On my last trip I used less than 20% of the bottle in 5 weeks so looks like the bottle will probably last me a year.

I pondered that in the future going all electric may be an option but then I realised I quite like cooking outdoors so I'd still need to carry some gas for the pizza oven and the Cadac hob.

So, on one interpretation, as things stand you need solar because you have a compressor fridge?

If you had a 3 way fridge, and a slightly larger gas cylinder, you would already have much longer self-sufficiency.

It is interesting how some of the trade-offs pull in different directions.

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[Abgs]

So, on one interpretation, as things stand you need solar because you have a compressor fridge?

If you had a 3 way fridge, and a slightly larger gas cylinder, you would already have much longer self-sufficiency.

It is interesting how some of the trade-offs pull in different directions.

Yes, I guess that's one way of looking at it, but we rarely sit for more than three days at a time so our current set up works.

We could always plug in but we rarely use sites, or on those that we used in Morocco I'd rather not plug into a fluctuating electric supply in case of damage to my charging systems.

I've only ever plugged this van in for two nights, and that was only because it was included in the aire price. I thought it wise to use the electrical element in the heater just in case it deteriorated due to lack of use! In fact I'm not going to bother carrying an EHU lead with me over the summer and just see how it goes.

I deliberately didn't fit solar until I'd used this van. After about 60 nights and 8,000 miles in I can see our power usage patterns so solar and maybe more battery is the way to go for me.

Diesel heat and hot water is the game changer, and I really like not having to think about the gas supply all the time.

 

[Carpmart]

It’s a layered approach for me!

We are off grid (not plugged in) pretty much permanently unless it’s very bad and inclement weather. We tour Europe for nine months per annum.

We run everything now off battery 408Ah sometimes 513Ah depending if I have the small lithium in the bank or not, 600W of roof solar and 320W of decent (heavy) floor solar. 80A dc to dc charging. I’ve held off on Diesel heating but will install this over the summer.

So, apart from cooking and heating occasionally, we don’t now use gas, so the underslung large tank will last a loooong time between fills!

So, what can you run for two weeks completely off grid (Europe) with this setup off 408Ah of LifePO4 batteries, 1200w inverter (deliberately low)?

In random memory/no particular order:

• Air Fryer 900w
• Kettle 800w
• Microwave 1000w constant (2kw start)
• Starlink 35w continuous draw (off nights)
• 4K TV 80w draw
• Compressor fridge (580w per day)
• Hot water heater 200w whilst on <2hrs for 10l of 60C water heated from 18C ambient
• All the usual 12v motorhome stuff lighting, radio etc including charging all usual MH paraphernalia (multiple pads, laptop, two kindles, drone etc)
• Induction hob
• Ebike batteries
• Outside TV, bedroom TV
• Recharging 105A trolling battery (forms third battery in system too)
• Vape 18650 battery’s, 6 per day
• Bait boat lithium batteries

You need to be judicious with the use of the higher power drain components if the sun is poor for a few days, so plan usage around solar yield , but it’s very doable! Sometimes we can leave after two weeks and have very little lithium left, other times we can leave full, save for the power used the previous evening and night! DC DC sorts us out quickly!

We have an onboard generator if really stuck, but not used it for three years now!

 

[TheMobileWanderer]

It worked on the lift up windscreen on my Model T Ford using an old dynamo and a plane propeller, so why not?

As for the water waste thingy, I think that was added later.

I had in mind the little 'windmill' on a stick that kids use at the seaside. I'm sure there must be ways to use similar to generate even just a little extra energy. They spin like mad when sticking out the window of a moving car.

The other one; that's a waste disposal unit innit?

 

[L' Hobo]

I had in mind the little 'windmill' on a stick that kids use at the seaside. I'm sure there must be ways to use similar to generate even just a little extra energy. They spin like mad when sticking out the window of a moving car.

The other one; that's a waste disposal unit innit?

Let's be serious, I have always thought that, if one could enclosed a form of air turbine into one of those pipes that plumbers use on their roofracks for transporting their pipes etc. I have always thought, it might be possible to generate electricity while travelling, and to a lesser degree, while stationary.
All it would need is a cover on the container leading edge to regulate the amount of air entering.

I have never pursued this theory because, sadly, I know little about electricity!

 

[Carpmart]

Let's be serious, I have always thought that, if one could enclosed a form of air turbine into one of those pipes that plumbers use on their roofracks for transporting their pipes etc. I have always thought, it might be possible to generate electricity while travelling, and to a lesser degree, while stationary.
All it would need is a cover on the container leading edge to regulate the amount of air entering.

I have never pursued this theory because, sadly, I know little about electricity!

I’m not an aero dynamist either, but would the drag created not mean you’d be better off investing in another DC DC charger to create more power whilst driving?

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[L' Hobo]

I’m not an aero dynamist either, but would the drag created not mean you’d be better off investing in another DC DC charger to create more power whilst driving?

Probably, but from what I have read, one has to have a smart alternator for them to work to their full capacity, not everyone has one.
Secondly, if they were that much of a drag, would plumbers use them?
Thirdly, if you had a pitch on a windy site, during the daytime, you could top up your battery while stationary and close it down in the evening.

and finally, thinking about drag, if it's that important to avoid, why do we still have air going through a FLAT radiator?

With lithium power, they could streamline the front and use the extra electricity to power fan and drag air through the radiators elsewhere?

 

[TheMobileWanderer]

Let's be serious, I have always thought that, if one could enclosed a form of air turbine into one of those pipes that plumbers use on their roofracks for transporting their pipes etc. I have always thought, it might be possible to generate electricity while travelling, and to a lesser degree, while stationary.
All it would need is a cover on the container leading edge to regulate the amount of air entering.

I have never pursued this theory because, sadly, I know little about electricity!

I think 'ventura' is what your looking for
Wider at the front and narrower at the rear, like a jet engine, so air would enter at a speed, say 30mph and leave at 40mph (faster being the key point). As the air is driven out the rear, it could turn a turbine which could generate electricity or do some other geared function.

My items of inspiration were the utensil tin in the kitchen, wider at the bottom with a narrower neck, wind sock and one of those spinning things on the top of a tower.

Like you, I know little about electricity. More about receiving shocks, though not for years.

 

[Lenny HB]

Other way round with a Smart Alternator it's essential to have a B2B.

 

[BobJayne]

How about putting one of these Anker EverFrost 2's in place of the gas bottles and put a bank of lifepo4 inside the built in fridge enclosure?