Gas or no gas

[MCB6148]

Hi I have owned a Fiat Ducato dethleffs for a year, never motorhomed before, it has a gas oven, grill and 4 ring hob the thing is we don't like gas so are planning on removing the unit that houses it , the fridge has been removed and replaced with a cooler by previous owner and looks a bit rough, we plan on replacing the unit and fitting a under counter fridge freezer, using an induction ring that can be put away and a halogen oven allso removing gas boiler and replacing it with an electric shower , so saving weight, no gas inside home , we have a good sized genarator and two good solor panels, what do you think .

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Generators are frowned upon on here.

 

[Carolyn and Kev]

Welcome to the forum

Regards Carolyn

 

[meanders]

You would need a significant sized lithium battery installation together with a large inverter unless you only ever intend to be on sites with electric hookup. Can be done and there are plenty of lithium and inverter threads on here. A 'Silent' generator such as the Honda's still create more noise than some people find acceptable, so it's not just on here they are frowned upon. Some sites do not allow their use at all, and many rallies restrict the time and duration they can be run for. Almost any none Honda will be fair too noisy for most other campers who are away for peace and quiet.

 

[Madcaravanner]

Are you planning on touring in winter and what battery bank are you using from what you have described if you don't have external power you will need a big Lithium set up

Generators are generally frowned upon on this side of the pond the American RV's do have them built it , but you will find lots of sites say no generators

you say you don't like gas that's your option but you need to work out what power you will be drawing and how much you have available - 16amp hook up is the most you ever get and if you tour Europe you could have as little as 6amp


Good luck I hope things work out

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[meanders]

Just thinking about it, an electric shower is typically 7kW. That's way more than a 16a hookup can supply as it's the order of 30a at 230v. Some sites only have 10a or even 6a hookup. On the latter you can't even use a domestic electric kettle or toaster.

If you ran the shower off an inverter, it would need to be rated at least 7kW which is a lot of power. If my maths is right you would be drawing about 600a from your battery bank which needs seriously large cabling.

The weight of batteries, inverter and cabling alone would I suspect exceed your available payload.

 

[MCB6148]

Hi I have 3 leisure batteries, two big solor panels and a generator and don't plan on using sites, so if I kept the gas for the shower and used the generator for the fridge freezer would that work or should I just go for a fridge without a freezer. The home will be in Spain for most of the time , thanks for the input.

 

[meanders]

You can run a compressor fridge freezer from an inverter. It also depends on what type your three batteries are. Still think you will likely need to upgrade to lithium.

 

[PaulW2]

Hi I have owned a Fiat Ducato dethleffs for a year, never motorhomed before, it has a gas oven, grill and 4 ring hob the thing is we don't like gas so are planning on removing the unit that houses it , the fridge has been removed and replaced with a cooler by previous owner and looks a bit rough, we plan on replacing the unit and fitting a under counter fridge freezer, using an induction ring that can be put away and a halogen oven allso removing gas boiler and replacing it with an electric shower , so saving weight, no gas inside home , we have a good sized genarator and two good solor panels, what do you think .

Have you thought about having a diesel heater instead of a gas one? That way you could keep your plumbing and shower setup and also have habitation heating.

 

[MCB6148]

Hi I have a diesel heater so it is just the fridge to think about, won't the generator run the fridge freezer.

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[PaulW2]

Hi I have a diesel heater so it is just the fridge to think about, won't the generator run the fridge freezer.

No, wouldn't suggest that. You can have a 12v compressor fridge (many vans do) which will run off your habitation battery.

 

[meanders]

It means you will have to run the genny continuously to keep the fridge cold. PaulW2 is giving good advice.

 

[MCB6148]

Hi this is all good advice, so fridge or fridge freezer and wouldn't I have to charge the batteries all the time .

 

[PaulW2]

With your 2 solar panels and three leisure batteries you should be good for quite a while, and just drive or hook up to mains when needed.

 

[MCB6148]

In my van I have hook up and a 240v plug and cable wired into the hook up system, wasn't sure how this worked until I got a full Hab check.

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[MisterB]

As you haven't yet told anyone what type or size of batteries, everyone is trying to advise you on what they think you have, it would be easier if people knew. Also do you have a budget to spend, again so people know what to advise you on.

There are some diesel combi type heaters that will also heat hot water, so need for the electric shower, which as has been pointed out, will take a fair whack out of your batteries.

Also if you're going to be continually driving every couple of days, then a decent B2B is going to be worth the expense.

How you use your van will often dictate what you need to purchase/install. If you go to the shops every day and plan meals, eat fresh, you might not even need a fridge, a cool box might suffice ..... So it's a bit like you asking how long is this piece of string that you're holding ....

I suppose in short, there are no simple answers, just lots Funsters trying to provide you with one or two of them