The Auxiliary 12V battery is the ‘secondary heart’ of the motorhome for those accessories that need to operate when mains power is not available.
It can be a real issue if this battery starts to lose its charge!
If campsites aren’t for you then you will not have regular access to electricity. This is where some simple travel tips will come in handy and will make the difference in you being left stranded somewhere!
It’s easy to just start your engine and idle it for a while to build up charge but there’s better ways to extend your battery life.
Here are some great tips on how to conserve its charge;
- Turn the water pump off when it’s not in use so it doesn’t auto cycle through the night
- Reduce the amount of LED lights required of a night-time
- While soaping up in the shower turn the water off when not needed and back on to rinse.
- Instead of always activating the toilet pump – use the contents of pre-filled plastic water bottles to pour around the toilet for the rinse cycle.
- Enjoy the campfire and grill as much as possible.
- Make sure you unplug mobile phone and laptop charges when full. An empty cord will still draw power if plugged into an outlet.
- Try and manage heat and cool temperature the old fashioned way! Open windows for cross ventilation, utilize shade from trees etc.
- Wake up to the big outdoors! Boil the water outside for your morning cuppa!
So what really draws the most power? What are you using that will gobble up all those watts?
- Blender- 500 watts
- Coffee machine – 1000 watts
- Refrigerator 8 cu.ft.- 600 watts for the whole day
- Toaster – 850 watts
- Box fan – 200 watts
- TV – 150 watts
- Video game console – 150 watts
- Laptop – 100 watts
- Smart phone – 6 watts
- Curling Iron – 150 watts
- Electric shaver – 15 watts
- Hairdryer – 1500 watts
- Small electric heater – 1,000 watts
