Electricity in the bush

[Samaya]

I am starting to plan a different camping setup for myself (and the family) and I want to include electricity (220Vac) for the convenience of it. Run lights, run a small microwave, hot water for tea/coffee, fridge and the womens'es drying their hair... as examples. How many things I run will depend on the cost of the setup. So they might have to dry their hair by the heat of the fire

What do you use to get 220Vac, how much backup do you have and how do you charge your batteries again?

[Wave]

Why not keep as many items on 12v, gas or on the fire as possible?

Lights: There are many suppliers who have decent products that use 12v, I would not use 220v lights at camp.
Microwave: this will be a big power user, we never camp and need a microwave, when we had the caravan we NEVER used it, what do you need to cook in the micro? Nearly anything we use a micro for at home can be done on a fire or gas stove. We even heat up kids microwave meals on the gas stove if the dinner meal is taking too long.
Hot water: Boil a kettle on the fire or on a gas stove. A kettle will draw too much power from an inverter. Most kettles are 1800W and higher.
Fridge: If you're not camping with a 12v fridge already its an upgrade I highly suggest you look at, you can even look at used models on Facebook Marketplace etc.
Hair Dryer: I had this same issue, I have installed a 1500w Pure Sine Wave inverter in our trailer, but I will try get the Mrs to not use it, again, its thirsty on power, and you have to make sure you have decent sun on your solar panels to top the batteries up.

You can get a basic setup, solar panel, regulator, deep cycle battery in battery box, this will power any 12v items at camp and if you match your panel properly you will have power indefinitely. Are you running this setup in a trailer? if so, you can mount everything and then its always there ready to roll. Many people also forget, when you camp, you setup in the shade, this is not ideal for solar panels and can slow the charging of you battery.

[Paul#25]

Agree with all the info Geoff has given in the previous posts. All I'll add is that you get at least a 10m power cable for connecting your solar panels to the system. This will allow you to camp in the shade but put your solar panels in the sun. I have a a thin steel cable that I will use to lock the 2 panels to the caravan so they can't be liberated too easily.

[Rabbiddog RIP 7/6/21]

We only use 220v to charge Laptop's. All the rest is fire or 12v, Hair is a drip dry even though I have a 1500 inverter

[KurtG]

Samaya, won’t it be cheaper and easier to find a new wife?

[Wave]

Samaya, won’t it be cheaper and easier to find a new wife?

That will go for all of us Kurt...

[Estee]

Samaya, won’t it be cheaper and easier to find a new wife?

Easier? .....maybe, cheaper?................ maybe not

[Ricof4e]

Wave is spot on with his advice, so too Paul.

From a different perspective, camping isn't supposed to be a cumbersome and worrying experience. Don't complicate it. KISS-principle.

Your wife may not have all the amenities she is used to, but she will still wake up tomorrow morning and (hopefully ) love you.

[HenriSteyn]

My set up is as per Wave and Paul. I even bought a 12 v hair dryer for wifey which has never been used, I suppose as it does not have enough oomph for her liking. So drip dry bush look but I like it.
The inverter only gets deployed to charge the laptop and camera batteries.

[Saxj]

We only use 220v to charge Laptop's. All the rest is fire or 12v, Hair is a drip dry even though I have a 1500 inverter

But you don't have any hair

[NEW]

If the hairdryer and microwave are non-negotiable necessities maybe your swambo is just not cut out for camping without 220v? Not insulting her, just the way it is. I have friends whose swambo's (and thankfully also my own) will be willing to rough it on a bushcamp adventure. Others just won't.

A lot of places without 220v wil also not have running water. If you manage to spend the over R10K in order for you to have a microwave and a hardryer will then not also need a portable waterpump and geyser? For my swambo the biggest challenge is to take a "shower" with 5L of luke warm water. A welcome relief in the bush at noon for me but a nightmare for some who are used to showering until they turn pink. (EG my swambo)

[henris]

I have a 300w and a 2000w inverter. The 2000w inverter hasn't worked in 15yrs. The 300w inverter not in 7yrs.

Rig properly.

[Rabbiddog RIP 7/6/21]

We only use 220v to charge Laptop's. All the rest is fire or 12v, Hair is a drip dry even though I have a 1500 inverter

But you don't have any hair

You didn't mention SueAnne join's me on every trip and outing and drives as well

[Mad Manny]

The solution is:



Chalet...

[BushWacker]

The solution is:



Chalet...

... or a Nayela Okapi ...