Heaters? Solar panels?

[Deactivated user]

Anyone tried one of the 12v fan heaters that plug into the cig lighter?

Or for winter use do you just make sure you have hook up and use an oil filled radiator or fan heater?

Or do you just switch on the cooker for a few minutes?

If you have a leisure battery how can you use a heater with it?

A small fold-up solar panel would re-charge the leisure battery, yes?

Think I need an 'L' plate

[satchmo_shaz]

hi, I tried the 12 v heater and it was useless, I use hook up in winter and have a tiny oil filled radiator and siver sreens too. I also have a gas heater that clips on the cooker but wouldnt leave it on for long

[Yamaha]

I'm afraid that you must treat a leisure battery as a means of powering lights, and maybe to charge phones, laptops, etc - they will not power any type of heater - this would flatten and damage them.

As for solar panels - yes, they WILL recharge, to a certain extent, a leisure battery - but you really need to be committed to spending a fair bit on getting a decent one - I think you'd be disappointed with the performance of these cheap ones.

Mike

[andyvan]

12 volt heaters.....

Yes I tried one of these heaters plugged into the cigarette lighter in my previous Reimo........ I concur mine was absolutely useless, it was disposed of after I quickly realised that the power lead got warmer than the heater did!

Andyvan

[jayjay]

hi, I tried the 12 v heater and it was useless, I use hook up in winter and have a tiny oil filled radiator and siver sreens too. I also have a gas heater that clips on the cooker but wouldnt leave it on for long

Same here. However, as I have a caravan, I don't intend going anywhere in the deep mid-winter! I use the radiator to take the chill off spring and autumn. Have left it on low all night when really cold! I also have the oven top gas heater (see my review on here in equipment) for when there's no EHU, but same as sachmo shaz, wouldn't leave it on for long - once again just for taking the chill off.

[Deactivated user]

Thanks all. I had heard that the 12v heaters were pretty naff, so it's good to have it confirmed here! Who makes the heater you use on top of the cooker? The link in your (excellent) review leads to an empty page

[jayjay]

Thanks all. I had heard that the 12v heaters were pretty naff, so it's good to have it confirmed here! Who makes the heater you use on top of the cooker? The link in your (excellent) review leads to an empty page

Still works on my computer! How strange! Anyways, I've emailed the supplier to see if he has any left. Can't remember who makes them offhand... will be back with an answer when he emails me back.

[Deactivated user]

Thanks JayJay I did some googling for it but didn't get very far.

[satchmo_shaz]

the cooker attachment heater I got from Yeomans last year for £10

[bluenote47]

Have to agree with everyone elses' comments on 12v heater - fine for warming your hands or feet if you sit on top of it but not a space heater at all.
Solar panels - I've got a 4 watt which delivers a trickle charge to your battery. I'm not unhappy with it, as I only really use lights and a 12 v shower from my leisure battery (& aforementioned heater), and I'm still going without a recharge (about 3 months). I also used it on my main vehicle battery when I realised it had gone flat. It put enough charge in to turn over and start after a days charging, so again I'm not unhappy, just wouldn't rely on it as a permanent solution and have back up plans. It does charge literally from dawn to dusk.

[Tentpeg]

gypsy me you need to a little reading up about electricity. Camping and caravan club have some excellent downloads.

A supply at home is much higher energy at 240Volts against a 12 Volt supply in a battery... Batterys are only suitible then for LOW POWER devices.

High energy items are things like Heaters, electric kettles, fridges

Low energy items are things like lights, water pumps and a moderate ammount of television.

Anything high energy is going to drain battery FAST.

[bluenote47]

Same here. However, as I have a caravan, I don't intend going anywhere in the deep mid-winter! I use the radiator to take the chill off spring and autumn. Have left it on low all night when really cold! I also have the oven top gas heater (see my review on here in equipment) for when there's no EHU, but same as sachmo shaz, wouldn't leave it on for long - once again just for taking the chill off.

I can't find your review - am I being stupid and looking in the wrong place jayjay- it sounds like a useful bit of kit - thanks

[Deactivated user]

Thanks everyone - I am learning! I thought I had heard of a heater you could use with a battery but I must have been mistaken. Thanks for the lead to the downloads RSue - I will study them keenly

Bluenote - a 12v shower? Tell me more please.

Satchmo, thanks for the info about the heater you have. Will follow that up

[Tentpeg]

maplins do a very good 12 volt shower can be run off a car cigarette lighter.

Going to try a simple explanation of electricity, simplified okay.

Think of electricity as a flow of marbles around a circuit. Each marble carries a lump of energy determined by the energy in the battery, or voltage..... a 12 volt battery gives out 12 volt measure of energy to each marble flowing around. Although mains electricity is different in other ways just realise at the moment that a battery gives out 12 volts of energy to each marble, a mains hook up supply is 240Volts. (not. quite that simple but it gives the rough idea and you can see much more energy available in a mains supply).

The rate of flow of these marbles or current then determines the ammount of energy going to the device... The current is measured in amps. So ampage is the rate of flow.

So the more ampage a device draws the more energy it needs and the greater the flow of current or marbles.

The energy required for camping devices is often indicated by ampage, or flow of current.

Some devices are designed for a direct current of 12v from a battery or 12 V DC.

Some devices are designed to be used off the mains a 240V AC supply.

Hook ups

Supply varying ammounts of current between 6 - 16 amps generally. Different devices need varying ammounts of amps and you need to ensure that you do not exceed the hook up plugging in too many things. C&CC supply rough ampages for different devices... So if and have a kettle needing 6 amps and a fridge needing 3amps... that means if you use them at the same time you will need a 9 amps supply at least or you risk overloading the circuit.

Batteries

Mains supply has a continuous supply so you just add up the amps. Batteries are a STORE of energy, so are tackled slighty differently. 3 amp device needs 3 amps of current every hour. So to run a 3 amp 12 Volt telly for an hour you need 9 amps.

So to calculate the ammount of electricity you use you need to to multiply the ammount needed per hour by the number of hours you will use it. To run this TV for three hours you will need a total of 9 amps for from your battery. However the reality is that you should never fully flatten your battery, so only reckon on being only to use half of a fully charged battery. So a 110 amp battery will give you 55 amp hours before needing recharging approx.
That is enough for now probably have confused you completely.

In summary, mains supply is much more powerful. Leisure Batteries are really a 'small' store of energy suitible for running devices needing small amounts of energy. To calculate what you can safely use on a hook up just add up the number of amps (amount of current) used by each device. To work out a battery add up the amp hours needed on a 12V supply.

[bluenote47]

Bluenote - a 12v shower? Tell me more please.

[/QUOTE]

Yep - really good I i thoroughly recommend as I haven't got the luxury of a shower in my little van. Mine is a Ring Automotive one. I bought it off ebay (about £22 delivered), but have since seen them in a Yeomans Camping store to buy off the shelf, and cheaper than mine (think it was £11.50). There are quite a few on the market but have to say I think mine is great as you can use it with a 12v lighter plug in your van, or it takes 4 D size batteries so is completely portable, and can be used outside your van on your travels if you want to, and can be used for showering anything down or watering the garden etc. The water pump will put through about 10 litres of water in 5 mins and you just drop it into your container. I work on 4 litres for a one application hair wash, and 20 litres for a quick shower. It comes with hanging hook and suction cap if you want to rig it up, and a plastic toiletry bag to store it in. Only problems you've got are the logistics of hot water (I just fill my containers from campsite hot taps and top up with a boiled kettle if not hot enough), drainage (standing a deep tray or large bucket but then have to empty of course), and splashes (rig up a shower curtain arangement if you've got he space from ordinary bathroom accessories). There you have it - no excuse to not be clean and shiney!