M/Hing without EHU..

Not a motorhomer. But I will try and answer

1.  The controller should be able to charge both batteries.  That's assuming a twin battery controller has been fitted.   These will charge 2 batteries independently and normally you can set the priority so that 90% of charge goes to one battery and 10% to the other Until the first one is fully charged then it should push the charge to the second battery.  Not sure which battery is normally set as the one with the most priority starter or habitation. 

2. You would either run a generator noisy, smelly and expensive. Or an inverter system complicated and expensive.  Or in my opinion the best solution is not to bother this is cheap and simple 

3  Gas in a caravan the 12v option only works when the engine is running this is because the fridge takes quite a lot of power and would flatten a battery fairly quickly   Gas is normally the best power source for a three way fridge anyway an we have run them off gas when have been abroad from time to time as they have been struggling on electric  

Just a bit more:-

The leisure battery charges when travelling, we tend to stay for only one to three nights so the battery copes....even without a solar panel so you should have no problem.

12v Lighting as required and 12v TV  possibly for 2 or 3 hours daily (Weather forecasts/DVD/Normal programmes).

Heating, obviously gas BUT the distribution fan is very battery hungry (this bit is not ignition controlled)...but in your case you may well be OK if you actually need it.

Fridge as Boff suggests.

It's probably good not to have EHU in Germany as the cost can be very high as it is usually metered. All the main points are mentioned above and if you are moving around rather ham staying put for a week then you should not have any worries. Minimise the TV use if you are worried and avoid using halogen type lights. LEDs take very little power and can be used freely.

Great advice so far but, if you feel you just can't do without some of your 13 amp appliances, then fitting an inverter (to convert power from your leisure battery to mains voltage) is relatively straightforward. I had a reasonably powerful one fitted by an auto-electrician for less than £200.

You can read the discussion I started here.

With a new van lighting will be all or mainly LED. If you are only using TV for displaying i-pad picture consumption should be low but not negligible. As mentioned the fridge must be run on gas 12v is only available when mobile assuming it is not a compressor fridge. 

You could fit a big inverter which turns "12v" DC current into 230v AC current however it is challenging to have a device which would adequately power a toaster or hair (even low power versions) and the current (amps) drawn would be considerable requiring heavy duty wiring and short cable runs from your battery. Unless you have a very large leisure battery and a means of charging it (big solar) this route is likely to be more trouble (and expense) than it is worth. Just cut your suit (consumption) according to your cloth (amp-hours). You will soon get used to managing things and my save a bit as "strom: (electricity) in Germany can be as much as 5euro per night.

I think a good rule of thumb is anything that requires heat to operate such as toaster, hairdryer and fridge are not really suitable for simple 12v operation.  You can fit an inverter but it is going get expensive and complicated. 

As an aside we on a rally in Germany 2 years ago this had metered electricity, the organiser announced amid much fanfare that they had agreed to a deal where we would get charged a flat €3 per night for electric. Tbh I was a little P'd off as the only thing we were using mains electric for was heating water everything else was coming from the battery that was being easily charged by the SP

agree with pretty much most of the above re the leccy side...

however, as you are going in september and it may start to get a little chilly and ypu will be running heating, hot water and fridge/freezer off gas, you might need to give some thought to your gas supply re do you have enough?

there are (generally) three ways to ensure you have sufficient for your stay (although you dont say how long this is...)

1. carry enough to last you....depends on length of stay and how mich gas pwr day...(AT  Tracker likely to have 2 x 6kg)

2. get a local cylinder if yours runs out....youll need to convert your uk propane hose connection to a german 'butane' one (i think all german cyclinders connect like this irrespective of their contents, butane or propane) see pic below...

3. go for a refillable system (Gaslow, Gasit, Autogas 2000, etc) which can be refilled (with adaptors) at any LPG pump in europe (if you are going to be making more forays into european countries and for longer periods in the future, you should definitely consider this)

ALL these posts are really informative, thank you!

Ok, so i can do without the hairdryer and  OH is bald anyway so I've no worries there 

So final question, we are trucking down the Moselle over a 8 day period - I think the most we would be driving each day would be about 15 miles - does that give a really poor charge to the battery?

We've just had a four week holiday in France (end of March and most of April) and not been on hook up at anytime during the month away.

We have an 80W Solar panel, two 110 amp leisure batteries and a refillable gas system of two 11kg Gaslow bottles.

We also have a cheap B2B split charge relay CSB2 (about £20) that allows the Solar panel to keep the starter and leisure batteries topped up throughout the year.

The leisure batteries charge up an Ipad, mobile phones and a laptop, we use the shower every day, wash pots and pans and had the heating on some nights (it dipped to freezing a few nights).

We used the gas continuously for the fridge/freezer, gas for the water heating and cooking every day and the gas bottle refills for the month cost around €20 – far less than we would have paid for hook-up.

If your budget runs to an extra battery, as large a solar panel in wattage or area size you can fit on the roof and a refillable system then, quite literally, the World is your oyster.

We often only moved a few miles each day, sometimes none, and the batteries never dropped anywhere near a problem area.

If you are near a hook up point then use it but with similar equipment to ours you may not even need it.

Best of luck whatever you do and enjoy the holiday.

I don't believe the OP is about to go out and buy extra battery, solar power, inverter, safefill system etc., so to answer the last question, the usual advice concerning charging batteries by running the vehicle is that about 20 minutes run should suffice. 15 miles might be just enough to keep you going.

If you have a digital control panel which gives you vehicle and leisure battery voltages you should be able to check periodically. An occasional longer run would obviously help.