How to thrive on a non 240v site!

Thanks Merve - it'll be a while before I get into serious questions. As I've said before, I'm still in the very theoretical stage, as we've yet to take our first trip in the 'van, which will be mid-March. Once we've learned to work our little Rapido as it is, we'll have more idea of how we'd like to adjust it, then there will be questions!  But since I'm clearly not the only one wanting to know, hopefully there'll be lots more questions from others on the same course.

... though one to go on with, just me thinking way ahead, but which is possibly already buried somewhere in the previous 109 messages, concerns the inverter. The one we have for our home's 16 solar roof panels is the size of a respectable suitcase. Our caravan is already tiny enough without taking up too much storage space with more gear, so how big is the box for a caravan sized inverter?

Hedgehurst - just ask away and perhaps tell us more of what you have and what you need.  I started with a solar trickle charger for the battery - all of £10 worth!  Soon progressed to a cheap folding solar panel - then I won a much better one on a website for simply posting a review of a campsite!  That has kept me juiced up very well since - I added an inverter that means I can use a hand held whisk for occasional kitchen use and also charging some of those things that only have a 13 amp plug - my camera for one.  Finally adding Safefill and feel quite independent now! I find a bank of 4 12v sockets very useful - including the 12v plugs that have USB sockets too. 

Thanks Pippah45. Safefill here we come, I reckon.
Meanwhile,  roughly how big is that inverter, please? ... on a scale either of actual cm / inches  or soup tin / cereal packet/ suitcase units

My inverter is a fairly large Paperback book size?  Smaller than my set top box.  It came from Maplin.  If you are a member of the other club as well its the size of two of the new Siteseeker books together (approx).  I think it was about £60 worth.  I also have a much cheaper one from Lidl that is quite useful in the car for a few things.  But low powered in the scheme of things.  That is about the size of a large can of beer

Now these are units of measurement I can appreciate! In due time I'm going to be asking more about how it gets fitted into the system, but I reckon even our tiny van could accommodate something that size.

Went to Jackson of Old Arley today and took my almost empty Safefill cylinders with me. Ready for the new season now. 18lts - £12. Not the cheapest but I like to support anyone who backs Safefill and in turn, caravanners.

Hi mate. Inverters come in all sizes. The more amps they can handle, the bigger they are. Not only that , - there is modified sine wave and Pure sine wave. What you end up with all depends on what you want to run through it. I wanted to 'go for it' so I bought a 2000w Pure Sine Wave unit. I don't have to think about what I run through it- everything will run through it and with plenty of 'slack' when they do. You may want to run something far smaller than say, a microwave or toaster and that will run on modified sinewave- in that case, you'll not be wanting anything like as big as mine. The physical size of mine is something like  13"x 6" x 3". It's mounted on a heat sink but I have never even got it warm, let alone hot! I found it very worthwhile to hand it to someone who really understood what I was after ie, a electrician/electronics engineer-  result- perfection!! 

My larger inverter has been connected to the battery (during service) I had it on croc clips before that.  It lives under the bench seats near the battery box.  Since they need to be switched off when not in use - I would prefer somewhere more accessible but I can still just about get down there!  The diddy one plugs into the 12v sockets useful in the car for charging my torches that have a 13 amp plug etc - but it also has a USB socket.  . 

Well, it's that time of year again when we start to have our first thoughts about the coming season, unless you are winter caravanners, and then its just looking forward to the better weather! It was one of those days where I knew I had to turn out to storage to run the cleaning cloth over the inside of the van. Waiting for me, was my SP, my two 110ah batteries and my inverter. On arrival, I carried out my usual checks of the battery charge and SP function. I reconnected my inverter into the socket after the caravan service which requires of course, the hook up cable to be connected. I was now on my own power./ Out came the 240v high power vacuum! With my 5Kg Safefill cylinder fitted, hot water was no problem and I tested the fridge. - all spot on. After checking everything on the 'van, I was happy that I was ready, but more importantly, the van was ready for the new season. The last job I did was clean the floor and vacuum throughout using the inverter and realising that I was indeed probably one of a handful - if that, - on the storage site with that facility. I didn't have to wait till I was on an EHU site to start vacuuming or pull it to my home!! It was all there, waiting as it always is!

Did our first fill of the new Gaslow system OH fitted at the weekend  We only have one filling station in Perth that has gas, so no chance to shop around for the best price but OH was very happy with the cost of 57.9p a  litre,( is this a good price?) So £11.50 for first fill, 11kg bottle rather than £24 for 6kg of calor. Savings have started, now to use more CL's and THS's.