Off grid remote working - What setup?

[ChrisG87]

Hi everyone,

I’m very new to campervan electrics and could really use your advice. I work remotely, and decided I want to travel around the UK working in some nice spots instead of sitting in my flat. My plan is to buy a T6 and convert it, with the aim of being able to go off grid for potentially a week at a time. I’ve very roughly estimated my daily power usage to be around 1,400 Wh/day, and it looks a bit like this;

• Laptop (6 hours daily, charging 2.5 hours): ~180 Wh/day
• Starlink internet (10 hours daily): ~300 Wh/day
• LED lights (4 hours daily): ~48 Wh/day
• Fridge (12V compressor fridge, 24 hours): ~600 Wh/day
• Water pump (5 minutes daily): ~5 Wh/day
• Phone charging (1 hour daily): ~10 Wh/day
• Microwave (Maybe) (5 minutes daily): ~168 Wh/day

(These estimates are just from ChatGPT so would appreciate any advice from anyone who actually currently does this in real life)

I’m weighing the options for my electrical setup and thinking of these two options:

1. Leisure Battery System
   2x 100Ah Lithium Batteries (12V), 30-40A DC-DC Charger, 12V Fuse Box, 1000W Inverter, shore power charger, battery monitor and switch panel (Just a rough idea)
   
   
2. EcoFlow Delta Max (Or similar)
   A portable power station with a ~4kWh capacity and an alternator charger for recharging while driving. It’s portable and can be recharged at campsites, via solar (if I decide to add panels later), or from the alternator.

1. I'd love to hear from anyone who currently does something similar, what setup you have and what your experiences are?
2. Which setup would you advise and why?
3. If the leisure battery option, what would be your ideal setup? (This option I find really daunting because my knowledge is very limited)

Finally, does anyone have recommendations for a reliable electrics installer in the North West who could help me set this all up?

Thanks so much in advance—I’m a total beginner at this, so any advice or tips would be massively appreciated!

Cheers,

Chris

 

[TallPaul_S]

1400wh is 116Ah.

That's A LOT. You ain't going to be able to go off grid for more than a day or 2 unless you're replenishing that power from solar - you'll need a BIG array. And even then solar is not guaranteed.

I would check and double check all your usage amounts, for instance a typical 12v 50l fridge will use 1-1.5ah per hour, tha's 24-36Ah per day - or 430Wh.

edit: when you say 'off grid' do you mean with no EHU, just relying on battery and solar power? Being truly off grid for a week (without much moving between spots every day or 2) isn't going to be possible without a) a massive battery bank (300Ah or more), lots of solar (300w minimum) and picking good spots that provide good solar yeild.

I have a 50l 12v fridge, 2000w inverter, router, lights etc and my usage in summer can be around 60Ah per day, with very little inverter use (just charging a laptop for a few hours use. With a 230Ah battery (and little to no solar), that would see me through 4-5 days. At even 100Ah per day, you've got 2 days on a 230Ah battery before you're done.

The first step is to get accurate figures on the devices you're looking to use. Take the watts (100w) and times that by how many hours a day it'll be used for. 10w in constant use = 240wh. Ah is Wh / 12v = 240Wh would equal 20Ah for a 10w device in constant use.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Hi everyone,

I’m very new to campervan electrics and could really use your advice. I work remotely, and decided I want to travel around the UK working in some nice spots instead of sitting in my flat. My plan is to buy a T6 and convert it, with the aim of being able to go off grid for potentially a week at a time. I’ve very roughly estimated my daily power usage to be around 1,400 Wh/day, and it looks a bit like this;

• Laptop (6 hours daily, charging 2.5 hours): ~180 Wh/day
• Starlink internet (10 hours daily): ~300 Wh/day
• LED lights (4 hours daily): ~48 Wh/day
• Fridge (12V compressor fridge, 24 hours): ~600 Wh/day
• Water pump (5 minutes daily): ~5 Wh/day
• Phone charging (1 hour daily): ~10 Wh/day
• Microwave (Maybe) (5 minutes daily): ~168 Wh/day

(These estimates are just from ChatGPT so would appreciate any advice from anyone who actually currently does this in real life)

I’m weighing the options for my electrical setup and thinking of these two options:

1. Leisure Battery System
   2x 100Ah Lithium Batteries (12V), 30-40A DC-DC Charger, 12V Fuse Box, 1000W Inverter, shore power charger, battery monitor and switch panel (Just a rough idea)
   
   
2. EcoFlow Delta Max (Or similar)
   A portable power station with a ~4kWh capacity and an alternator charger for recharging while driving. It’s portable and can be recharged at campsites, via solar (if I decide to add panels later), or from the alternator.

1. I'd love to hear from anyone who currently does something similar, what setup you have and what your experiences are?
2. Which setup would you advise and why?
3. If the leisure battery option, what would be your ideal setup? (This option I find really daunting because my knowledge is very limited)

Finally, does anyone have recommendations for a reliable electrics installer in the North West who could help me set this all up?

Thanks so much in advance—I’m a total beginner at this, so any advice or tips would be massively appreciated!

Cheers,

Chris

There’s a massive amount of real world information on the forum, rather than ChatGP generated fantasy. Make yourself a brew & have a play with the search function. Most, if not all of your questions will already have been answered. It will also help you to manage your expectations.

 

[t0mb0]

I'd refine your estimates as it will potentially make a big difference. I think your current ones are (hopefully) a bit conservative but as @TallPaul_S says above it equates to about 116Ah per day. This is doable in a battery sense, e.g. a 230Ah seat base battery would do it but you would be relying on running the engine to refill the battery because there's no way solar will reliably cover it so given a DC-DC putting in, say, 50A you're looking at running the engine for an hour for every 50Ah you need to put back in.

 

[TallPaul_S]

I will say though, if your budget is big enough and you have enough space (IE a cabinet location rather than under seat) then it's completely possible. For instance you can get 12v LifePO4 batteries that are 500Ah or bigger... Then along with a big battery, you can run dual DC-DC chargers, for up to 100a of charging, and then a 350w solar panel on the roof, plus a ground deploy array of 200-300w..

Lithium Leisure Battery - Fogstar Drift 12v 608Ah

608ah 12v Fogstar Drift Lithium Leisure Battery | Grade A LiFePO4 cells, JBD BMS, Bluetooth, Heating | Lowest Prices in the UK. 10 Year Warranty.

www.fogstar.co.uk

With this bad boy (slaps battery!) you could go off grid with no driving or charging for 5 full days! Add in a couple of hours of driving, or some solar and you'd probably get to a week.

 

[Sackmycook]

Jackery do some big 'uns too.....

 

[Drive Wayne]

I will say though, if your budget is big enough and you have enough space (IE a cabinet location rather than under seat) then it's completely possible. For instance you can get 12v LifePO4 batteries that are 500Ah or bigger... Then along with a big battery, you can run dual DC-DC chargers, for up to 100a of charging, and then a 350w solar panel on the roof, plus a ground deploy array of 200-300w..

Lithium Leisure Battery - Fogstar Drift 12v 608Ah

608ah 12v Fogstar Drift Lithium Leisure Battery | Grade A LiFePO4 cells, JBD BMS, Bluetooth, Heating | Lowest Prices in the UK. 10 Year Warranty.

www.fogstar.co.uk

View attachment 270559

With this bad boy (slaps battery!) you could go off grid with no driving or charging for 5 full days! Add in a couple of hours of driving, or some solar and you'd probably get to a week.

And after 10 years you could put a body in it probably?

 

[TallPaul_S]

And after 10 years you could put a body in it probably?

Not unless you chopped it up and packed it in tightly...it's not THAT big

 

[Drive Wayne]

Not unless you chopped it up and packed it in tightly...it's not THAT big

View attachment 270565

My wifes fridge packing skills are legendary, she'd get me in there no problem... what a monster though, I would need a trailer.

 

[ChrisG87]

Really appreciate all the input thanks!

Yep, I'm completely new to this and just trying to work things out to the best of my abilities, so was hoping to hear the experiences of people who are actually doing this (or have done it) and what setups worked for them. I'd already pre-empted that these consumption estimates wouldn't be that accurate as I've never owned a van and know nothing about electrics

Just to clarify what I mean by 'off grid' - It's just an idea at the moment, but I want to make the most of working remotely, and travel around in a van working from different places. Maybe drive somewhere for a day, work there (in the van), then drive somewhere else for a few days and repeat. I can't imagine I'd be stationary for a week at a time. Also open to stopping at campsites along the way for EHU. So if anyone's doing this I'd love to hear how you go about it?

I've budgeted about 3k for the electrics, so i guess it might be easier for me to reframe my question to..

If you were going to do the above definition of 'off grid', had a very rough daily consumption like the table below, had a 3k budget and starting from a completely blank canvas - what would you do?

@TallPall_S I was actually looking at that battery haha so that would last 5 days without charging? I was looking at these kits but I've only just started looking into this so don't really know what I'm looking at yet haha

 

[Drive Wayne]

Really appreciate all the input thanks!

Yep, I'm completely new to this and just trying to work things out to the best of my abilities, so was hoping to hear the experiences of people who are actually doing this (or have done it) and what setups worked for them. I'd already pre-empted that these consumption estimates wouldn't be that accurate as I've never owned a van and know nothing about electrics

Just to clarify what I mean by 'off grid' - It's just an idea at the moment, but I want to make the most of working remotely, and travel around in a van working from different places. Maybe drive somewhere for a day, work there (in the van), then drive somewhere else for a few days and repeat. I can't imagine I'd be stationary for a week at a time. Also open to stopping at campsites along the way for EHU. So if anyone's doing this I'd love to hear how you go about it?

I've budgeted about 3k for the electrics, so i guess it might be easier for me to reframe my question to..

If you were going to do the above definition of 'off grid', had a very rough daily consumption like the table below, had a 3k budget and starting from a completely blank canvas - what would you do?

@TallPall_S I was actually looking at that battery haha so that would last 5 days without charging? I was looking at these kits but I've only just started looking into this so don't really know what I'm looking at yet haha

View attachment 270564

I'm sure those figures can be revised down a bit, is it a full size American twin door fridge? Does Starlink use that sort of juice? I really don't know...

 

[ChrisG87]

haha nope just a standard fridge like this. And I can't find anything online about Starlink consumption other than what AI is telling me. Can't find anyone who's used it either, so if anyone has, give me a shout?! But yeah, I've never owned a van and know nothing about electrics, so these figures could be totally wrong, but better to over estimate I guess?

EDIT - Just found this, so if it's accurate, Starlink would actually be a bit lower. Probably wouldn't be using it for 10 solid hours either

 

[Drive Wayne]

Also..anyone has actually used Starlink before?

@JOG ?

 

[Drive Wayne]

@JOG ?

Where's my manners, welcome to the home of much divided opinion @ChrisG87 . Good to have you!

 

[TallPaul_S]

Fridge compressors won't be on constantly, so a 40w fridge will only use 1-1.5Ah per hour, nowhere near 80Ah a day!

Just to clarify what I mean by 'off grid' - It's just an idea at the moment, but I want to make the most of working remotely, and travel around in a van working from different places. Maybe drive somewhere for a day, work there (in the van), then drive somewhere else for a few days and repeat. I can't imagine I'd be stationary for a week at a time. Also open to stopping at campsites along the way for EHU. So if anyone's doing this I'd love to hear how you go about it?

That definitely helps! If you're only realistically looking at 3-4 then that's definitely possible with a smaller battery.

Have a read up on the forum, a few of us have sizable electric set ups, some of us (madder than others...) have even stuffed everything under a seat...

I've got 230Ah of battery, 50a DC-DC, 305w/20a MPPT, 2000w inverter, Cerbo GX - all in or on a seat base. Then 15a EHU, and a 4g router.

Starlink mini seems to use 25w on average. So 10hrs use is 20Ah.

Check on the starlink version and power usage and change the fridge to 30Ah. I reckon you'll be down to 80Ah or so.

Actually with 30Ah not 80Ah for the fridge and 20Ah not 50Ah for starlink you're at 70QAh per day!


And for that, with 3-4 days off grid max, I'd want:

300Ah LiFePO4 battery
As big a solar panel as you can, 250w minimum, ideally 300+w + correct sized MPPT (20-30a)
Victron Orion XS 50a
Victron shunt
Inverter (1600/2000w) - Victron multiplus or Renogy standalone
EHU (the multiplus would do this)
Monitoring - personally I love the Cerbo GX and touch display

All that is easily doable under 3k.

 

[TallPaul_S]

haha nope just a standard fridge like this. And I can't find anything online about Starlink consumption other than what AI is telling me. Can't find anyone who's used it either, so if anyone has, give me a shout?! But yeah, I've never owned a van and know nothing about electrics, so these figures could be totally wrong, but better to over estimate I guess?

EDIT - Just found this, so if it's accurate, Starlink would actually be a bit lower. Probably wouldn't be using it for 10 solid hours either

Starlink roam is the mini version so about 25w on average. And yep allow 1-1.5Ah per hour for that fridge.

So 70Ah per day or thereabouts.

The kit you linked is ok but the multiplus is a bit overkill at 3000w - what wattage is your microwave?

It also has things which are aimed at big van builders like 3x solar panels, and a lynx distribution which are overkill for a T6 setup.

Personally I'd try and learn as much as you can on van electrics and select your components individually and do the wiring yourself. It's really not that complicated, I've learnt it all in the past year or 2 and built my own system.

 

[JOG]

Where's my manners, welcome to the home of much divided opinion @ChrisG87 . Good to have you!

I welcome your lack of manners - it makes me sound polite!

 

[JOG]

@JOG ?

I have a Starlink mini mounted on my pop top! It is mainly for my two lads and their insatiable appetite for porn internet gaming access. Being lazy, I have it plugged into a 12v outlet in the boot whilst I mull over how I’m going to hardwire it. (I’m in a California with the leisure battery and electrics factory installed so I haven’t had to give much thought to it.) I have worked remotely (lots of teams calls) without any issue and am amazed as the internet speed even while driving quickly (aka too quickly!)

 

[Simon Audi]

Just a question - why the Starlink - rather than your mobile acting as a hotspot for your laptop?

Remember you should not plan to run the battery flat.. I think the target is 50% - but not an expert...

THANKS

 

[TallPaul_S]

Just a question - why the Starlink - rather than your mobile acting as a hotspot for your laptop?

Remember you should not plan to run the battery flat.. I think the target is 50% - but not an expert...

THANKS

20% is ideal for LiFePO4 but you can go down to zero - just not a regular thing. 50% was for AGM/lead batteries.

And starlink is probably needed as you can't rely on a good 4g connection, especially if you need to attend teams calls or connect remotely to systems. Trying to do this on a dodgy 0.5mbps 4g signal will be very frustrating. A phone as a hotspot for 10 hours would also cane the battery and make it overheat!

Apologies for answering for @ChrisG87 but as someone who works from home I could never rely on a 4g phone hotspot, you need a solid, decent connection.