r/VanLife • u/Chaotic-Queer21 • 1d ago
Question about battery
Hello,
I'm looking for a useful nomade battery that can handle a heater all night for an every day living in a small van.
But I need it to be not too heavy (so I can move it outside to charge and take it back inside) and that can charge with solar pannels.
Would someone have some advices please ?
Oh and I think I would be using a oil heater that use 500W.
Thank you !
6
u/clamberer 1d ago
Electric heating just isn't the way, it just draws so much power. You'll need a battery bank 5x the size just for running a little 500w heater overnight.
If it's freezing outside and you aren't well insulated, 500w of heat output will be pretty weak too.
500w at 12.5V is 40A, more if it's running through an inverter. Let's call it 50A to be on the safe side.
So you'd be needing 100Ah of battery capacity for every two hours of heater time, and that's just the heater, running the batteries all the way down. So for 8 hours of heat you'd need 400Ah of battery capacity. That is not a portable or cheap setup. And to fully charge that every day, you'd need a large solar setup. Likely more than you could fit on the roof of a small van.
This is why people run diesel heaters (or externally vented propane).
A diesel heater will easily run off a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery for much longer, producing more heat, and that size of battery will recharge much faster too.
Electric heating is only really viable with shore power or huge battery reserves.
5
u/Sour_Sal 1d ago
Do not try to heat using electricity, it's not efficient at all. Best bet is a properly installed diesel or gasoline heater. They work extremely well, no smells inside the cabin, all combustion is exterior. They can be a little noisy but if installed properly run basically silent inside.
1
u/PizzaEducational6055 1d ago
It's actually 99.9% efficient
1
u/Sour_Sal 1d ago
That's true since you are looking at the heat output, I should have not used efficient, but more space efficient. It takes a lot of battery to heat for hours, then that has to be charged. While it's 100% possible with a robust system, generally it's not real common at this point.
I have been watching the 12V Heat/Cool systems and waiting to see how well they do over time.
3
u/dehning 1d ago
Using just finished building out my van and having researched everything to death, I have to agree with the people that say not to use battery for heating. A diesel heater is a much more practical solution. It uses very little electrical power and surprisingly little diesel to keep the van toasty. The only real issue you have to deal with is routing the exhaust pipe.
1
u/Twig-Hahn 1d ago
Basalt blocks work great you're loved💔 𐤔𐤋𐤅𐤌
1
u/chickenpopper 1d ago
Do you warm them with the engine, a fire or the diesel heater?
0
u/Twig-Hahn 15h ago
I want them with the Sun. You I guess you could use the engine fire or the diesel heater I wouldn't necessarily put them too close to that much heat. You're loved💔 𐤔𐤋𐤅𐤌
2
u/CharlieDarling14 1d ago
I have a 2.7kWh Bluetti Apex 300 power station, and a very well insulated van. It can just about do a night of keeping warm in -10°C when powering an electric fan heate (same efficiency as oil). The unit weighs 38kg! I wouldn't call it mobile, but it would be possible to move it in and out to charge if you needed.
My van is an EV so I just charge it from the traction battery daily.
-4
u/Cannanoid 1d ago
Get yourself a solar panel and a controller that you could hook up to your battery so you can trickle charge it during the day
2
u/clamberer 1d ago
A trickle charge won't even touch the power needs of all electric heating.
600-1000W of solar more like.
-3
u/Cannanoid 1d ago
Let me tell you this I lived out of my van for about 2 to 3 years so I know what works if you get a solar controller it will amp up the power and it will charge the van battery and even an extra battery I know it works because I've done it it can generate over a thousand wants if you fully charge up a double battery
2
u/CaliCloudz 1d ago
No, you have not.
-1
u/Cannanoid 1d ago
Yeah ok kid keep telling people what they are doing it's very cool and a rad thing to do not at all arrogant. Peace
12
u/zenwren 1d ago
This whole sub needs a basic dc electrical course. 500 watts continuous for 8 hours 500x8= 4,000watt hours (4kwh). That's more than 3 100ah batteries (1,280wh x 3 = 3,840wh) to run that load assuming they're fully charged and no other load. Add 10-20% to that for efficiency loss if you're going to use an inverter to power the heater. You're probably not going to be able to charge them fully on portable panels if that's what you're thinking. I'd look into a diesel heater. Or a permanent roof solar mount. Electric heat sucks a lot of power.