The campervan and RV lifestyle just keeps growing in Canada, with the RV industry showing a 30% increase year over year.
Whether you're living in your van full-time or taking it out for a weekend trip, battery preservation is key to a successful trip. Most of the time, finding a place to charge your campervan battery will be easy. If you get off the beaten path, however, you need to know how to get better battery life.
Here, we're going to give you five tips to help you extend the battery life in your campervan. It's all about knowing your camper and understanding the give and take of van life, so keep reading, and you'll avoid any serious battery mishaps.
1. Start With the Right Battery
If your RV battery is going to keep you going on the road, it must be able to handle what you throw at it. There are various deep-cycle batteries on the market, so if you don't know anything about them, consult with a battery expert and get one that suits your needs.
Most campervans and RVs come with a flooded lead acid battery, which is relatively easy to maintain and capable of powering everyday campervan needs. That said, you can upgrade and get a battery that requires virtually no maintenance.
2. Get a Battery Life Monitor
Extending your battery life starts with knowing how your battery is performing. By purchasing a digital meter, you can keep an eye on the charge level, which will allow you to maintain it properly.
You must give your campervan battery the right amount of charge. Sulfation, which adversely affects performance and hastens battery failure, can result from both overcharging and undercharging a battery.
A digital meter will tell you when the battery is fully charged and help you monitor how quickly it's discharging.
3. Energy Vampires
Be smart about what you're plugging into your inverter and how long you're doing it for. The inverter itself is drawing from your battery, so it's important to turn it off when you're not using it.
Don't leave things plugged into your inverter, either. Certain electronics - cell phones, computers, most appliances, etc. - will suck power from your battery even when they're turned off.
4. Go Solar
Having a portable solar panel can alleviate the pressure you put on your deep-cycle battery and even top it off when necessary. Using solar power to charge the vampire appliances we just discussed above will elongate our RV battery and save you loads of money when you're spending lots of time on the road.
5. Get a Booster
Finally, you need to have a battery booster pack ready to go. Even the most careful campervan owner will run into a jam from time to time. When you're out on the prairies, you may find yourself a long way from a charge.
NOCO boosters and chargers can fully charge your RV battery without overcharging it. Some even feature a desulfation mode that can aid in recovering a batter that has been damaged.
Better Battery Life, Better Time In Your Camper
If you take these tips to heart, you'll have better battery life on every trip you take. Being cognizant of your campervan battery pays huge dividends. You'll have fewer mishaps on the road and fewer headaches as a result.
To find a new battery for your campervan or RV, look no further than Canada's one-stop battery shop, Prairie Battery. We've got shops in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Brandon, and the GTA, so contact us today for all of your battery needs and questions.