Four Ways to Save Energy and Reduce the Burden on Your Caravan's Generator
Running a generator to supply the power needs of your caravan can get expensive, especially if you use a lot of power and have to fill the generator with petrol on a regular basis. Luckily, there are ways to cut your energy consumption and reduce the burden on your generator.
1. Install solar panels on your caravan
Whether you are driving around or parked, the hot sun is likely hitting your caravan. Harness that renewable energy source and reduce the amount you have to spend on power by connecting solar panels to a recreational or leisure battery. The energy absorbed by the solar panels gets sent to the battery which can then power various aspects of your caravan.
2. Stay in powered caravan sites
If you don't want to generate your own power, but still want to use electricity, look for powered caravan sites along your travel route. While staying at these sites, you plug your caravan into the electrical mains of the caravan park. Then, you can use as much electricity as you need.
This is a great time to catch up on washing clothes, cooking extra meals or baking, or watching movies. If you want to minimise how much power you use, you should organise your power consumption so you use more at a powered caravan site and then save power when you are relying on your generator or battery. Check with the owner of the site to see if they offer unlimited power or metred.
3. Cook outside
By cooking over a campfire or on a grill, you get to enjoy the tasty flavour of outdoor cooking; however, you also reduce the amount of energy you use in your caravan. Create a list of recipes that don't force you to use the kitchen in your caravan, or pack more raw foods that don't require cooking at all to save energy. That can be helpful when it's rainy or you are unable to cook outside for other reasons like fire bans due to wildfire risk.
4. Insulate your caravan
If you are using a lot of energy to heat or cool your caravan, you can reduce that by insulating your caravan. To insulate it, you may want to cover windows with plastic wrap. Alternatively, you can add foam lining to the underside of a caravan trailer. Talk with a caravan expert about more ways to insulate your caravan.