If you want to be on the road with the conveniences of home, you need a beefy electrical system. We over-did it this time with over 15,500 watt hours and 600Ah of battery at 24v, more than we’ve seen in any van. With a 24v system, powered by Victron, things run a bit more efficient as the wires in this van carry HALF the current that a 12v system does.
What does this all mean to you?
1. Run your air conditioner any time on battery power for up to 40 hours. If the sun is shining, the air conditioner runs for free, using no battery power. National parks don’t allow dogs on the trails, so you can leave your dog in the van with the AC on, and check the temperature remotely from the app to ensure your dog is comfortable.
2. You’ll never need to pay for a hotel because it’s too hot at night.
3. Stop worrying about using up too much battery power, you’ve got a LOT!
4. Run two large appliances at a time, for example, you can turn on your water heater and make your coffee at the same time with the 3000W inverter.
5. No more paying for campgrounds because you need power to run the AC.
Inverter
We installed the best inverter we could find, the Victron 24v multi plus. This inverter is “set it and forget it”. You can leave it on all the time. It powers everything 110V AC powered in the van, including 8 GFCI outlets, placed conveniently throughout the van.
Batteries
Sweet Dreams has more battery power than we’ve seen in a van. We used 3 x 24v 200Ah batteries. These batteries are work horses and power the van with zero problems.
Inverter
We installed the BEAST: The 100amp Victron Buck boost. It takes 14v from the alternator and converts it to 28v, charging your batteries at about 900W while you drive.
Monitoring system
We used the Victron Ekrano system, that connects to your 5g wifi router. Not only will it tell you your battery life, current AC / DC power being used, amount of solar being generated, but it will also tell you how much water you have, how full the gray tank is, and the temperature in the van in the refrigerator, and the batteries.
Solar Power
Laugh at your fellow van lifers when they brag about their 300w of solar power on their van. Sweet Dreams has 750w of panels on the roof. We used every square inch we could. The added solar power really does make a huge difference on your battery life. Even if you’re boondocked for days in one place, your batteries will stay charged, even while you’re running your refrigerator constantly, the hot water heater daily, and normal daily cooking.
AC/DC Breaker box
The breaker box is tucked away in the back. After 4 months on the road, we’ve never tripped a breaker or blown a fuse.
