How to set up your caravan or trailer for off-grid travel

There are many benefits to an off-grid caravan or camper trailer set up. But I think the most appealing, is being able to stay longer in remote areas that boast amazing landscapes and fewer people. Of course, there’s also the equally huge appeal of travelling on the cheap.

It’s surprisingly easy to be both self-sufficient and comfortable these days. And sometimes, only a few minor changes are needed to get the ball rolling towards off-grid status for your caravan. It might be as simple as an extra battery or solar panel!

Here’s what you’ll need to think about for any off-grid caravan or trailer set-up.

Power

Let’s start with the most obvious, the power. Some of us are happy with just powering the basics such as a fridge and charging devices. And others won’t hit the road unless they’ve got all the comforts of home, including air conditioning.

Obviously The more “stuff” you have the more power you need to run it. Regardless of your power needs, it’s super handy (necessary even) to have a Battery Management System (BMS) in your off-grid caravan set up.

Battery Management System

Your BMS will take any power coming in and use it to charge your caravan or trailer’s batteries, which in turn, will power all your devices and comforts from home. We’ll talk about power sources a bit further down. It also shows you on a screen and/or an app on your phone important information about your power. This includes battery levels, how long until they are charged, how long until you run out of power and even how many amps your solar is producing. 

Some BMSs will even be clever enough to tell you how full your water tanks are as well.

Many new caravans are set up for off-grid adventures already so most will come new with a BMS already installed. If you already have one, this is great! Talking about a BMS leads us to …

Power sources

There are three common ways to charge your caravan or trailer’s batteries via the BMS and most people use a combination of all three when travelling. These are solar panels, charging from your vehicle’s alternator when driving and mains power.

Solar

Whether you fix them on your caravan roof or get a set of portable ones to move around your trailer, solar panels are both affordable and a fantastic investment. We’re blessed with plenty of sunshine here in Australia so it’s a great way to power the necessities when setting up your caravan for off-grid stays.

However, there will be times when there just isn’t enough sun to power your needs and you will need to rely on one of the other sources.

Your vehicle

12V power can be cleverly sourced from your vehicle’s alternator while you’re driving. The BMS (or a separate DC to DC charger), can create an output voltage current that will charge and maintain your caravan or trailer’s battery.

Mains power

This is the normal 240V power that you would use at home or in a caravan park. Many people charge up their batteries at home before they go or book into a powered caravan site every now and then to recharge. 

Batteries 

Of course, all of this is mute without batteries to store all that power. There’s no argument that lithium is a superior choice but for many, it’s not an affordable choice. Don’t stress and just get the best that you can afford. My smaller pod-sized hybrid caravan with minimal power needs runs just fine on solar and one deep cycle battery for weeks on end. But if you have larger power needs, you might need to consider a set of two lithium batteries. 

These batteries are your power source for any 12V sockets around your caravan or trailer. For anything that required 240V power (like charging camera batteries or using a toaster), an inverter acts as the go-between.

Inverter

An inverter lets you use all of the appliances you would normally use at home. So you can charge laptops and camera batteries, or even use a toaster.

Drinking water and grey water

Is your caravan drinking water set up large enough to handle going off-grid for extended periods? Or will it only last a day or two? What about your grey water holding tank? Consider getting a second tank or larger tank installed for both of these.

And yes, you can actually ‘catch’ rainwater (just like you would at home) and use the water for showering and drinking etc. In its most simple form, catching rainwater with a caravan or trailer involves a simple bucket kit under your awning such as this one…

Toilet and shower

Let’s start with the toilet. Obviously, the longer between having to find a dump point to empty your toilet, the longer you can go off-grid. A composting toilet for caravans will ‘go longer’ between emptying than a traditional cassette toilet. Read more about composting toilets below:

Whichever toilet solution you use, whether it’s a fixed caravan toilet, compost toilet, or a portable toilet in an ensuite tent, it will need to be emptied at some point. How often depends on how much you use the toilet!

When it comes to showers, the more water you use the quicker you’ll have to leave the serenity of your campsite to top up your tanks and empty your grey water. For those who don’t have a shower in their caravan set up, going off-grid is pretty simple by making use of shower tents or shower awnings and a 12V shower head. All of which are sold in abundance at camping stores. 

If there’s no one else around, you won’t even need a shower tent!

Food and cooking

Obviously, if you want to stay off-grid for longer, you’ll need to reduce the amount of power you are drawing from your battery. With this in mind, cooking on gas is a better solution than using a microwave or electric stove top. Also, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and ditch that toaster.

As for fridges, you can’t go past an Engel for great 12V power consumption. However, many caravans have a three-way fridge which means you can switch between running it on gas, 12V or mains power, depending on your needs. This is also a great choice because you can easily switch to gas to save on your power.

Warmth and cooling

Heating is easier to get right when it comes to going off-grid as there is a swarth of diesel and gas heaters on the market, for both water and the inside space of your caravan.

But when it comes to keeping cool, if you can’t live without an air-conditioner, this is where it gets harder to manage. Air cons smash through the power so if you know you’re due for a heatwave, you may need to check into a caravan park for power or ensure you have a generator (and camping buddies that can live with the noise). Learn more about which generators are best for caravans below:

However, it’s quite possible to do without air conditioning. I have never had it in any of my caravans or campers, even when camping in the outback. Simply make use of a good caravan design and open all the windows and doors (they have fly screens of course) and let the air flow through. 

Modern 12V caravan fans draw very little power and are worth their weight in gold!

What about you?

What about your off-grid caravan set up? Are you a pro at living off-grid for weeks on end? We’d love to see how you do it!