Treating your campervan as a tiny home in todays modern world will entice you to bring a variety of electrical gadgets and appliances that we have all grown to depend on into your van.

Watching TV in the evenings, fancy coffee machines, chilled food and even blow drying your hair have all become necessities of life. 

Living in a campervan doesn’t mean these can’t be included in life’s luxuries but it does mean a little thought and planning needs to be done to ensure your van is capable of powering them.

When you are living the van life there really is little worse than being stranded in your van with no power. This means no TV, no light, no charge for your phone and worse of all no heater!

Trust me.. I’ve been in this situation and battled the war of balancing power with essential electronic devices within my van. I have spent, spent and spent and learnt expensive lessons in learning the most efficient way to power my van. 

When it comes to electrics it can be complicated so in this article I will try my very best to keep it simple and as understandable as possible.

Campervan kitchen power consumption

Many of the most power-hungry devices are found in the campervan kitchen so I will explain how to prepare your campervan or van conversion to safely run them.

When you are cooking in a campervan it is very easy to start accumulating kitchen gadgets and before you know it your cupboard space is cluttered and worst of all you can start using gadgets that consume precious battery power! 

Items such as blenders, microwaves, pressure cookers and convection ovens to name a few can really cripple your park up experience if your van is not capable to facilitate these items. 

How much electrical power does a campervan use? 

A typical campervan running a common electrical setup consisting of internal lights, a fridge, a TV, a laptop (on charge) and a mobile phone on charge will draw approximately 20 amps per hour under a full load (all of the above switched on) and on an average load 12 amps per hour. 

How to calculate campervan power consumption?

Here is a simple formula that will help you work out how much power your campervan electrical devices are consuming.

Watts = Volts times Amps

Volts = Watts divided by Amps

Amps = Watts divided by Volts

Read the labels on the back of your appliances as these will often tell you at least the wattage of the device. By knowing the wattage and knowing the formula above you will be able to work out the amps per hour of the device and get a better idea of how long your batteries will last. 

When calculating the power consumption of your campervan kitchen appliances, you need to be aware that batteries deteriorate and you should add 25% usage on all your calculations.

Typical campervan kitchen power consuming gadgets

Let’s take a look at the common devices that are typically power hungry and could potentially drain your batteries if you don’t have the right electrical setup.

Fridges

For a couple of years, I thought I could live without a fridge, but actually, it became a very expensive way of living, forever visiting the store to buy fresh food. 

When I finally coughed up £700 to buy my Waeco fridge, I found myself being able to stock up on fresh veggies and another advantage was being able to store leftovers for the following day’s lunch.  I instantly started saving money!

How much power does a campervan fridge use?

There are a few different types of fridges available for campervan use and these are: Compressor fridges, 3-way absorption fridges and the electric cool box. 

My personal preference for a campervan and vanlife living is the compressor fridge. They have a built-in thermostat that turns the fridge off when it reaches particular temperatures. This makes the load on your batteries much better. Unlike the electric coolbox that is generally always on and at full power draining your batteries constantly! 

A compressor fridge uses around 40w of power so to work out how many amps this would be we use the formula (watts divided by volts).  Using a 12v van an example 40 divided by 12 = 3.33 amp hours of use. If your battery is 100amp hours then that’s 30 hours until the battery is completely dead. You should never run a battery down below 50% so really you only have 15 hours of use and that’s without taking another usage into consideration (such as lights etc). 

What you can do to improve the efficiency is double, triple or even quadruple your batteries and parallel them together to increase the overall amperage, upgrade the batteries with that of a higher amp hour rating and ensure you have adequate charging facilities to at least trickle charge back into the batteries. This could be from solar, split charge relay, battery to battery charger or from a mains hookup. 

Halogen Ovens & Microwaves

Are ovens a necessity in a van? For many, it’s considered a luxury item that can be avoided to be more resourceful on electricity or to avoid complex gas lines installed in their van. 

You can cook most things on a campervan stove-top and especially with the addition of an Omnia, almost anything you would regularly cook in an oven becomes possible.

Do we have an oven? Yes, but we use it scarcely as yes it uses a lot of our battery power. We do enjoy leaving it on whilst we are driving through and when we arrive at our destination we have a crispy oven-cooked dinner to enjoy. 

How much power does a campervan oven use?

Basing this example on an electric mini oven which is what we have and is 800W (we know this because it says on the box/instructions/label). What we actually want to know now is how many amps per hour it will use from our batteries. 

Amps = Watts divided by Volts (800W divided by 12v) so this indicates the oven will draw 66.6 amps per hour. One battery at 100ah would mean you only have about 20 minutes of use until the battery drops to half (maximum use before damage may occur). This is far from viable with one battery and even two or three batteries in the bank.

A halogen oven should really only be considered if you have a juicy battery bank of 300AH as a minimum alongside solar charging facilities. 

The other option would be to use it whilst on an electrical hookup like that found at a campsite. Be aware that some campsites have a limit on amperage and this could be as little as 5amps! 800W divided by 230v = 3.48Amps for example, but don’t forget to consider the other electrical items you have in use at the same time. 

Induction Hobs

Can you use an induction hob in a campervan? The simple answer is yes but there are a few things to consider before you purchase an induction hob for your van conversion.

Induction hobs have become ever so popular with van conversions these days. They are of a flat low profile and super space saving as you can simply put the hob away in a draw or cupboard. 

There are horror stories of gas canisters in vans blowing up and it’s a big worry for many. There is also carbon monoxide to consider and your van must be ventilated properly to keep safe.

Induction hobs are great for cooking in a campervan as they are compact, more efficient and also potentially safer to use in confined spaces. 

The induction process means that the heat is almost instantaneous and the heat is focused directly on the pan and not the surrounding areas. Induction pans are about 50% more efficient than a gas hob.

A pan of water will boil twice as fast on an induction hob than on a gas hob. 

Another great advantage of induction hobs is they produce a lot less moisture. There is no gas to burn thus no water in the air. The only moisture is from the steam in your pan. Every little helps in the war against moisture in a van!

The huge downside to induction hobs is the power consumption. It will put a huge strain on your batteries!

How much power is consumed from an induction hob? Typically an induction hob is about 1800w at full power or high heat so if we do our little calculation we get to 150amps! Ouch! 

This does mean that you need a powerful battery bank with at least 300ah along with some means to charge such as solar panels. 

Many people who cook on induction hobs tend to keep to quick 15/20minute meals and do not exceed a medium heat to maintain battery power whilst parked up. 

Coffee Maker

I know I need a good cup of coffee in the morning to function and I know a lot of van lifers who consider their coffee making facilities an essential must-have!

Personally I use a stove top coffee maker these days but I did once have a Tassimo coffee machine. 

Yet another power-hungry device and if you tend to spend a lot of time off-grid you may need to avoid all these gadgets but if it’s essential then we need to do our little science calculation. 

A standard Tassimo coffee machine such as the one I had is 1300W. That means a coffee machine on 12V will draw approximately 108 amps per hour. 

Remember the machine only runs for 45 seconds so you will get a fair amount of uses from it but it all adds up if you are off-grid.

How to minimise campervan power consumption

Adventures in your campervan are meant to be fun so not for one moment am I ever going to imply that you should make sacrifices to your holiday or vanlife living experience.

However, budgets are budgets and if you are familier with vanlife already you know that vans can be extremely expensive to equip with all the mod cons you might like. Some cutbacks may need to be made.

Coffee machine vs cafetiere
Equipping your coffee machine into your van (depending on how often you drink coffee) will use a lot of power and strain on your batteries. Have you ever tried a cast iron espresso maker? Or perhaps a cafetiere may be worth a try?

Fridge vs electric coolbox
It may seem like a great idea to buy a low cost electric coolbox but as the cheaper electric coolboxes do not ave a thermostatic control you will find that they run on full power constatnly. You may well find that if you leave the coolbox on overnight that you will wake up to flat batteries.

A thermostatic compressor fridge may be five times the cost of the coolbox but the power consumption is so much lower. The risk of killing your batteries is a lot less.

Induction hob vs gas hob
There is no doubt that induction hobs are great but they really require a fully prepared van setup or regular mains hookups to run them. Only consider an induction hob if you have researched and fully understand your power setup and requirements.

Gas hobs are great and if you ensure your setup is checked over by a qualified gas safe engineer you can rest easy knowing you have a cheap, low power consuming an safe stove-top.

The infamous Omnia oven
There are certain things you just can’t cook on the stove-top…unless you have an Omnia oven. This little red bundt tin with a lid will put crispy back on to your menu.

The Omnia oven sits on your stove-top using gas and no electric at all.

The wonderbag thermal oven
If slow-cooked is your thing and evening cooking is a rush, a thermal oven may be what you need. It uses virtually zero power and holds heat for up to 12 hours. Simply start the cooking process on your hob and then place it in the Wonderbag which will continue the cooking process slowly. Hours later you can enjoy a delicious slow-cooked hot meal.

Being brought up in a close British Italian family it’s no surprise that I spent most of my life cooking alongside my Nonna and learning the family secret recipes. 

I am proud to say that my children have also taken the family passion for cooking and I am now teaching them these family secret recipes.

The best tips for campervan cooking are to be organised, keep your surfaces clean, learn how to turn simple food into a variety of interesting cuisines and make sure you eat tasty food that you enjoy eating.

Whilst I am not yet ready to share the secret family recipes (although it’s in family discussion) I am very keen to share with you some of my favourite cooking tips that will really help elevate your food. 

1. If your campervan cooking is tasting bland, add some salt

Often you will find that a pinch of salt is all that is needed to really bring your food to life.

Under seasoned food is a classic rookie mistake and it takes time to know what foods require what amount of seasoning.

Salt as you may know contains sodium and sodium ions have the magic to take away bitterness as well as enhance the sweetness in flavourings. 

It is always best practice to taste as you go along whilst cooking to ensure you don’t under or over season. 

2. Toast your spices first

This is something that took me a little while to realise and what a huge difference it made. My curries and sauces suddenly became fragrant and bursting with flavour, and all I did was add the spices first!

Another rookie mistake is to add spices to your sauce. Always toast your spices over a low dry heat in a pan and start your recipe on these foundations first of all. 

When you start adding your other base ingredients to the pan you will find that they start to coat in the toasted spices and bring a whole new depth of flavour to every ingredient that goes in there after. 

You could also bloom the spices in some hot oil in a pan to form a fragrant paste that once again brings a concentrated kaboom to your food. 

3. Deglaze your pan

This is another trick to really maximise flavour in your cooking and help prolong the life of your campervan cooking pan.

The rookie mistake would be is to scrape the food from the pan and scrub the remaining brown bits that stick to the pan in the sink, potentially ruining your non stick pan but worst of all in my opinion you are washing all the flavour away.

Those stuck on brown bits are like little concentrated flavour bombs and you NEED them in your dish!

Whilst the pan is hot use a little white wine or stock to deglaze the pan forming a little extra concentrate of flavour to add to your food. 

You will also be glad that the washing up will be easier and your pan will last a lot longer. 

4. Let your meat rest before cutting it

Once upon a time I was a big meat eater and spent a lot of time experimenting with finding the best ways to cook meat. It was then that I realised the importance of letting meat rest before slicing into it and how much juicier it really does get. 

When meat is cooked the fibres tend to tense up and it pushes all the moisture / juices out of all the fibres. 

If you were to cut it open too early you would find that all the juices will spill out and when you eat the meat it will be very dry.

Allowing meat to rest before cutting into it will allow the fibres to loosen up again and re-absorb the juices. Less juice on your plate and more juice in the meat.

5. Add butter to your sauce before serving

This is more of a restaurant trick to make your sauce look all glossy and rich but it definitely adds a rich buttery sheen to your sauces. 

This technique is called “monter au beurre” which is where you add a small dollop of cold butter to your sauce right at the end of its cooking phase before your plate up. 

The trick is not let the butter cook and not let the butter fat breakup and separate, and only melt, soften and emulsify to richen and thicken your sauce.

6. Cook your eggs slowly

I always cook the perfect eggs and my best tip is to cook the eggs slowly over a low/medium heat. 

There is nothing more disappointing than cutting into your egg and finding it hard and dry and the best way to avoid this is to cook them low and slow. This also prevents the egg white from turning rubbery. 

I am also a fan of slow cooking my scrambled eggs as I get a light, fluffy and creamy scramble.

7. Dry your meat before cooking

By thoroughly drying your meat before cooking it will help to get a tasty crisp and golden colour when cooked. It also helps in sealing the meat keeping the juiciness on the inside and crispiness on the outside. 

Use a paper towel to pat dry the meat but do not press into the meat and soak up the meats natural juices and moisture, this would remove a lot of the flavour. The aim is to dry the outside layer only. 

If you are getting bits of paper towel sticking to your meat then you are probably pressing too hard!

Also make sure you use a thick paper towel as to not leave bits of paper over the outside of your meat. 

8. Add some crunch

Texture is an important factor to a dish and is almost important as flavour. It’s all about enjoying your food and if your food has no texture it end up sloppy and can be unpleasant. 

Try leaving a bit of bite in a vegetable or two or add some crispy breadcrumbs, nuts or seeds. 

Take a stir fry as an example, by adding some mange tout towards the end and only briefly cooking them will bring some crunch and also add freshness to your dish.

It makes a huge difference having something to bite on rather than just churning mush inside your mouth!

9. Look after you knives (and fingers)

Its actually very dangerous working with blunt knives. By having to put too much pressure into every cut you risk losing control of your knife by slipping or dropping your knife and potentially hurting yourself.

If you haven’t got a knife sharpener in your van make this your number one item on your next shopping list. It makes your culinary experience so much more enjoyable. 

Having a quality sharp knife means you get even, good looking cuts of meat and vegetables and most importantly all your fingers intact!  

Neat evenly sized food in your pan means everything will cook evenly and taste the same.

10. Add some acid to liven up your dish

In the same way as salt, acid can massively enhance flavour. If your food is tasting flat and dull, add a squeeze of lemon or lime to brighten it up. 

Here’s the secret.. do not add the squeeze of citrus until the sauce or food is completely cooked. It can make your food sing but if you add the citrus too early and it starts to cook it can make your food taste really quite funky.

Be careful with cream based sauces as although adding a squeeze of lemon will  brighten the flavours, adding too much can curdle the diary. 

It’s not only citrus fruit that brings your flavours to life, you can get the same effect by using vinegar.

As mentioned before, deglazing your pan with vinegar works amazingly or you can drizzle vinegar like a dressing. 

Try balsamic vinegar on strawberries as this brings out the sweetness in the strawberries.

Conclusion

These are just a hanful of useful tips I have learnt not only from my Nonna but from friends who are professinal chefs and not to mention my 40+ years of passionate cooking.

Hopefully these basic cooking tips will help improve your culinary skills in your campervan kitchen.

Happy Cooking!
Mark

For the first weekend of Spring here in the UK and we are inviting Vanlifers anywhere in the world to join us with a celebratory afternoon tea in a van.

We also have special guest Janey de Nordwall reading from her book ‘From a wonky Path to an Open Road!

What is afternoon tea?

For those of you who aren’t sure just what afternoon tea is, here is a little summary so that you too can join in and put together your very own afternoon tea picnic in your van.

Afternoon tea dates back to the 1840s in Britain and evolved as an afternoon mini-meal to curb hunger before an evening dinner party. 

Typically it consisted of mini sandwiches, pastries, cakes and of course a pot of tea. During the 20th Century, the introduction of scones with cream and jam were introduced and became a staple of afternoon tea.

Queen Victoria is responsible for the growing trend of afternoon tea or “tea receptions” as it was known back then and it would typically consist of as many as 200 guests at social gatherings usually for those of higher status or class.

These days an afternoon tea is enjoyed as an occasional treat or for small homely gatherings.

One of the best places to enjoy an Afternoon Tea (apart from in a van over a video call) is whilst visiting a stately home in heart of the countryside.

What to include in your Afternoon Tea?

You don’t have to bake or make anything in your van to join in with the event so go grab yourselves some delicious treats to enjoy over the video call.

There are many variations of an Afternoon Tea and it can be entirely customised to suit your taste. Here are some of the classic elements found in an Afternoon Tea.

Here is our very own recipe for making mini scones in an Omnia Oven

We were very lucky to be joined by some previous featured vanlifers @silverjaney @kitevanman @abundant.adventures as well as @motorhominglife @nevisthevan @stillyoungatart @amandaanddarcy @tombitripholidays. We were dispersed across the UK & as far as Portugal and the Algarve. We all managed to meet up and have afternoon tea together via the magic of GoogleMeet! We all had a good chat and enjoyed a reading from Janey’s book, ‘A wonky path to an open road’. Here are some photos from the day….

@kitevanman & @abundantadventures

@amandaanddarcy

@stillyoungatart

Vanlife Eats Afternoon tea

We look forward to many more events like this, we hope you can join us next time!

Sophie & Mark x