Sustainable Environment foreword by Bruce Loxton
There is great pleasure camping in a remote part of Australia on a still and starry night with only the sound of the night fire. There is great satisfaction to be able to do this for as long as you like without having to start-up a generator. There is even more satisfaction to do this with fresh bread every morning, hot showers, cold drinks and plenty of internal lights - and still plenty of energy left. In a nutshell, this is the goal of sustainable energy.
Caravan & camper trailer manufacturers have not made it easy to achieve this goal in the past as there are very few energy efficient caravans and camper trailers. However, after working over the last 3 years, researching, trialling and using energy efficient products, we are confident of having a practical solution.
In addition, we constantly ask travellers for feedback on our solutions and can safely say that nearly all appreciate the value of energy efficiency. It just takes a little more investment, a little more planning and a little more attention to minimise power when it is not needed.
Our Environmentally Friendly Solutions (including energy solutions):include
Batteries with Absorbed Glass Matt technology: 99% recyclable
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Ultra low power LED lights integrated into our products
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Low power pumps (we supply both a low power and high power pump)
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Vacuum toilets (zero chemicals)
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Water efficient showers with low turn-down flow rates
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Remote mounted compressor refrigerators (reduces power loss)
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Eutectic refrigerators (in our Kamper range)
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Energy design allows for easy connection of solar panels
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Diesel powered ceramic cook-tops reduce energy use
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Diesel heaters (both air and hot water)
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Low power space heaters (in conjunction with the diesel heater)
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Tropical roofs (in our Kamper range) reduce temperatures by 20%+
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Quality insulation throughout the Karavan reduces energy loss
Some of these products were not readily available in Australia and we import from overseas. However, in sourcing solar panels we made a decision to buy Australian Assembled content from BP Solar.
The diesel heater and cooktop can run on bio- diesel if it is to the international and European standards. Aparently some bio-diesel in Australian is not produced to this standard. These are quiet and very efficient in diesel consumption. 12 Litres of Diesel use in the Karavan is the equivalent to nearly 24kgs of LPG should LPG appliances be used instead. We estimate that 12L will last you 20 days typical use.
The refrigerator we chose for the Karavan has a remote mounted compressor (Danfoss) that we cool with an inlet vent and exhaust vent at the compressor. This increases efficiency significantly and the 130L unit (with freezer) consumers on average only 19.5 amp hours/day. This is similar to the 73 L Eutectic Autofrige we supply in our Kamper range.
We also practice what we preach. Last year, I took the family for 2 weeks without a generator and using only solar panels to an isolated area on the Queensland coast. The model we took was our entry level Kamper with only 140Ah of battery capacity.
After 3-4 days of rain, and very little solar charging, we were very close to only 35% battery capacity remaining. The family had been opening and closing the fridge all day for drinks. Although wet, the temperature was warm. We were a day away from the fridge (with food for 6 of us) cutting out. Fortunately, the sun came out on day 4 and we left after 10 more days with adequate battery capacity.
Would it have been a disaster if the fridge had cut out totally?
Not really. I figured we would have had maybe 2 more days with the fridge as a cool-box. The eutectic fridge will run for 23 hours after power cut off.
However, for safety and convenience at night, we really needed the lighting as an essential power source. The low power consumption of the LED lights would have given us another 10 nights at least so it would not have been a disaster.
As a last resort, we could plug the vehicle in and charge using the vehicle’s alternator, but that was the least energy efficient solution. The lesson learned was that in less predictable weather on the coast, we needed higher battery capacity.
This experience convinced me more than ever of the need to use LED lighting and low power pumps – so that in tight spot with limited battery capacity, the LED lights could be used night after night without draining too much capacity.
Our answer to the generator question is this: if the trip is planned during a period of fairly predictable weather then consider solar power. If not, take a small generator (Honda EU10i) as a back-up. If you want the comfort of air-conditioning, take the mid-size generator (Honda EU20i). The smaller the generator the better.
On a side note, the use of the vacuum toilet uses electrical energy whereas a chemical toilet doesn’t. However, the thought of pouring chemically treated waste in a hole behind a gum tree over-rode the minor energy consumption. Our toilet system is 100% environmentally friendly.
The major benefits of maximising sustainable energy are:
- longer period of time between charging batteries – whatever way this is done!
- reduced weight – less fuel to carry
- reduced running costs – fuel and maintenance
- reduced noise – run the generator less, though they are very qiuiet!
It is for these reasons that we design and promote sustainable energy systems.
AGM Batteries
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Clean and environmentally friendly
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| Diesel Cooker | Can operate on Bio-diesel to the International and European Standards |
NO LPG inside |
| Diesel Hot Water | Can operate on Bio-diesel to the International and European Standards |
NO LPG for hot water |
| Toilet System |  |
The vacuum toilet does not use any chemicals. As a result the waste can be disposed of:
This means it can be disposed of virtually anywhere in Australia.
This is NOT the case with chemical toilets. Even the environmentally “friendly” chemicals take time to break down.
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| Water System |  |
Our principles of water storage:
The shower roses have an acceptable low rate of 3.3l/minute |
