Leisure Battery or No Leisure Battery??

Personally I would go for a battery you never know if the site has a power cut you are totally in the dark with no water pump, no toilet flush,no radio etc, so a battery sounds good to me of course it may never happen BUT!!

Excellent advice Jim, I never even thought of that! GO OUT DOORS here we come :-)

Try to get a leisure battery that allows you to top it up. Every sealed battery that I have had has lasted less time than one with screw tops. My current battery (Elecsol AGM £110 on Ebay) uses about 500 ml of water each year.
BUT most importantly, do not rely on the caravan power supply to charge the battery. If you do the battery will have a very short life. The power supply runs at approx 13.8 volts, which will maintain a charge. But a lead-acid battery must be charged to 14.4 volts( to prevent sulphation), and as soon as the battery hits this 14.4 the charge should be reduced. This is what an electronic charger willdo. If you tend not to "use" the battery, it will need this 14.4 volt charge about every 6 weeks or so to keep it in good condition.
The Ctek charger is good, but very expensive. Lidl and Aldi have a similar device as specials twice a year for about £12, roughly in February and October, so you won't get one now.
Don't use an old style "car" charger as that will just destroy the battery much more quickly than leaving it on the caravan's power supply.

I have my own views on the battery situation.I always use an ordinary battery as opposed too a leisure battery for two reasons.One because they cost a lot more too buy and two i dont do any caravanning without mains hookup.I also use a  battery that is identical too the one on my towcar so they can be swopped if needed.As i have a 4x4mover fitted i,m useing a 110ah battery.

peter.

Volvoman, that's a great idea. Just remember to put the caravan battery in the car now and then to give it a proper charge. I do similar. I don't tow with my ancient Landrover, so the 55 amp battery goes with us as a backup on rallies over a few days (depending on time of year - sunlight falling on the solar panel), and then gets charged up again on the car
The reason that I wrote what I did was that ts210 said that he (or she) was considering going to Go-outdoors.

Volvoman, that's a great idea. Just remember to put the caravan battery in the car now and then to give it a proper charge. I do similar. I don't tow with my ancient Landrover, so the 55 amp battery goes with us as a backup on rallies over a few days (depending on time of year - sunlight falling on the solar panel), and then gets charged up again on the car
The reason that I wrote what I did was that ts210 said that he (or she) was considering going to Go-outdoors.

I,m lucky enough too have an industrial size battery charger at home so have no problems with flat batteries.

peter.

I did mean to add, though that I don't discharge the Landie battery too far. It is a starter battery, and therfore has thin plates which might not recover fully if discharged below about 12.2 volts.

Buy a wet battery and look after it. They should reward you with many years service. My current Orange 110ah is in its eighth year! I have only added fluid once in all that time. I am a little unusual in that i DONT ever remove mine from the van even in winter, we tour a lot then...I rely on a 1.7 amp solar panel to keep it alive in between and it certainly has done that.

Tj

The vans that have trackers fitted need a 12V leisure battery connected all the time to power the tracker and alarm system. If battery voltage drops below 10.5V then you will get an alarm via the tracker people.

Depending on you electric system, it may advise not to charge the battery other than via the van's own charging system.

If you don't want to fit a battery you can always plug in your car if the site loses power that will keep you going for a bit, just be careful you don't drain the car battery.