VAN LIFE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM BASICS | 110 vs 12 volt | AGM vs Lithium Batteries
Building your own van conversion is complicated, and one of the most challenging aspects is figuring out your van electrical system.
You’ll want to understand these van life electrical system basics before jumping into your van build…
110 VS 12 VOLT POWER
One of the first things you’ll want to understand when it comes to building your own camper van is 110 volt electricity vs 12 volt electricity.
The basic explanation is this:
12 volt is low voltage electricity that can run directly off of your batteries
110 volt electricity is what is in a house and uses standard outlets.
In a van you will need an inverter to convert your 12 volt battery bank power to 110 volt electricity to power any standard outlets in your van conversion. Items that use 110 volt electricity typically need more power/
Examples of items that run off of 110 electricity are: water heaters, laptop chargers, toaster ovens, hair straighteners, etc.
In a van conversion, you’ll want to use as many 12 volt (low voltage) items as possible to ensure you can power all the items you’d like in your van!
We recommend getting the following 12 volt items for your van build:
lighting
fridge
switches
vent fan
Espar or Webasto heater
AC unit
AGM VS LITHIUM BATTERIES
When it comes to your van electrical system you need to think of it as an investment. This is what everything in your van will be powered from so it’s important to not cut corners!
That’s why we always recommend going with lithium batteries. Though they seem more expensive upfront, the performance greatly outweighs the performance of AGM batteries. Basically you are getting way more bang for your buck.
Let’s look at a few of the key differences between AGM vs Lithium.
LITHIUM:
80-100% useable energy
3000-5000 life cycles
Smaller & lighter
AGM:
50% useable energy
400-1500 life cycles
Big & heavier
When it comes to building your own van, saving on weight is a huge factor. Lithium batteries are lighter weight compared to AGM batteries, and have 80-10% useable energy making them the no brainer choice for powering your camper van.
Our go-to brand for lithium batteries is Battle Born Batteries. Based in Reno, NV these batteries are made in the U.S., are backed by a 10 year warranty and have some of the best customer service around! It’s no wonder we’ve put these batteries in the 12 vans we’ve built.
Here are the electrical items we recommend for your van conversion:
