Having an EFOY Generator
panels. We did buy a couple of solar panels and Hew built an easel to mount them on thus enabling them to be moved to whichever area of the campground should be getting the sun. Tey worked, minimally. We were forced to reduce power consumption as much as possible. I took portable water jugs with us so we didn’t have to rely
on the water pump. We turned the lights off at night and used battery operated headlights (like miner’s lamps) to read by. We installed battery operated LED lights so we could move safely around the trailer at night without fear of tripping over anything (primarily our two large dogs). Ten at the end of August 2011 we bought a new trailer. It
BY ALIX DAY
“What did you say?” I asked, trying to make myself heard over the noise, and fumes, from the campsite next to ours where a gas generator was operating. So much for peace and quiet and communing with nature.
As owners of a trailer that can be power hungry (fridge,
furnace, lights, radio etc) I know there has to be a way to recharge batteries but does it have to be noisy and smelly? Besides which, two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening (the maximum allowed but not always adhered to in Provincial Parks) is not usually sufficient to completely recharge the batteries if you are using a small, portable gas generator. Ten you must find space to pack the generator (along with an adequate supply of mixed gas to fuel it) along with dogs, kids, bikes and all the other accoutrements required for camping. We much prefer dry camping as we have found some remote
(and some not so remote) spots where the campsites are large and well separated from your neighbours. Unfortunately, even that large separation is not always enough if the camper next to you runs his generator for hours at a time. We have a small gas generator but always feel guilty when
we use it out of necessity to recharge batteries diminished by four or five days of dry camping. Not only does it disturb our neighbours, it disturbs us as well. We had looked into solar panels that could be mounted on the roof of the trailer but most provincial campsites, and some private ones, have lots of tall trees, which block the sun. Also, we enjoy camping well into the shoulder seasons (from March to November) and sometimes there just isn’t any sun to charge the solar
20 RVT 148 • JULY/AUGUST 2012
had a slide (more power demands), an electric awning (more power demands) and a powered tongue jack (yet more power demands). Setting everything up on arrival at a campsite wouldn’t be much of an issue – the batteries would be fully charged at home prior to departure – but aſter four or five days of dry camping, would there be enough juice leſt in the batteries to bring in the slide and the awning and raise and lower the jack or would we have to resort to manual means? Our first trip with the new trailer was to a Provincial Park and we used the generator to partially recharge the batteries. Given the great weather, we were outside most of the day and when we went inside at night to get ready for bed, we used the battery powered LED lights we had installed. We didn’t need to use the furnace at all. So the gas generator did an okay, not great, job. Our next two trips before winterizing the trailer were to a full service campsite. No power issues there – we were plugged in!! Ten a miracle happened!!! We were offered the opportunity
by Peden RV in Sidney (our RV dealer), to “test-drive” an EFOY Fuel Cell Generator. All I can say is WOW!! I can have every light in the trailer on, have the furnace and the fridge on, use the water pump, watch DVDs on the television and I NEVER run out of power. It’s like being plugged in all the time. It is permanently installed in the pass-through and really doesn’t take up much space. It doesn’t need to be carried in your tow vehicle – it just stays in the pass-through all the time. It is fueled by methanol, which is purchased in a large 10L container. When it is empty, you just disconnect the empty container, connect a full one and toss the empty one in with your recycling. In the “auto” mode, the EFOY generator is on standby. When the battery voltage drops below 12.3V it turns on and runs until the battery voltage is at 14.2V then it goes back to standby. When it is running, and if you are very close to it, you can hear a very faint hum from a fan in the unit. From the control panel, you can monitor how many hours the unit has been running, what voltage it is putting out, etc. Te methanol container is almost clear so you can see the level and know how much you have leſt. Estimates are that for the amount and type of camping we do, we will use 2-3 containers of methanol per year. Hew is keeping track of all the details.
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