Horsebox Leisure Battery - what size?!

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3bh

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Warning - potentially stupid question (I was born blonde, in my defence)

How do I know what size leisure battery I need for my horsebox? There seem to be a wide range on the websites I've looked up.

I've only had the lorry a couple of weeks, obviously it came with a leisure battery fitted but seller admitted it was no longer holding charge, and gave me cash back to buy myself a new battery. The one that is in there is just plain white and has no writing or numbering on it (first company I rang said to me "well just read us out the numbers and we'll send you a suitable replacement" - not that easy?!)

I'm guessing I need to be looking for the highest Ah rating within my budget - I have a full living inc heating and hot water, and will be over-nighting in it, not just at venues with hook up.


Can anyone recommend where to buy such a thing?


(Told you it was a potentially stupid question - apologies, I'm quite on the ball most of the time!)
 
To be honest I'm not sure, I know fridge can be battery or gas, cooker is gas, but was told it needed the battery power to ignite similarly the hot water/heating needed power other than the gas..... Lights, TV etc I suppose (something to keep the OH entertained whilst I'm doing the horsey stuff as he puts it!)
 
I would be looking at minimum 85ah but more useful would be 120ah plus.
Dont run fridge off 12v, it will flatten the battery very quickly.
Just make sure the physical size of battery will fit where it needs to go if going for a high AH rating.
 
I would get as big a battery as you can afford, but obviously you also need to consider the size of the holder you currently have

I have a 110Amp hour battery, which runs TV, water pump, lighting and control units for heating, hot water etc

This lasts one person for 4 days with good TV use! I also have a genie in case she runs out for longer stays, I actually use this generally just to charge the battery, but would also use this if I wanted to use a proper hairdryer.

I'd never run my fridge on 12v as it would kill my battery in around 6 hours I believe, gas much better. However with a fridge on, cooking and hot water i use a dumpy bottle in around 3 trips!

I also now have 15w solar panels trickling into my leisure battery 24/7 now, so will be interesting to see if this makes any difference come the summer!

Most 3 day trips I don't have to worry about the battery at all.
 
A 110Ah battery should be fine....most caravans have this capacity.

Fridges that run 12v as well as 240v and gas are usually just intended to run in 12v mode when the lorry is in transit and they are usually connected to the lorry alternator (or second electrics hook up on a caravan)...they are not designed to run off a battery. Use gas or 240v main hook up when stationary.

If you're running a tv off the leisure battery you will either need a 12v tv....or a mains inverter which runs off the leisure battery :-)
 
Lots more useful advice thank you! Have a generator as a back up too. The battery is in a skirt locker with huge amounts of room, current one in there is huge and bigger than I had in previous lorry so I'm pretty certain size won't be an issue.

The living is all fitted and set up with TV already installed, but useful advice thank you!
 
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