Save £'s

Discount Offers & Spring Short Breaks

Do I need a Generator?

Answer these questions to find out...

On board your motorhome there is a 12v Leisure Battery. This ensures that you are fully self-sufficient when away from any form of mains connection. It powers your lights, water pump (taps and toilet flush), your TV/DVD player, and blown-air heating.

The cab is powered by a separate vehicle battery (like you have in your car). If you use the USB (available in some of our motorhomes) or 12v sockets to recharge your mobile devices whilst the motorhome is stationary, this will flatten the battery and the motorhome won’t start.

Will you be staying at a campsite with electric hook-up?

If you are visiting camp sites where you will be receiving electric hook-up then you will not need a generator.

Staying in locations without electric hook-up?

If you stay in one location without electric hook-up for longer than 1 or 2 nights, then your leisure battery will need to be recharged. The battery will begin to charge again when you start driving. You will need to be driving for about an hour to get a near full amount of charge.

If you don’t fancy packing everything up and leaving your pitch, then connecting a generator to the motorhome will also recharge your battery levels.

If you’re staying at a campsite you may want to check that they allow generators first!

The ones we have available to hire are the Super Quiet Honda Generators.

Motorhome Generator

What sort of electrical devices will you be using?

If you’re planning on bringing along some of your own electrical appliances, such as a hairdryer or a laptop, then you will need some form of mains connection to power/recharge them. This could be via a campsite’s electric hook-up or a generator.

You will not be able to power anything that requires 230v or has a 3-pin plug with your leisure battery.

All of our Swift motorhomes come with a microwave as standard. If you wanted to use this then you would need electric hook-up or a generator. Likewise, if you are in one of our Auto Trail or Roller Team motorhomes and wanted to hire a microwave from us.

Does the motorhome you’ve booked come with solar panels?

If so, then you won’t need to worry about the leisure battery depleting if staying in one location for a prolonged period of time. You won’t however be able to use any of the 3-pin plug sockets.

All of our RollerTeam and Auto Trail motorhomes come with a solar panel fitted. The Swifts do not.

Do I need a 1kw or 2kw generator?

This depends on what you’ll be using the generator for. If it is just to top up your leisure battery levels and charge mobile devices and laptops then a 1kw generator will suffice.

If you’re wanting to plugin other electrical appliances that require power over 1000 watts, or a sudden boost of power when you don’t have electric hook-up, then you will need a 2kw generator.

Worth Noting

To reduce their electricity bills, some campsites that have electric hook-up facilities restrict the amount of power you receive, which could mean certain appliances won’t work, such as hairdryers and microwaves.

In this instance you would need a 2kw generator, so always worth checking when booking your pitch.

Hire A Generator

Think you will need a generator?

Hire one from us!

…and here’s how easy it is to use

Website designed and developed byMadison Web Solutions logo