As a touring caravan owner, you will find that one of your biggest expenses is your energy usage. You need the energy to generate everything from the lights to the toilet and shower, right on through to the heating. Aiming to cut down these energy costs and make caravan use and ownership just that little bit more affordable has to be in your best interest. Knowing where to start and what to tackle can make the process a little quicker and pain-free.
Being Conscious and Aware
It is far too easy to carry on with your normal way of life when you are in a caravan. However, this is not always ideal. You may use a lot of energy in your own home, and this is not something you can sustain when you are out on the road. Learning to be more conscious and aware of your energy usage in your caravan has to be a priority. For instance, you can start waiting until you have a full sink of pots before you clean the dishes. Or, you could collect shower water or sink water to use to flush the toilets to save you from using clean and fresh water. Changing your mindset and focusing on what you are doing and why will help you stop wasting energy.
Make Use of Natural Resources – Solar Panels
Being connected to draining energy resources when using your caravan may well be a thing of the past. You can actually save energy when using a touring caravan by making use of natural resources. For instance, you could connect a wind turbine to your caravan to harvest electricity. Or you could use solar panels to heat up water supplies or even generate electricity. When you are more focused on harvesting and generating your own energy, you see how much work goes into the process, and this helps you avoid wastage and misuse.
Be Savvy with Cooking and Heating
Eating out is not always an option when you are in a caravan. There will, of course, be times when you want to cook and heat. Cooking and heating can be draining on your energy, so it is important that you are as savvy as possible. Heating one area of a caravan at a time will help you stop generating and wasting energy in unused spaces. Batch cooking and then suitably storing prepped meals will stop you from excessively using gas burners and stoves – which can be draining and costly.
Make Use of Monitoring Devices
You will have to use a certain amount of energy when using your caravan, and this is unavoidable. However, if you can monitor this usage, you can then see where to make changes and cutbacks. Purchasing devices that monitor your electricity usage, such as remote meters, and even looking at devices that control the heating will help you stay on top of energy usage. You may have an initial outlay to get these devices set up and running, but in the long run, they will help you successfully curb excessive energy usage.
