Most vehicles manufactured today have the typical 12v cigarette lighter plug, 12v auxiliary outlet and in addition, USB plugs. All of those are just fine for charging your phone, tablet, laptop. Small 110v power inverters can also be used by plugging them into the 12v outlets for running 12v appliances like a thermoelectric cooler or a fan for instance. That's all fine because when you start living in your vehicle your going to need all those things, and you'll need to be able to charge them and power them. The problem your going to run into is by using the cars starting battery like that, you stand a good chance of running that battery down a few times below its 50% capacity. It only takes 4 to 6 times discharging (running down) a standard car battery to kill it. Then what's going to happen is you'll be stranded somewhere with a dead battery.
So here's my suggestion, Install a second Battery, to charge and power devices and appliances such as a fan, accent lights or even a small slow cooker. When you do install a second auxiliary battery, (known as a house battery) You'll want to use either a marine starting battery or a deep cycle battery. Preferably you'll want to install a deep cycle battery. A marine starting battery will be better than a standard starting battery, but not by much. A marine starting battery can be charged and discharged several dozen times more than a standard automotive starting battery. Realistically, you should use a deep cycle battery. Deep cycle batteries can be cycled (charged and discharged hundreds of times more than standard auto and marine starting batteries. But if your on a limited budget you can get by with a marine starting battery, just be aware of its limitations and don't cycle it below 50%.
Another auxiliary power device I recommend is a portable jump starter. I prefer the lithium ion type of jump starter. Although there are some very reasonably priced models out there that still have the lead acid type battery, those are and work just fine. Just treat them just like you do any other lead acid battery. don't run them completely down too many times because that will kill them just like a car starting battery. For less than a hundred bucks you can get a good jump starter with USB plugs and even a built in power inverter. A decent fully operational, charged and ready to use, jump starter Is something I keep around. Because you never know when you'll experience a dead starting battery.
Now that we've went over a few of the different types of batteries and auxiliary power sources. I want to suggest and go over what I think is the most economical, and easiest way to have an auxiliary power system that is separate from your starting battery in your home on wheels. What I suggest is installing a second battery (house battery) that is charged by your vehicles very own charging system. I'm recommending going with this setup because it is an easy way to have extra power capability, without spending a lot of money.
The first thing you need to do is decide where the house battery is going to be located in the vehicle. Then you need to measure the distance between the house battery and the starting battery. To do this, drill a hole in the vehicle body floor by the battery, or wherever you run the power cables that go through the vehicles body, and use a length of string from the house battery through the hole and along the vehicles body and frame to the starting battery terminals. The hole that you drill in the body put a rubber plug in it, cut a slit in the plug so the cables will pass through, and after you run your cables the rubber plug will keep the cables from chaffing on the metal. After the cables have been run, just apply some silicone caulk to seal it. Purchase a battery disconnect switch and connect it somewhere inside the vehicle in a place that is easily accessible. The reason you want to find out the distance between the batteries is so you can use the proper size of electrical cable, especially on the positive side. The bigger diameter of cable the better, there are charts available that show you the size to use online, don't skimp on this. On the positive side of the cable that supplies power to the house battery install an inline fuse in proximity to the engine starting battery, that is easy to access, about a foot or less from the starting battery is okay, this will be in addition to using the proper size cable and another good safety precaution.
Once you have everything in place and installed, each time you run your vehicle's engine you'll be able to keep the house battery charged. Just remember to turn the battery disconnect switch to on, so that when your driving or anytime the engine is running, power will flow into the house battery. and when the engine is not running turn the battery disconnect switch to off, to stop the flow of power from the starting battery. That'll way the engine starting battery will be isolated from the house battery and no power will be used from it, that simple. Other than using the vehicles own power system, this is in my opinion the cheapest and most economical way to have an auxiliary onboard power system.
There are numerous online articles and videos about how to do this. Go ahead and seek them out. You'll find endless ideas and opinions about what to do and how to install power systems in vehicles, all of that is okay. I just wanted to show you that it's not that hard, complicated or expensive to have an auxiliary power system in your home on wheels.
Just Go For It, A Life Of Travel Adventure Awaits!
~Chaz~
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