Don’t know if it’s already been mentioned but Haynes do a caravan manual which is very useful.

I must say – i did my trailer test AFTER i had bought my camper because there was no combination of my camper and trailer or Landy and trailer i could legally tow anything meaningful with…. 3500kg MAM van plus a 750kg MAM trailer —- so 450-500kg payload.

I would consider a caravan in place of the red bus if it had to go for some reason for all the reasons that molgrips outlines. and the reason that the whole caravan thing IS cheaper than the big red bus.

Well that sounds eco-friendly!

<devils-advocate>for typical use patterns is it any worse than the loss in fuel economy from towing a shed behind your car?</devils-advocate>

for typical use patterns is it any worse than the loss in fuel economy from towing a shed behind your car?

Interesting question actually!

Our fuel economy goes down from high 50s to low 30s mpg with the caravan on, so probably a drop of 55-60%. Not sure what that is in kg of CO2.

We impulse bought an Eriba 430 Triton advertised in a car park whilst on holiday in France.
Saved about 7k (1/2) on the uk dealer price , we were not looking for a van , I had a towbar and spare rear plate in the car.
Would not have looked at it if it was the normal white box , but the mini Airstream look made it interesting.
Has been great, its small but confortable for 3 , easy to tow as its thin (2m) went back to France in it last year and spent 3 weeks in several different places on “tour”
They are a bit niche , but they do what they are supposed to do and keep their value so well that even buying a new one is not mad if you give up and sell it.
Constructed with a steel space frame so very sturdy but light , aerodynamic so less load on the towing vehicle, long drawbar for bike rack.
Definitely much cheaper bought somewhere like Holland and brought back – there is no import tax or registration , at the moment , of course after the end of year it could change..

An example of what can be done , including the Dutch DVLA stuff here:
https://www.eribaforum.co.uk/eriba%20amiga/pdf/Buying_Dutch.pdf

Our fuel economy goes down from high 50s to low 30s mpg with the caravan on, so probably a drop of 55-60%. Not sure what that is in kg of CO2.

Assuming it’s a diesel, 50 mpg is 23.82 kg of CO2 per 100 miles; 30 mpg is 39.69 kg of CO2 per 100 miles

(sauce)

That’s a difference of 15.87kg of CO2 per 100 miles travelled.

The current UK CO2 equivalent for electricity is ~0.2kg/kWh, so the difference in fuel consumption for a 100 mile drive will generate the same CO2 as running a 1kW fan heater 24 hours a day for over 3 days.

so the difference in fuel consumption for a 100 mile drive will generate the same CO2 as running a 1kW fan heater 24 hours a day for over 3 days.

And I bet a mobile shed-ist is using a heater at the same time of year anyway 🙂

And I bet a mobile shed-ist is using a heater at the same time of year anyway

Yes but far less, as caravans have much better insulation meaning that they stay warmer without a heater and when one is required it won’t need to be on much.

the difference in fuel consumption for a 100 mile drive will generate the same CO2 as running a 1kW fan heater 24 hours a day for over 3 days.

Or 8 hours a night for 9 days. So it’s broadly comparable, depending on how long your holiday is and what sort of power your heater is.

Mobile sheds tend to have gas heaters, and insulation so get some of that efficiency back – depending of course on how far you traveled to get cold.

Has anyone seen the Boondock trailers in the flesh? They look like they could be either great or pointless, I can’t decide.

Mobile sheds tend to have gas heaters

Most are dual fuel nowadays.

Also note that we get similar mpg with the caravan regardless of bikes being on the roof of the car or not. Our mid 50s mpg goes down to mid 40s even with bikes on the back, and low 40s with them on the roof. So if we’re comparing caravan to trailer camping then the bikes are going to be on the roof anyway, so the ‘extra’ fuel consumption for bike trips with caravan vs trailer is less.

Mobile sheds tend to have gas heaters

Blown air electric heating throughout the van with gas option. Increasingly some now have proper wet central heating with radiators and heated towel rails.

Our MPG drops from high 40’s to low 30’s when towing.

Ours is so small that cooking in winter means opening the door or it gets too hot. Have a small fan heater that gets a blast a couple of times in the evening and for 5 mins before getting up but only from Oct onwards.
Given the transporter has a 50 limit on a roads I don’t hold anyone up any more than I would driving a tent to a site.

Caravan bit is ace! Loved ours, went loads of places for 5 years. Treated like a base camp. Big improvement over a tent.

Towing it is a PITA, not difficult but just not relaxing or fun.

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/i-want-a-caravan-thats-not-a-caravan/

Just sold it, both gutted and a bit relieved.

The kids loved it and were in tears when it went

Saw a discovery towing one of the north American caravans (normal hitch not fith wheel). Massive pretty sure not legal too as it looked so wide and maybe over length too but.

Increasingly some now have proper wet central heating with radiators and heated towel rails.

Yep and underfloor heating in mine

Towing it is a PITA, not difficult but just not relaxing or fun.

I don’t mind towing on motorways and good roads at all. It’s quite nice going slowly sometimes because things happen more slowly, it’s quite good. The only issues are when the roads are narrow, or when you want to stop off on the way as said above. And it takes longer, but not so much that it’s a huge issue. I mean it still takes all day to get to Scotland either way.

Saw a discovery towing one of the north American caravans (normal hitch not fith wheel). Massive pretty sure not legal too as it looked so wide and maybe over length too but.

Yes and they are also extremely heavy.

Our MPG drops from high 40’s to low 30’s when towing.

Same here (Xtrail) whereas my mate is lucky to get 30 mpg all the time with his (titchy) MH.

The wet heating has It’s pros & cons.
Pros, quieter than blown air.
Cons, heavier than a blown air system & I read somewhere that it takes longer to reach the same temp as a blown air system (?) Our 1st caravan had Alde heating but the current one is air, the noise is about the only difference that I notice.

Same with wet Vs forced air in houses. Forced air is instant heat wet has a lag but more stable less cutting in and out, more efficient (in houses at least). These advantages are less important in a small caravan except the cutting in and out one as it will be noisy. Oil fill in rad will have the same effect.

If I could offer our experience. We went from a SWB Vivaro pop top campervan to a caravan after 7 years (and tents before that). Entirely due to having two young kids and getting fed up the lack of space and playing human Tetris. In life before kids (first 4 years of ownership) the camper was perfect for us but life changes. It took a lot of convincing for me to make the change but I’m entirely happy with the change after two years. With two kids and dogs it suits our lifestyle and holiday wants perfectly.

I could say so much on this subject. I think it’s a case of all options (tent Vs camper Vs motorhome Vs caravan) have their comprises so its good to make an honest assessment of what you want and need. The ‘obvious’ downsides aren’t too big a deal for us, I don’t mind towing and we can store at home. Don’t believe the hype about ownership costs, buy old and cheap, £110pa to insure and I DIY service and maintain, there isn’t a lot to go wrong.

Having the campervan and knowing why we were making the change meant thay we had a strong list of needs/wants from the van and spent a long time looking and confirming our desired spec. The process of looking also changed our wants/needs quite a bit until we found our perfect van. Buy a damp meter and use your judgement

We got a 2003 Hymer Nova 5 berth from eBay private sale. It’s larger than we originally anticipated but a perfect spec for us, it is heavy (1700kg mtplm). Thankfully this wasn’t really an issue as we already had a Tourneo (Transit) Custom which will tow pretty much anything.

I wouldn’t restrict yourself to the standard licence weights. I had to do the test (B&E) but this was sorted in a 2 day course (2x4hrs) at £350. This will give you more flexibility of choice.

there isn’t a lot to go wrong

Yes. As long as it’s not damp everything is an absolute piece of piss to work on. All the sundry items like hinges, handles, poppers and whatnot are readily available for peanuts; larger items like pumps and taps are irritatingly expensive but not prohibitively so and also widely available – we had to spend £50 on a submersible pump on this year’s holiday, but we found one, and it wasn’t a big dent in the holiday budget overall.

On the previous van the hot water outlet from the boiler had become brittle and it snapped. We couldn’t get to a spares shop for whatever reason (might’ve been a saturday afternoon or something) so I drained the boiler, popped to a local hardware shop for some jubilee clips and re-plumbed the system as cold only so we could still have water until I got the part, only took 5 mins.