Caravan Power, Gas & Water: What Gear Do You Need?

Power, water, and gas are the three systems that determine how independently your caravan can operate. Get them right and you can free camp for days (or weeks) without visiting a caravan park. Get them wrong and you’ll be chasing powered sites, rationing showers, and wondering why your batteries died at 2am.

Most new caravans come with a basic setup across all three: a single house battery, a modest solar panel, a 240V charger, two water tanks, and a couple of gas bottles running the stove and hot water. For weekend trips and park-based travel, the stock setup is usually adequate. For the Big Lap, particularly if free camping features in your plans, it’s often the weakest link in an otherwise capable rig.

This guide covers the gear that supports, monitors, and upgrades these three core systems. If you want to understand how the systems themselves work, start with our Getting To Know Your Caravan guides. This section is about what gear to buy and when it’s worth upgrading.

Understanding Your Three Core Systems

Before spending anything on upgrades, you need to understand what your van already has and where the actual gaps are. This sounds obvious, but a surprising number of new caravanners spend thousands on a lithium battery upgrade before they’ve worked out whether their existing setup is actually insufficient for how they travel.

Power is the system most Big Lappers upgrade. Your house battery stores 12V energy for lights, the water pump, USB charging, the fridge, and any other 12V accessories. It’s charged by solar panels, a DC-DC charger connected to the tow vehicle, and the 240V charger when you’re plugged in at a park. An inverter converts 12V battery power to 240V for running household appliances off-grid. The limiting factor is almost always battery capacity: how much energy you can store versus how much you use overnight and on cloudy days.

Water is simpler but still worth getting right. Your tanks hold a finite amount, and how you manage that supply determines how long you can camp without refilling. Water-saving devices (low-flow showerheads, tap aerators) extend your supply, water filters ensure what you’re drinking is clean, and monitoring systems tell you how much you have left so you’re not guessing.

Gas runs your stovetop, oven (if fitted), hot water system (in most vans), and possibly a gas heater. Two 9kg bottles are standard, and one pair lasts most travellers three to six weeks depending on usage. The gear here is mostly about monitoring: knowing when your bottles are getting low so you can refill before you run out at an inconvenient time.

Power: Batteries, Solar, Inverters & Monitoring

Power is where the real gear decisions live. The choices you make about batteries, solar, and inverters determine whether you can camp independently for two days or two weeks, whether you can run an air conditioner off-grid, and whether you can work remotely from places without power.

Batteries are the foundation. The stock AGM battery in most new caravans gives you 100 to 120 amp-hours of capacity, of which you can use about half before damaging the battery (AGMs don’t like being discharged below 50%). That’s enough for lights, the water pump, phone charging, and a 12V fridge for about 24 hours in warm weather. If you need more, you’re looking at either adding a second AGM battery or upgrading to lithium (LiFePO4), which costs more upfront but gives you usable capacity of 80 to 100% of the rated amp-hours, weighs significantly less, and lasts three to five times longer.

Solar is how you replenish your batteries during the day. Stock solar panels on new caravans range from 160W to 400W. Whether that’s enough depends on your battery capacity, daily consumption, and where you’re travelling. Northern Australia gets abundant sunshine; southern Tasmania in winter doesn’t. Portable solar panels supplement fixed roof-mounted panels and can be positioned to catch sun when the van is parked in shade.

Inverters convert your 12V battery power to 240V AC, letting you run household appliances (laptops, hair dryers, blenders, power tools) without being plugged into mains power. The key decision is sizing: a small inverter (300 to 600W) handles laptops and phone chargers. A large inverter (2,000 to 3,000W) can run a microwave, air conditioner, or coffee machine. Bigger inverters draw more power from your batteries, so the battery bank needs to support it.

Monitoring ties it all together. A power monitoring system (like a Victron SmartShunt, Redarc RedVision, or Enerdrive ePRO) shows you exactly how much power is going in and out of your batteries, your current state of charge, and how long your power will last at the current draw. Without monitoring, you’re guessing. With it, you can make informed decisions about when to run the generator, move to a powered site, or simply turn off the TV.

Water: Filters, Saving & Monitoring

Water gear is less complex (and less expensive) than power gear, but the right choices can significantly extend how long you camp without refilling, and more importantly, ensure what you’re drinking is safe.

Water filters range from basic inline filters that remove sediment and improve taste ($30 to $60) to comprehensive multi-stage systems that remove bacteria, heavy metals, and chemicals ($200 to $500). What you need depends on where you’re filling up. If you’re exclusively filling from town water supplies at caravan parks, a basic inline filter is fine. If you’re filling from bores, tanks, and creek water in remote areas, you need something more robust.

Water-saving gear is genuinely worthwhile on the Big Lap. A low-flow showerhead can cut your shower water usage by 50% or more without making the experience miserable. Tap aerators reduce flow at the kitchen and bathroom taps. A foot pump for the kitchen sink lets you control flow precisely. Small investments that significantly extend your water supply when free camping.

Water monitoring tells you how much water you have left. Many new vans have basic water level gauges, but they’re often inaccurate (reading “half” when you’re actually at a quarter). Aftermarket monitoring systems use ultrasonic or pressure sensors to give precise readings, often displayed on a phone app alongside your power data. Knowing your exact water level eliminates the anxiety of guessing and helps you plan refill stops.

Gas: What You Need To Know

Gas is the simplest of the three systems from a gear perspective. Most caravans run on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) with two 9kg bottles in a front-mounted gas locker. The gas feeds your stove, oven, hot water system, and potentially a gas heater. Two full bottles last most couples three to six weeks; families with kids use more because of extra cooking and hot water.

The main gear consideration for gas is monitoring. Running out of gas at 7am when you’re trying to make coffee and heat water for showers is a uniquely frustrating experience. A gas bottle monitor ($30 to $80) shows the approximate level in each bottle, either via a magnetic gauge attached to the bottle or an integrated scale system. It’s a small purchase that prevents a disproportionately annoying problem.

An LPG leak detector is the other gas-related purchase worth making. Gas leaks in a caravan are rare but potentially dangerous. A detector mounted at floor level (LPG is heavier than air and sinks) provides early warning of any leak in the system. Some are battery-powered, some hardwired. $30 to $70.

Generators: Do You Need One?

Generators are a polarising topic in the caravan community. Some travellers swear by them as essential backup power. Others consider them noisy, smelly, and unnecessary if your solar and battery system is properly sized.

The honest answer is that most Big Lappers with a well-set-up solar and battery system don’t need a generator for day-to-day use. Where generators earn their keep is in specific situations: extended overcast weather where solar can’t keep up, running high-draw appliances (air conditioning, power tools) off-grid, and as emergency backup when your primary system has a problem.

If you do want a generator, the market has shifted heavily toward inverter generators, which produce clean power safe for sensitive electronics, run quieter than conventional generators, and use less fuel. Sizing depends on what you want to run: a 2kVA unit handles charging batteries, running a microwave, and powering tools. A 3kVA+ unit can run an air conditioner.

The key consideration isn’t just whether you want one, it’s whether your travel style makes it practical. Many free camps and national parks have generator restrictions or ban them entirely. Caravan parks rarely allow them. A generator is most useful for remote bush camping where noise isn’t an issue and power isn’t available.

Stock Setup vs Upgrades: Where To Spend Your Money

The temptation to upgrade everything before you leave is strong. Lithium batteries, more solar, a big inverter, a generator, water filters, monitoring systems: the bill adds up fast. A full power system upgrade alone can cost $3,000 to $10,000 depending on how far you go.

A more sensible approach: travel with your stock setup for the first month. Track your actual usage. Notice where the gaps are. Then upgrade the specific things that are actually limiting you.

For most Big Lappers, the highest-impact upgrades in order of priority are:

1. Battery upgrade (if free camping regularly). Moving from a single 100Ah AGM to a 200Ah+ lithium system is the single most impactful power upgrade. It roughly quadruples your usable capacity and halves the weight. $1,500 to $3,500 depending on capacity and brand.

2. Water filter. Even a basic inline filter for $40 improves taste and removes sediment. If you’re filling from variable sources, upgrade to a multi-stage system. $40 to $500.

3. Power monitoring. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. A Victron SmartShunt ($100 to $150) or similar gives you precise battery state-of-charge data on your phone. This alone can prevent flat batteries by giving you the information to adjust your usage.

4. Additional solar (if needed). If your batteries aren’t fully recharging by mid-afternoon on a sunny day, you need more solar. Adding a portable panel ($300 to $600) is the simplest upgrade. Adding fixed panels to the roof costs more but is permanent. $300 to $1,500.

5. Inverter (if running 240V appliances off-grid). Only worth it if you have the battery capacity to support it. A 2,000W inverter running a coffee machine for 10 minutes draws roughly the same energy as running your LED lights for an entire evening. $300 to $1,200.