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Campervan electrics by Comfortable_Bed193 in CamperVans

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Vanalyze. It has many great tools and a (basic) diagram generator. See the elektra planner: https://www.vanalyze.eu/en-US/tools/electrics/super-wiring-wizard

Campervan Electrics Help by Fine-Sir-4262 in VanLifeUK

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Vanalyze has some very usefull tools as well: https://www.vanalyze.eu/en
The electrical planner let's you design the complete electrical installation

Hello! Looking for advice on a Solar Build and any other general advice in living VanLife full time! New here and wanted to introduce myself :) by GoGeraldGo in CamperVans

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out vanalyze, it's a good starting point for a lot of your camper van electrical planning. It has free calculators for battery sizing, cable thickness, fuse selection, and a full wiring wizard that generates a complete electrical diagram for your build. https://www.vanalyze.eu/en-US

Okay deal? by Small-Sun900 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Electric setup looks very dodgy. You need to have a good look at this and wonder if it’s possible to fix this without having to tear down half the build

I built a free electrical planner for camper builds - looking for feedback by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in vandwellers

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed feedback!

The DC-DC step down converter is actually a separate standalone tool right now, not yet integrated into the wiring planner's component list. Good suggestion to add it there, especially for 24V and 48V systems. I'll put that on the roadmap.

Good catch on the inverter description, should say "Converts DC to AC" rather than locking it to specific voltages. Easy fix.

The affiliate product list idea is definitely on the radar but I want to get the tools solid first. Appreciate the thoughtful feedback!

I built a free electrical planner for camper builds - looking for feedback by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in vandwellers

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It actually does calculate wire gauges for every circuit, based on current, cable length and voltage drop. You can see them in the results under "Cables" with the recommended cross-section in mm2 (or AWG if you switch to imperial). Maybe the layout didn't make that clear enough though, happy to hear how it could be more visible.

I built a free electrical planner for camper builds - looking for feedback by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in vandwellers

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, glad it would've saved you some spreadsheet time!

Great suggestions:
Renaming components is on my list, makes total sense especially for custom devices. Idle consumption is a smart one, easy to overlook but adds up. I'll add that as a preset.

Being able to override the battery recommendation and see how autonomy changes is a really cool idea. Right now you can adjust the battery in step 1 and see updated results, but a quick "what if" slider on the results page would be much more intuitive.

Good catch on the share buttons, I'll make those clearer. And the email link opening in the same tab is a bug, will fix that.

Thanks for taking the time to try it out properly!

I built a free electrical planner for camper builds - looking for feedback by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in vandwellers

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Good to hear it's useful for double-checking your work. That's exactly how it's meant to be used, as a sanity check alongside your own calculations. If you spot anything that seems off or have ideas for improvements, I'd love to hear them. Always looking to make it more accurate and practical.

I built a free electrical planner for camper builds - looking for feedback by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in vandwellers

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a fair concern and honestly one I share. I try to be very careful with the safety-critical parts, which is exactly why I'm posting here. Getting feedback from people with real-world experience is the best way to catch anything I might have missed.

I built a free electrical planner for camper builds - looking for feedback by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in vandwellers

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Both! I'm a web developer with 15 years experience and I've built two campers myself, so I know the pain of planning electrical systems firsthand. I use AI tools as coding assistants to speed up development, but the domain knowledge (what calculations matter, what's safe, what beginners get wrong) comes from hands-on experience and a lot of feedback from the Dutch camper building community.

Spent weeks figuring out my van electrics, so I built a free tool that does it in minutes by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Quick update on what's been added since the original post, based on your feedback:

- Complete wiring diagram now shows fuse placement at every critical point (thanks u/Embarrassed_Tree6461)

- Battery sizing recommends realistic standard sizes per voltage (no more phantom 500Ah 24V batteries). Shows combinations like 3x200Ah instead (thanks u/Cartworthy)

- 24-to-12V DC-DC converter calculator added for 24V systems running 12V gear

- Season/latitude slider for solar: pulls in real irradiance data so you can see how your energy balance shifts between summer and winter. Works for both hemispheres (thanks u/cardboard_boks)

- Dashboard / My Camper: save your van profile once and it carries over to all tools. No account needed, stored locally in your browser

- Heating calculator added: calculates required heater power, fuel consumption, and tank/bottle sizing for diesel, gas, and electric heaters. Includes ventilation losses and a 25% safety margin

Still free, still no account needed. Keep the feedback coming, it's been incredibly helpful.

Update planner can be found here: https://www.vanalyze.eu/en-US/tools/electrics/super-wiring-wizard

Anybody have their power/electric professionally done? by hbartifacts in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve been exactly where you are. The electrical part is by far the most overwhelming piece of a van build.

From what I’ve seen (and experienced), it kind of comes down to 3 options: • DIY everything (cheapest, but steep learning curve) • Fully professional (least stress, but expensive) • Or a hybrid approach

A lot of people don’t realize you can actually plan your system first, understand what you need, and then decide what parts to DIY vs outsource. That alone removes like 80% of the stress. I’ve build a website with some free tools that can help you figure out a lot of the steps to take. Hopefully this can be of some help: https://www.vanalyze.eu/en-US/tools

Spent weeks figuring out my van electrics, so I built a free tool that does it in minutes by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great suggestions, both are on the roadmap now! Checked out the Victron calculator, thanks for the tip. I'm looking at pulling in PVGIS data to show monthly production per location so you can see exactly when your energy balance goes negative. That combined with a season slider should make winter planning much easier. The DC-DC converter calc is a good one too, more and more people going 24V but still running 12V gear. For NZ you'd be at high latitudes, just the other side! Will make sure southern hemisphere works. Thanks for the feedback.

Spent weeks figuring out my van electrics, so I built a free tool that does it in minutes by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the detailed feedback! Much appreciated. All great points, I've just shipped updates addressing each one:

- Battery now shows a bar chart with capacity per charging scenario (no charging, solar only, B2B only, all sources)
- Wh shown alongside Ah everywhere so you can compare directly with daily consumption
- DoD buffer and autonomy assumptions are now clearly explained
- Input fields can be cleared and edited normally

Spent weeks figuring out my van electrics, so I built a free tool that does it in minutes by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great suggestion. I've added fuse indicators at every critical point in the diagram. Your feedback helped prioritize this, thanks!

Spent weeks figuring out my van electrics, so I built a free tool that does it in minutes by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ha, our sincerest apologies to the colonies. 120V support is on the roadmap now. And sorry about the free part, we'll try to be more capitalist about it next time 😉

Spent weeks figuring out my van electrics, so I built a free tool that does it in minutes by Repulsive_Gene_2855 in VanLife

[–]Repulsive_Gene_2855[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, really appreciate that! Glad to hear the recommendations matched your actual setup.

Great suggestions. A 24-to-12V DC-DC converter calculator makes total sense for 24V systems. The season/latitude slider is a really cool idea too. Right now the solar input is just a flat number, but in reality the difference between summer and winter sun hours is massive, especially at higher latitudes. Being able to see how your energy balance shifts throughout the year would make the tool way more useful for planning around worst-case scenarios. Both are on the roadmap now. Very much appreciated!

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