LiFePO4 explained
The chemistry that took over off-grid power. Why a "12 volt" LiFePO4 battery is really 12.8 volts, the 92 percent round-trip efficiency, why partial charging is fine, and the three real limits including cold charging.
Guides: the numbers behind the gear
Our reviews tell you which thing to buy. These guides explain the numbers that decide it: what a battery's rating actually means once you can only use part of it, why the same appliance draws ten times more current at 12 volts than at 120, and which weight limits govern whether your vehicle can legally pull a trailer at all, and what a freeze does to plumbing left full.
They exist because the same handful of misunderstandings cause most bad purchases in this category. Every figure on these pages is read from a manufacturer's or agency's own published document and named in the text, and where we could not read a primary source we say so on the page instead of filling the gap. Method: how we evaluate.
All guides
What is an AGM battery
Sealed lead acid, and what it does not fix. The published cycle life at 40, 60 and 100 percent depth of discharge, why temperature-compensated charging matters, and the cases where AGM still beats lithium.
Watts to amps converter
A working converter in both directions, at any voltage. Plus the answer generic calculators skip: what an AC appliance actually pulls from a 12 volt battery once inverter losses are counted.
Dual fuel inverter generator
Every headline wattage is a gasoline number measured at sea level. What the makers themselves take off for propane, the second derate buried in the manual at 3.5 percent per 1,000 feet, and the park rules that allow six generator hours a day.
Class B RV explained
The letter is a construction spec, not a size. One maker publishes a Class C six inches shorter than its Class B and 2,150 pounds heavier, and the tank pair that actually ends the trip is the gray one at half the fresh capacity.
How to winterize a camper
The order matters more than the products. The two methods manufacturers actually publish and where they disagree, the drain that has to be closed again before antifreeze will move, and the one antifreeze rule with no exceptions.
RV water heater
The same yearly job is required on one tank and forbidden on the other. Steel tanks versus aluminium, the anode rod warning both makers put a warranty consequence on, gas against electric recovery rates, and why the 1,440 watt element is a bad idea off grid.
Buying a used camper
You are paying for a maintenance history, not a model year. The resealing schedule the manufacturer publishes and what skipping it voids, how to date the tires from the sidewall, and the four things the free VIN recall check deliberately hides.
How to tow a trailer safely
The beginner version, in the right order. The four weight numbers that already exist on your own vehicle, trailer and hitch, the hook-up routine, and what changes once you are moving.
Where to go next
Guides answer "how does this work". The cluster pages answer "which one should I buy and what will it cost". If you arrived here from a specific problem, these are the places that solve it:
- Power. Our solar generator verdicts rank the units, the sizing calculator tells you which capacity covers your appliances, and what a solar generator actually is explains the product category itself.
- Renting. The RV rental cost guide covers real nightly and weekly numbers, and how to rent out your RV covers the owner side if your rig sits unused.
- Camping free. What boondocking is covers the rules on public land, and the best RV battery for boondocking turns the chemistry guides above into an actual buying decision.
- Staying online. Internet for an RV compares the four ways to get a connection away from home, and the two spokes take the realistic ends of that range: our Home Fi review covers the contract-free cellular hotspot for anywhere with bars, and satellite internet for an RV covers what it costs when there are none.