This is a topic that seriously intimidated me as a new owner. Hell, it was still intimidating me after having the HC1 for three years! But I’ve overcome my fear of this topic to make sure I can explain it properly to all of you and it’s not really all that complicated… In this article I will give you a grounding on some basic concepts and then explain how those are handled in the Happier Campers.

First - what are AC and DC?

Insert rock band joke here… AC stands for alternating current and DC stands for direct current. And to be honest, you don’t really need to know what they stand for, you just need to know what kind of devices they will power. The simplest way to think about it is that you have AC power in your house (think regular wall sockets) and you have DC power in your car (think old school cigarette lighters). Big appliances - like the air conditioning unit in the camper, a blender for camping margaritas or your laptop - run off of AC power. The interior lights and the water pump in the kitchenette run off of DC power. Small things, DC power. Big things, AC power.

How does my camper get power?

Your camper will get power from one or more sources. I’ve created a chart to help explain it, but if you get the solar package, you will have a solar panel on the roof which will charge a battery. That battery is DC power and it will let you plug in cigarette lighter-type things (think small fan). If you don’t get the solar package, you won’t have electricity unless you are plugged into shore power or are running a generator.

What is an inverter and why do I need it?

Ok - so now you know what the two types of electricity are, what sort of things you can run on AC and DC and where that electricity is going to come from, so let’s talk the inverter. I know, right? There is another complexity? Yes - but it really isn’t that complex. The inverter just takes that DC power - the cigarette-lighter-I-can-only-power-small-stuff and turns it into AC power - the I-can-power-my-laptop stuff. Here is another simple chart to explain it.

And that’s it! So the question is - what should you do when you are placing your camper order? Well if you read this article, you know it’s important to make a list of what you expect camping to be like in your Happier Camper. Go back and check out the article and get that list going if you haven’t done it yet. Ok, ready?

• Will you boondock? If yes, your only way to have any power is going to be either through solar or by bringing a generator with you. If your budget let’s you do solar, do the solar.

• What sort of appliances or devices do you need to power when using your camper? I think of this as the laptop question. If you want to travel with your laptop and boondock, get the solar and the inverter. Otherwise you will always need to be plugged into shore power or bring a generator.

So tell me, did this article help you understand the options around power when thinking about what you need for your Happier Camper? If yes, that’s awesome, I’m glad I could help. If not, leave a comment below and tell me what isn’t clear. I will try to improve the article based on your feedback.