Points To Keep In Mind When Choosing Leisure Batteries

By Author: Amar Iqbal
Total Articles: 5
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Leisure batteries are usually to be found in trailer homes, boats, yachts and caravan homes. Modern caravan homes use a number of appliances and electronic devices. A typical caravan home or a boat could have an inverter of 2KVA or 4 KVA to power various devices.

Batteries must be able to supply constant power for long hours without the voltage dropping significantly. Adding a twist here is that you may not be using your boat or caravan home everyday. This means the battery will sit idle for days or even months. Normal flooded lead acid batteries will develop sulphation and die; you need batteries that will retain charge for months on end. If you travel off the beaten track in search of adventure, you will want rugged, shock resistant, highly durable batteries that never fail.

Which batteries would you choose as leisure batteries?
• Flooded lead acid type: Those used for starting-lighting-ignition are simply of no use for use as leisure batteries. They cannot be deep discharged and if left unattended or trickle charged, they ...
... die.
• VRLA: Only slightly better than flooded lead acid type for leisure use. Their only advantage is the claimed “maintenance-free” tag.
• AGM : The absorbed glass mat leisure battery uses a porous glass mat for the electrolyte. This type of battery can retain charge for as long as one year without losing their capacity. There is no danger of spills and these batteries, when designed for dual purpose, will deliver high cold cranking currents as well as have deep discharge capabilities. When this type of leisure battery has 99.95 pure lead plates or silver-lead alloy lead plates, they deliver higher power, consistent performance and last longer.

Cost Vs Performance
If you have the time to take care of flooded lead acid type battery, they are affordable and will work well but may not last as long as the expensive batteries. If performance and maintenance free features are high on your list and cost is not a major consideration, you can go for fully dry type batteries or AGM leisure batteries. Remember that modern caravan homes with inverters of 2 or 4 KVA may need high capacity batteries. Usually two batteries are used and this adds to your cost.

If you want the best deal and guidance on selection of the right leisure batteries, consult a friendly online battery dealer who will not only recommend suitable brands but will also ship direct to your doorstep.