Electrical Setup for Outdoor Office

muxmax · Aug 24, 2023

Since I am a complete failure when it comes to electricity and wiring and my attempts to answer my questions myself keep turning in circles, I wanted to tap into the incredible wisdom of this forum and ask for help with my plans to make the car fit to serve as an outdoor office from time to time, I will mainly use the car as a daily ride and for hunting. Besides that I was hoping to be able to make use of the proximity of the Alps and the beautiful lands around me and use the car as a remote office every now and then. My idea was that I could use my Starlink, a laptop and maybe a monitor and just work remotely from wherever. A little comfort would be nice, so maybe a Nespresso Machine and a small fridge wouldn't hurt. My problem is, I don't know what I need to provide and ensure power supply for a few hours. Can someone please share their wisdom with me and help me out?

What I am looking for is advice on how to best plug and feed

a laptop and maybe an additional monitor
a Starlink
a small fridge (is there one that can make/preserve ice cubes for the after work party?)
and maybe, if possible, a Nespresso Machine or something of that sort

I have no clue where to start, what to look for, what values to consider, what hardware to use (inverter, mobile power station, sockets, plugs?). Completely blank there. Any advice would be highly appreciated! Even if it is only help with asking the right questions.

muxmax

TheDocAUS · Aug 24, 2023

You will a dual battery system. Depending on the accessories you may need a Lithium battery as your second battery. That Nespresso Machine is a huge power drain and you need to work out whether you need an inverter for the laptop, some laptops can run off a 12 volt charger that plugs straight into your system.

Big power drains and inverters are best used with a Lithium battery. Here is a decent introduction to dual battyer systems before you get too many posts:

View: https://youtu.be/8F6AYavY870

Drop the Nespresso Machine and your laptop can run off a 12 volt plug in charger, may mean an AGM battery will do.

I would get the aux power system with the IG, buy a CTEK250SE and add a solar panel on the roof (or use portable ones). I would start with the EGM battery and if that is not good enough the CTEK 250SE can charge any new Lithium battery. Only buy a good Lithium battery brand, lots of cheap crap being sold.

DCPU · Aug 24, 2023

LOL... first question should be what's your budget?

muxmax · Aug 24, 2023

DCPU said:
LOL... first question should be what's your budget?

Let's just say: If you buy cheap, you buy twice.

crimson · Aug 24, 2023

muxmax said:
Let's just say: If you buy cheap, you buy twice.

@muxmax I'll be reading, bookmarking and adding to this thread to my favourites. Everything you're planning to do and asking is what I'll need for mine. I dreamt the below collapsible lightweight office setup. Notice the gap for the coffee

machine

.

muxmax · Aug 24, 2023

crimson said:
@muxmax I'll be reading, bookmarking and adding to this thread to my favourites. Everything you're planning to do and asking is what I'll need for mine. I dreamt the below collapsible lightweight office setup. Notice the gap for the coffee machine .

View attachment 7824673

I love the fact that you have a cheese compartment in your office!

EDIT: In my imagination, my remote office looks more like this:

crimson · Aug 24, 2023

muxmax said:
I love the fact that you have a cheese compartment in your office!

EDIT: In my imagination, my remote office looks more like this:
View attachment 7824675

Hahaha

I had my eye on the below

muxmax · Aug 24, 2023

TheDocAUS said:
You will a dual battery system. Depending on the accessories you may need a Lithium battery as your second battery. That Nespresso Machine is a huge power drain and you need to work out whether you need an inverter for the laptop, some laptops can run off a 12 volt charger that plugs straight into your system.

Big power drains and inverters are best used with a Lithium battery. Here is a decent introduction to dual battyer systems before you get too many posts:

View: https://youtu.be/8F6AYavY870

Drop the Nespresso Machine and your laptop can run off a 12 volt plug in charger, may mean an AGM battery will do.

I would get the aux power system with the IG, buy a CTEK250SE and add a solar panel on the roof (or use portable ones). I would start with the EGM battery and if that is not good enough the CTEK 250SE can charge any new Lithium battery. Only buy a good Lithium battery brand, lots of cheap crap being sold.

Thank you @TheDocAUS ! My head is turning already after the first episode. But the guy does do a good job at explaining it to less electrophile people like I am. FYI: I have ordered the aux battery (and while I was triying to find more info about it in the configurator I discovered that apparently you cannot order it anymore...?).

Miki · Aug 24, 2023

muxmax said:
FYI: I have ordered the aux battery (and while I was triying to find more info about it in the configurator I discovered that apparently you cannot order it anymore...?).

That's interesting ....

Eric · Aug 24, 2023

muxmax said:
Thank you @TheDocAUS ! My head is turning already after the first episode. But the guy does do a good job at explaining it to less electrophile people like I am. FYI: I have ordered the aux battery (and while I was triying to find more info about it in the configurator I discovered that apparently you cannot order it anymore...?).

Thought it was just me not paying attention, I was looking at the Fieldmaster on the UK site and I thought they had deleted it. Didn't check the Trialmaster though

DCPU · Aug 24, 2023

muxmax said:
FYI: I have ordered the aux battery (and while I was triying to find more info about it in the configurator I discovered that apparently you cannot order it anymore...?).

It still there on the UK website, it's not compatible with the Premium Sound System though.

Eric · Aug 24, 2023

DCPU said:
It still there on the UK website, it's not compatible with the Premium Sound System though.

That explains it, Premium Sound is standard on the Fieldmaster

DaveB · Aug 24, 2023

Some fool decided that if you wanted the Fieldmaster you only wanted 18" alloys and a subwoofer.
Forever tarnishing the name Fieldmaster as a wankers mall crawler.

AnD3rew · Aug 24, 2023

All doable, if you have the INEOS dual battery system running a small fridge connected to the smartpass output port will be easy, most of the fridges can freeze, but to get a dual zone (fridge and freezer) one you get into the larger more expensive ones. The laptop and monitor wont draw huge power, but you will need an inverter for at least the monitor but probably not a huge capacity one about 300w should do. If you stop there you are probably ok. The Starlink and the coffee machine will bump you to the next bracket though. The Starlink will probably also work on that size inverter although you may want to go up to say 5-600w with it all running. But if you are running the Starlink, the fridge and the monitor for say an 8 hour day you probably don’t have enough battery power. You could add a 3rd battery box, if you are feeling rich, something like a Bluetti but if you want to do multi days you will need some way to charge it, solar or running car with upgraded DC/DC charger. The alternative is a much bigger capacity Lithium battery, but then you will need to add the different DC/DC charger, but that also means you can add the ability to top up with solar during the day. The Nespresso machine wont draw down your batter that fast unless you are drinking a lot of coffee, but it does mean you will need a 1500-2000w inverter or more if everything going at once.

If you don’t have a dual battery system, The simplest setup would be if you can hotspot from a 4-5G phone if you have reception. You can buy a battery box with a small inverter which will run your laptop and monitor and a small fridge for 1-2 days, and take a small gas stove to boil water and use an Aeropress for your coffee

AnD3rew · Aug 24, 2023

DaveB said:
Some fool decided that if you wanted the Fieldmaster you only wanted 18" alloys and a subwoofer.
Forever tarnishing the name Fieldmaster as a wankers mall crawler.

but to be fair Dave, there may well be some people who buy it primarily for a work tow vehicle for example who may never offroad or camp in it but may do long days driving and like a bit of extra comfort and entertainment while they do. That’s not a mall crawler.

DaveB · Aug 24, 2023

AnD3rew said:
but to be fair Dave, there may well be some people who buy it primarily for a work tow vehicle for example who may never offroad or camp in it but may do long days driving and like a bit of extra comfort and entertainment while they do. That’s not a mall crawler.

Mine is based on the Fieldmaster and I am thinking it may just have devalued it if I ever go to sell it.
Buyers may exclude Fieldmaster from their search assuming the Trialmaster is a superior offroad vehicle.

globalgregors · Aug 24, 2023

DaveB said:
Some fool decided that if you wanted the Fieldmaster you only wanted 18" alloys and a subwoofer.
Forever tarnishing the name Fieldmaster as a wankers mall crawler.

LOL. Robespierre or Torquemada? It’s hard to pick @DaveB , maybe you can just be both?

AnD3rew · Aug 24, 2023

globalgregors said:
LOL. Robespierre or Torquemada? It’s hard to pick @DaveB , maybe you can just be both?

I added everything Fieldmaster (except sub woofer (wasn’t available at the time and wouldn’t have traded it for auxiliary battery) to my Trialmaster so I could be both.

Tazzieman · Aug 24, 2023

AnD3rew said:
I added everything Fieldmaster (except sub woofer (wasn’t available at the time and wouldn’t have traded it for auxiliary battery) to my Trialmaster so I could be both.

But will the carpet dry out and not smell afterwards when you ford the first boghole?

DaveB · Aug 24, 2023

AnD3rew said:
I added everything Fieldmaster (except sub woofer (wasn’t available at the time and wouldn’t have traded it for auxiliary battery) to my Trialmaster so I could be both.

I started with the Fieldmaster because I didn't like the Trialmaster jacket.
I then added everything Trialmaster and some extra on top of that.
I certainly don't need a subwoofer so optioned the extra battery.
I went 17" alloys as I didn't want 18" and certainly not fake beadlocks.

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Electrical Setup for Outdoor Office

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