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Scenario

Van life: a 12 V fridge and Starlink Mini on one 320 Ah lithium battery

Works. 1 × LiTime 12V 320Ah Mini Bluetooth gives 3,277 Wh usable at a 20% reserve; these loads use 781 Wh a day and charging adds 1,316 Wh, so it lasts charging covers daily use against a 3-day target calculated. Data updated .

Open this setup in the planner to change any part, load or hour.

All 12 V DC loads, so no inverter. One hour of driving a day through the DC-DC charger, 200 W of flat solar, October near Salt Lake City.

The setup

  • Battery: LiTime 12V 320Ah Mini Bluetooth × 1
  • DC-DC charger: Victron Energy Orion XS 12/12-50A
  • Solar controller: Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100/30
  • Solar: 200 W, flat on the roof
  • Place and month: Salt Lake City, UT, October: 4.04 peak sun hours on a flat surface; coldest mean daily low 6.4 °C calculated
  • Driving: 1 h a day

Daily loads

LoadRunning WQty × hoursBattery-side Wh/day
Dometic CFX3 45 (12 V compressor fridge) (12 V DC)12.36 W1 × 24 h297 Wh calculated
Starlink Mini (12 V DC)32.5 Wrange 25–40 W1 × 8 h260 Wh calculated
LED light (per bulb) (AC)11.5 Wrange 8–15 W4 × 4 h209 Wh calculated
Shurflo 4008 3.0 GPM water pump (12 V DC)61.2 Wrange 26.4–81.6 W1 × 0.25 h15 Wh calculated

Every appliance figure we list: appliance wattage.

Typical running watts are the midpoint of the published range calculated; a load with no published duty cycle is counted at its running watts for every hour listed.

Charging per day

Solar 606 Wh (panel W, capped by the controller, × peak sun hours × 0.75), alternator 710 Wh, shore 0 Wh calculated.

Compatibility checks

  • 12 V parts: works. Every part chosen is a 12 V part.
  • DC-DC charge current: works. The DC-DC charger's rated output is within the bank's published max charge current.
  • Solar controller current: works. The solar controller's rated output is within the bank's published max charge current.
  • Solar + DC-DC together: works. Solar and DC-DC charging can run at the same time while driving; their outputs add up.
  • Cold-weather charging: works. The coldest expected temperature is at or above the battery maker's minimum charging temperature.

Smallest banks that pass every check

Same chargers, inverter and loads, trying each battery we list at up to its maker's stated parallel count (one battery where no count is stated). Ranked by bank size, smallest first; we don't rank by price or quality.

  1. Epoch 12V 100Ah Group 24 × 1: 1,280 Wh rated, lasts charging covers daily use
  2. LiTime 12V 100Ah LiFePO4 × 1: 1,280 Wh rated, lasts charging covers daily use
  3. Redodo 12V 100Ah Ultra Mini Bluetooth (Group 22NF) × 1: 1,280 Wh rated, lasts charging covers daily use

Running Starlink and a fridge from a portable power station instead of a house battery? RunTimeFit, our sister site for portable power stations, covers that route.

How each check works: compatibility checks. Every formula: methodology.

Sources