electricity and caravanning for idiots?

Yes you can use any normal 240 volt appliances.

Hi Arias

Look for light weight appliances. It is all too easy to overload your van when packing.

Hi Arais,
I too have an older caravan with 240Voltpower wiring.
Have you checked that your van is fitted with 240V fuses or safety devices?
Many older vans were not so fitted.
IMHO it is a wise move to get a suitable safety device fitted by a qualified electrician to ensure your family's safety. Some Caravan Parks insist on these being fitted before they let you plug into their powerboxes.

You may also find that there is a rudimentary 12volt lights set up with conventional auto bayonet globes in the same light fittings as the 240volt ones.
These 12v lights are suitable for a couple of hours use only unless you have a dual battery system in your tow vehicle. (overnight stop only)

If your van has both white and brown light switches that is a reasonable indicator that there is also a 12V system of house lights.

Assuming that you have a 3way fridge (240v,12v and gas) only use 12v when the engine is running and either 240v (if available) or gas when you are camped. With your current van set up you will flatten your car battery
Under no circumstances should you run the fridge on gas while travelling.

If you have a 2 way fridge (240v/12v), you can leave it connected to 12v and running if you are only stopped for a couple of hours, any longer you need to turn the fridge off and restart it when you start travelling again.

Hope this is of some help.

Disco.

If you have the option, get a TV set that will operate from the mains and 12 V. You can identify these as there will be an external power brick that converts the 240 V power to 12 V and that is fed into the TV through a small plug and socket. If you have a 12 V set then you can watch TV on the odd nights when you stop off power and use the car battery for your lights.

To operate your TV off 12 V - get someone to extend the 12 V feed to the fridge to a convenient spot and make up a lead that goes from the new socket to the TV. (I suggest you don't run the TV for too long and carry a set of jumper leads.)