Bought our 1st van-advice required

Hi Chris. Expandas are lovely vans. Do remember that if you are using a 1200W microwave via an inverter, then you are probably pulling about 125 amps out of your battery. So, if you use the microwave for 10 minutes, you've consumed 21Ah from your battery (125x10/60). If your van has the usual 105Ah battery installed which is initially fully charged, you only have about 50Ah which is usable before the battery is damaged. So, 10 minutes of microwave uses nearly 50% of the usable energy in the battery. If you are free camping, you are also consuming power for lights at night plus piezo-ignition for the gas stove, and you probably have the stereo running too. Which means, unless you are very careful, you will damage the battery (at the very least) or run it so flat it is stuffed!! Small inverters are fine to run low-powered stuff but the moment you talk about using microwaves, kettles or hairdryers, you are going to need big battery storage and lots of solar panels in order to free-camp.
If you are only going to free-camp occasionally, my suggestion would be to avoid using any 240v devices, and make sure you have LED lights throughout the van instead of fluorescent or incandescent lights.
Enjoy your new van.

Keir & Marg
A Piezo ignition is a crystal impact energy release to create a highvoltage and is not connected to anything apart from it's spark gap. Uses NO power at all, so not an issue with a van battery usage. Humans provide the energy to make it pulse.

Hi RMD, the ignition on my Weber BBQ requires a battery otherwise it doesn't work. Similarly, the gas stove in my Jayco requires a 12V supply connected, otherwise the stove won't light. So perhaps they don't have piezo ignition but a capacitor discharge system instead? Whatever, they still use power from the battery to work, even though it might only be a small amount of power.

If it needs a battery or power supply then it cannot be Piezo type.

We have solar and a generator to use when we require 240v power at those times we are free camping. Usually if insufficient sunlight or air conditioner is needed. And the Brides hair dryer of course!Depending on your capacity for storage of course. We have plenty of space to carry the generator, Honda 2kva and have not found it heavy at all. But I guess it depends on your personal physical well being. Very rare I need to remove from the place it is stored as I simply run from that position as required. Been using as required for 14 years without any issues. I will admit there are those that are "paranoid" about generators, but remember it's your decision. Enjoy your Expander, looks great.