Oh my goodness. When we were trying to decide on the best leisure battery for our campervan, I wish we had this post to look at. After loads of research trying to figure out what the best batteries are for campervans, I felt like we made a solid decision on our batteries—especially considering the price point. However, after being on the road for a few months and talking with other people RVing, we learned we made a mistake!
The best leisure battery for campervans is hands down lithium iron phosphate batteries, or LiFePO4 batteries.. and here’s why.
We even did a comprehensive review of the 100ah LiFePO4 Battery we installed in our campervan.
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WHY ARE LITHIUM BATTERIES THE BEST LEISURE BATTERY FOR CAMPERVANS?
A Lithium Battery Only Weighs Around 25 lbs
Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries come in weighing around 25 pounds. What’s the big deal you may ask.. a traditional lead acid leisure battery for solar systems in campervans come in weighing around 70 lbs each. That’s a hefty weight difference, especially when building out a campervan.
With gas prices these days, that extra weight is a lot of money in gas!
You Only Need One LiFePO4 Battery to do the Job of Two AGM Leisure Batteries
When considering the best battery for our campervan, we didn’t take into account the discharge ability of the batteries. The discharge ability is basically how low the battery can get while still functioning normally and keeping it healthy. Deep cycle AGM batteries (what’s normally used in van builds) can only be discharged to 50%. Meaning a 100 Amp hour deep cycle battery only actually gets you 50 amp hours.
Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries (LiFePO4 batteries) can be discharged nearly 100%… This means that a 100ah Lithium battery actually gives you nearly 100 amp hours of battery life.
This is freaking huge!!! This basically means that you can either lug around 25 lbs of a battery for 100 amp hours of power or lug around 140 lbs (two AGM batteries) for 100 amp hours of power. That’s a no brainer!
The Life Span of the Batteries is Longer than AGM Batteries
A couple of things come into play when talking about the lifespan of a battery. The way you charge and discharge batteries affect the lifespan of a battery, however, on average, a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery lasts closer to ten years, while an AGM deep cycle battery lasts close to three. This is a drastic difference in lifespan and makes the Lithium Iron Phosphate battery much cheaper in the long run.
THE DOWNSIDE TO LITHIUM IRON BATTERIES
The one downside to the lithium-iron batteries is the fact that they don’t do well in cold temperatures. If you plan on vanlifing in above freezing temperatures all the time, this shouldn’t be an issue. Especially if storing the battery inside an insulated campervan. However, for those who convert a van and are chasing the slopes, lithium iron phosphate batteries may not be the best choice.
Renogy now makes a LiFePO4 battery with a built in heater. As you may have guessed, this comes at a higher price tag, but not nearly as bad as you would think.
Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery | the Battle Born lifepo4
This battery has 4.8 stars out of 5 with over 600 reviews.. making it the best lithium iron phosphate battery we’ve found on Amazon. We don’t have this kind of battery, so we can’t personally vogue for how well it works. However, we’ve read about it on other websites and it seems like a great option!
Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery with Heater | 12V 100ah Renogy Smart Battery
This is Renogy’s new smart lithium iron phosphate battery with a built-in heater. This self-heating battery is perfect for those knowing they’ll be in colder temperatures while in their campervans and is especially great those chasing the slopes! This battery in particular has 100 amp hours, which means you’ll actually get about 95-100 amp hours!
HIGHER PRICE TAG, BUT CHEAPER OVERALL LEISURE BATTERY
It ain’t about the money, money, money… Pitch Perfect anyone?
Although LiFePO4 batteries (Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries) have a much higher price tag, the life span of the batteries, the drastic weight difference, and the fact that you can drain them more make them the better choice. And actually, if you think about it, although the cost upfront is more, in the long run, it’s actually cheaper.
We didn’t think about the long run when we chose the batteries we did. Had we thought more about just the upfront price tag, we would have definitely gone with a lithium iron phosphate battery instead of the AGM battery we chose.
WHERE TO PURCHASE THE BEST BATTERY FOR YOUR CAMPERVAN
Here we are linking different batteries to Amazon, and we want you to know that as Amazon Associates, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases. However, we’d also like you to know, that we’ve researched the batteries for you. We have read multiple posts and reviews on them, and have come up with the below campervan batteries as the best leisure batteries for campervans.
Keep in mind, that if you have a local battery store, batteries may be cheaper to purchase there. We actually bought two 105 amp hour sealed lead acid batteries from a local battery store for $500 total and were super happy to be able to talk with a worker about the batteries we chose.
The Best Battery for Campervan | a lithium iron phosphate self-heating battery
This lithium iron phosphate battery is self-heating and is perfect for those unexpected cold fronts in the van. When we were traveling in Utah in October and November, we had some unexpected freezing temps, and a regular lithium iron battery would not have done well in those circumstances.
So this self-heating battery is perfect for feeling comfortable with your solar power wherever you are on the road.
The Second Best Battery for a Campervan | a lithium iron phosphate battery (not self-heating)
I say second best hesitantly here, as this battery has some killer reviews from other vanlifers that have been on the road for years and have experience with multiple different batteries.
However, we’re saying second best because it’s not self-heating, potentially causing problems for some people on the road.
The Best Budget-Friendly LiFePO4 Battery for Campervan | a Goldenmate deep cycle with BMS
This battery is a great option if you are looking for a good balance of quality, durability, and cost. If you want to get all the nitty gritty details of this 12v 100ah lithium iron phosphate battery for your campervanning power needs. We encourage you to go checkout our comprehensive review of it!
One of the best features of this budget-friendly LiFePO4 battery is its built-in battery management system (BMS). This keeps things in check so you don’t ever have to worry about it!
A More Short-Term Budget-Friendly Battery for Van Life | a sealed lead acid battery
Sealed lead-acid batteries are a cheaper upfront cost to creating a solar system for your campervan, and they’re what we ended up going with in our campervan build. However, just because they’re cheaper upfront doesn’t mean they’re cheaper overall.
We really strongly suggest avoiding the sealed lead acid or AGM batteries altogether in a campervan build, as all our points above explain why LiFePO4 batteries are better.
The No Battery Power Source for Campervans | the Jackery portable power station
This is a portable generator. It can charge your laptop up to 8 times on one full charge, and even run things like an electric stove and fridge. Recharging this portable power station can be done at home or from a car while driving.
Alternatively, you can purchase the total power station package, which comes with solar panels to charge the generator as well. This is a great campervan battery option for those not actually wanting an entire solar setup.
More on Solar Systems for Vanlife
The Ultimate DIY Flexible Solar Panel Kit
How to Mount Solar Panels in 31 Direct Steps
Our Complete Campervan Electrics Kit | everything we used in our electrical system for our campervan
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