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Mobile Dog Grooming Vehicle – Advance Vehicle Alarms
Trimming Terriers and pampering Pomeranians is just another day at the office for dog groomers, but giving your chow-chow a quality cut will most certainly require some specialist equipment, especially when time is a virtue and your office is on wheels.
Having the right tools for the job is elementary to most dog groomers but what’s not always obvious is just how powerful and demanding these loads can be.
Curating an in-vehicle power system to handle high powered blow dryers, electric dog clippers and hot water baths is no walk in the park but we welcome the challenge.
Why would you need a fully electric power system?
AVA (Advanced Vehicle Alarms) is a company specializing in automotive electrical installations and were approached by an independent Dog Groomer to create, what could potentially be, the first fully electric mobile dog salon.
See previously their customer was using a diesel Citroen Relay that relied on a fuel-burning generator to power their loads. While this initially worked for them, new legislation on carbon emissions in London combined with the rising increase in fuel prices made them, like many others, see the benefits of a future-proof, all-electric solution.
AVA reached out to us with this exciting, eco-aware endeavour and we leaped at the chance to assist. Together we embarked on a journey that would have us curate an innovate power system to pioneer the future of mobile dog grooming.
Powering a mobile dog grooming van
Their dog grooming business relied on a few key appliances and we needed to deliver a system that would ensure they could run everything smoothly.
Onboard the vehicle we had:
- A 2KW Water Boiler
- Bespoke LED Lighting
- A High-powered hairdryer (2000W)
- Power Clippers
- A water pump to provide accessible water through a posable shower hose
Looking further into this application we noticed that these high-powered loads were never to be used simultaneously as each device was required at different stages of a cut. So with this in mind we had the answer to our first question: How much power do I need?
With this information we put forward the Kinergier CM3.0L – A 3000W 12V Inverter-Charger thats capable of not only delivering 230V AC at 3000W continuously but also recharges any battery solution paired with it. (Plus it comes with a 5 year warranty as standard!) To accompany this we included aa simple-to-use remote display (MCK) for fast and easy operation of the system that even has a Bluetooth app.
How much energy does a mobile dog grooming van use?
The answer to this is never straight forward a required us to fetch some concrete data in order to provide a guaranteed solution. Working with the client we were able to run some tests on their equipment and understand better how much energy each appliance typically used across the day.
With this we were confident in what size battery bank would be needed and put forward a 480Ah bank made from two Exide EP2400’s for a combined 5760Wh of storage. Initially we advocated for the use of high-grade lithium modules, as these would truly future-proof the system and match the Inverter’s 5 year warranty, but budget constraints meant that compromises had to be made.
This gave the system the beating heart but needed but it was important to remember that this was based on our calculations of a typical day and in reality, not all days will be the same. Some will be longer and more demanding than others, so the system needed to have an extra layer of reliability to ensure that power lasted all day.
As this vehicle travels a lot between appointments we saw the perfect opportunity to include a Batter-to-Battery charger from Market Leaders, Redarc. The BCDC1250D was ideal as this would provide a huge 50A of charging whenever the vehicle was driving. Allowing the system to be trickle charged throughout the day and extending the total run time by around 25%.
The Redarc BCDC1250A is the flagship in-vehicle battery charger from Redarc and even has a built-in MPPT solar controller which makes it quick and easy to add solar power to almost any application.
In this application the client didn’t opt for solar as they’d be connecting the vehicle up to the mains for a full recharge overnight. If you want to learn more about solar we have a beginner-friendly, comprehensive guide you can take a look at here!
System Specification
Bark to Business
With this in-vehicle charger the system was finally complete. Boasting a huge 3000W AC output and over 5Kwh of storage our client was ready again to trim the tails of London and provide a professional service for our furry friends.
While there is a little room for improvement this is a fully-electric and modern solution that’s certainly not to be sniffed at.