Keeping your car battery in tip-top condition not only stops those jump cables from coming out the boot, but also extends the life of your car battery. A study found that batteries that were kept above 60% charge lasted 5 years longer, compared to those that were drained consistently below that level. The fantastic news is thst modern Smart Car Battery Chargers not only charge your battery to 100% capacity, but also maintain it at this level without damaging the battery until you next come to use it. Add in the extra accessories to monitor your battery and never get caught flat again.
If you have a modern car with all the electronics, you will have a continuous drain on the battery, even when you're not using it. Within 1 week, depending on the conditions, your battery could be completely flat; keep doing this and your car battery won't last much longer than a couple of years before it needs replacing. With the prices of car batteries going up, replacing your battery later down the line rather than sooner will help you save money. This would be the same for a weekend or summer car. They may have fewer electronics than your daily drive, but the lack of use takes its toll on the battery.
Which Car Battery Charge Do I Need?
It is all to do with the battery capacity in Amp Hours. You'll find this written on the battery, typically shown as a number followed by Ah. To give you a rough idea what size battery you may have and what charger would be suitable:
What if I have a camper van with a leisure battery?
If you have a camper van or caravan with 12v leisure batteries, then you can use the same car battery chargers to keep them topped up when you have access to mains power. As larger batteries can get quite heavy, many of these campers will have smaller batteries connected in parallel; this keeps the voltage of the circuit the same and now can be considered 1 large battery. This also makes the maths easier when choosing the correct battery charger. Just add all the amp hours (Ah) together to give you the total you need to charge.