Australians took 15.2 million caravan and camping trips in 2024, and if you're reading this, you're probably planning to be part of the statistic for 2026. Good on ya.
But before you hitch up and head bush, there's one piece of gear that can make or break your whole trip: the camping generator.
Buy the wrong one and you'll either wake up the entire campground, drain your fuel before brekkie’s ready, or blow a circuit trying to power the air con. Let's make sure none of that happens.
Grab a piece of paper. Write down every appliance you'll run at camp: your fridge, phone charger, lights, CPAP machine, coffee maker, all of it.
Every appliance has two wattage numbers: a running wattage (what it draws while operating) and a starting wattage (the surge it needs to kick on, often 2–3x higher). Add up the running watts for everything you'd use simultaneously, then add the highest starting wattage on top. That's your minimum generator output.
Some rough numbers to get you started:
Always add a 20% safety margin to avoid overloading your unit. Running a generator at full capacity all the time wears it out fast and leaves zero headroom for starting surges.
This is the call that trips up most beginners, and it makes a heap of difference.
A conventional generator runs at a fixed speed (typically 3,600 RPM) regardless of how much power you're actually drawing. It guzzles fuel even when you're just charging your phone, and the electricity it produces isn't clean enough for sensitive electronics like laptops or modern fridges.
An inverter generator adjusts engine speed to match demand. It produces stable, clean electricity, with less than 3% total harmonic distortion, exactly what your electronics need. It also uses far less fuel and runs much, much quieter.
For camping and caravanning, an inverter generator is almost always the right choice.
Nobody drives four hours into the outback to listen to a motor growling all night.
Conventional generators typically operate at over 80 decibels, disruptive even at a distance. Inverter generators, by contrast, run at 52–65 dB, about the same as a normal conversation. Many Australian national parks enforce strict noise limits at around 65 dB at 7 metres to protect wildlife and other campers.
Pitch up with a loud conventional unit at the wrong campground, and you could find yourself packing up early. Aim for models rated under 60 dB for worry-free camping anywhere.
A 2–3 kW generator with a 4–5 litre tank can typically run 6–10 hours in eco-mode, which is plenty comfy for a night at camp.
The right camping generator isn't about buying the biggest or most powerful unit on the shelf; it's about matching the right specs to how you actually camp.
At Outback Safetrack, we stock reliable generators built for the Australian outdoors. Browse our Hyundai generators for quiet, fuel-efficient inverter models well-suited to caravans, check out Briggs and Stratton generators for dependable performance across a range of outputs, or explore Welling and Crossley generators for robust units built for extended off-grid travel.
Do the wattage maths, check the decibel rating, and match the size to your setup. Hit the road knowing your power's sorted.
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