We are officially full-timing as of this past Sunday!!!!!  We moved out of the beach house we were staying in and moved in to the 5th wheel.  We were going to wait until the beginning of the year and start the year off in it.  It seemed like a good time to do it, new year and new beginnings. 

But we had our rv parked in front of the other two empty condo's by us and some one was renting one of them for vacation and we had to move it.  So we just decided it was time to move in.

We've had some learning experiences in it already (mainly we keep popping the breaker), but we are figuring it out.  The kids think it's great.  They are having so much fun in it, and so are mom and dad.  :)

Congratulations!  We look forward to being able to post a similar message in a few months.  I'm envious and excited for you!! 

Good luck on the start of your new life!

-Connie

Good for you guys...now tell us more about this breaker that keeps popping. That probably shouldn't be happening...

It keeps happening when we use too many electric items when we have our space heater on. We are trying not to use the regular heater because we don't want to go through too much propane and with being in Florida, it's not terribly cold. The past two nights it has been close to freezing though. Sometimes it happens when we use the microwave, but the space heater is always on when it happens, mostly because we use it most of the time lately. We have a smaller one now and it's only done it once since we started using just the small one.

I assume you mean a circuit breaker inside your coach and not the main breaker on the pedestal? Try running a good quality extension cord rated for outdoor use and the amperage for your space heater from the pedestal 20 amp plug, route the cord through your slide-out seal, and plug in your space heater. Then you should be able to use the space heater without popping the breaker. As long as you get a rated cord you should be ok, but I still recommend you check the cord after the heater has been running a while and make sure it isn't getting hot. If it is then you should get a higher rated cord.

Sounds like the space heater and microwave are sharing the same circuit, turn off the breaker check other plugs in the RV to find one that is alive and hook the space heater to it. If you need to use an extension cord, get a heavy duty one.
If you have a 30-amp RV than the space heater is using just under half of the total you can use, about 13-amps. The microwave uses about the same and if you have an electric/propane hot water heater the electric will run about 12-amps. Not to mention the fridge, computers, hair dryers, etc. All the loads have to add to 30-amps or less on 30-amp or 100-amps or less on 50-amp, since 50-amp is rated in 220 volts and we are talking 110 volt usage.

BTW: Your blog is http://adownsizedlifestyle.blogspot.com/, not an email address.

Thanks for the suggestions, and thanks for pointing out my blog problem, I thought I already fixed it. I guess I need to fix it and save it this time. :)

You should really take care of your electrical problem as soon as possible for safety sake. You don't want to take the chance the breaker will NOT do it's job by tripping and possibly cause a fire. By the way,congratulations on being full time. Our full time plans are on hold for now and we are happy for those who can move forward.Enjoy.

 Congrats on your new journey! You are being envied by many... well at least by me.

Welcome to the Full-timing lifestyle. I hope you enjoy it as much as Linda and I have. It's a great way to live.

Jim

Congratulations on your graduation to full-timing!  We are in the class of 2011 and already preparing. 

Please thank your husband for his service to our country, and my thanks to you and your family for all you do!

Wishing you wondrous and safe travels!

Betty

Congratulations on going fulltime. We join Betty in thanking your husband for his service to our country and your supporting him. bjoyce spelled out the amperage on the alliances well, if you are on 50 amp you can run most anything without any problem but if you are on 30 amp service you have to know what you can run at he same time. You will get used to in time knowing that you might need to unplug the electric heater to run the microwave, and you might need to run the electric water heater only at times you are not using other appliances. It takes a while but it will become second nature in time to know what combinations you can use at the same time. God bless, Allan and Jeanne

Sounds like you might be drawing a bit much on your service. This simple chart might help you determine what you can run at the same time: Air Conditioner 15-17 amps (multiply this by the number of AC units) Refrigerator 5.7 amps Electric Water Heater 12.5 amps Microwave Oven 12.8 amps Electric Coffee Pot 9 amps Toaster 10 amps Hair Dryer 10-12 amps TV 2 amps Dirt Devil Hand Vacuum 2 amps Electric Fry Pan 10 amps Iron 10 amps Food Processor 6 amps Crock Pot 1.5 amps Heating Pad 0.5 amps 1,100 Watt Heater 10 amps Depending on your primary service (from the campground post) and the configuration of your rig, the limits are evident. With your comments about having to reset your breaker, I assume it is inside your rig. As was suggested earlier, turn off the problem breaker and plug in a small device in other locations to test for power. You might be able to "spread the load" a bit and be able to resolve some of your issues that way.

We too want to send our "Thank You" to your husband for his service to our country.  What a great way to start the new year - as full-timers. 

There is a learning curve but you've gotten good advice from previous posters about watching the numbers of amps for various appliances.  Even with our 50amp service, I don't leave the electric water heater on all the time.  I turn it on when I get up in the morning, and then off after dishes and showers are done.  Then back on while preparing our evening meal, and off after supper.  We still have plenty of hot water during the day.  Then we don't run the risk of having it turn on while running the microwave.    And, if we happen to be in a campground that charges extra for electric, I sure don't want the water heater cycling off and on.

Again, Welcome to the world of fulltiming.  Hope to see you down the road