30 amps? 50 amps? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

CarolfromTX · RV-Dreams Community Member

30 amps? 50 amps?

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Usually 50 amp RVs include a washer dryer and or a second air conditioner.

With 30 amp you will be able run one AC and use the microwave at the same time but may not be able to run another high draw appliance like a hair dryer while the other two are running.

For the power hook up at the ranch, hire an electrician to put in a 30 amp receptacle where you plan to park the 5th wheel. Or better yet have a 50 amp receptacle put in for future use. You can use an adaptor to go from 50 amp plug to 30 amp cord for now.

GENECOP · RV-Dreams Family Member

Typically don't worry about it....if the RV has everything you want in it, the Amperage should be able to handle the load, 50 or 30....Either a 30 or a 50 will require a special line run at your property....

CarolfromTX · RV-Dreams Community Member

OK, thanks. Makes perfect sense.

Selah · RV-Dreams Family Member

A 50 amp circuit is not just 20 amp more than a 30 amp connection. A 30 amp connecting has only one "leg" and provides a total of 30 amps. A 50 amp connection has two "legs" providing 50 amps for each leg or a total of 100 amp total available.

Bob and Lindy · RV-Dreams Family Member

There are more parks with 30amp service than 50amp connections. If you get a unit with 50 amp cord, just carry a 30 amp adapter with. A 30 amp unit will do all the basics but if you need that 2nd ac, you won't get it in a 30amp unit.

Good luck.

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

So will a 50 amp run 3 acs? How about 3 ac's and the washer/dryer?

TRAILERKING · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bob and Lindy wrote:
There are more parks with 30amp service than 50amp connections. If you get a unit with 50 amp cord, just carry a 30 amp adapter with. A 30 amp unit will do all the basics but if you need that 2nd ac, you won't get it in a 30amp unit.

Good luck.

That's what I do with mine all the time. So far I've never had the opportunity to plug into a 50amp.......It's always been a 30amp. If running something else of higher amperage like microwave or vacuum we just turn of the A/C until we're done.

When at home I even adapt from the 30amp down to 15-20amp and I can keep the batteries charged up, the fridge on AC power. If the coach is sitting outside when I'm back at home I will run one air conditioner off of 20amp to keep it cool inside and the fridge I'll run off propane. To run the fridge and an A/C on 20amp it will usually trip the breaker.

Anyways 30amp works great for all what we've needed.

Barbaraok · RV-Dreams Family Member

50 amps just make life easier. While we can get along just fine on 30 amps by remembering switch things around, but it is so much easier when we have 50 amps and I don't have to worry about what is or isn't on.

Barb

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

campgrounds I am reserving at, all have 50 amps..I make sure of it. I think I will need it..

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

As I am preparing to full-time myself, I have tossed this 30/50 amp question around in my head many times. Yes, 50 amps provides 3 times the power, but will I be able to afford it? We recently had a post by Summersquash about her high electric bill that got me thinking. rv-dreams.activeboard.com/t57849372/my-electric-bill-really-is-high/

The question is, how much have you budgeted for your electricity use? I expect electric rates to soon skyrocket, as our President has promised after the closure of all our coal fired electric power plants that currently supply 39% of our nation's electricity needs. With today's low electric rates, you may currently be able to afford say 1,000 - 2,000 KWH per month, but what if supply and demand doubles or even triples our electric rate, as I expect will happen when all our coal plants go offline? I'm budgeting about $100/month for electricity which is currently about what a 30 amp service will provide. At 13 cents/kWh (the current national average rate) $100 will but you 769KWH/mo. But if we look at the current electricity rate for Hawaii, (37 cents/KWH) as an example of what mainland electricity rates could possibly rise to here in a few years, and imagine yourself with a 50 amp service, running 2-3 ACs and a host of other typical household appliances using say, 2,000 KWH/mo. - your electric bill would be $740/month! This example is at today's rates in Hawaii - our mainland US electric rates (under current law, all coal fired electric plants will be closed by 2016) may well exceed this amount in the near future.

Rather than a second, conventional, rooftop ac unit I am considering installing a high efficiency mini-split DC powered ac unit that produces 12,000 BTU of cooling power from as little as 500 watts. With a big enough battery bank (say 8 golf cart batteries) and a roof covered with 1,000-1,500 watts of solar panels this should supplement my peak cooling needs to forgo a 50 amp service, stretching my power needs and increasing my boondocking comfort, extending the boondocking season too. Sure this will be expensive, I'm thinking in the $5,000 range if I shop wisely, but if I can save a couple hundred dollars a month in electric costs the payback time would only be a couple years. Here's a guy that installed a super quiet mini-split ac on the tongue of his small TT. www.youtube.com/watch

Even if someone decided to forgo the weight and expense of 1,500 watts of solar panels and run one of these high efficiency 500 watt mini-split acs on generator power, a small single EU2000 Honda would provide sufficient power to charge your batteries while running the ac at the same time.

I'm just trying to think outside the box and plan for an uncertain future where electricity costs are expected to skyrocket.

Chip

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sushidog wrote:
I expect electric rates to soon skyrocket, as our President has promised after the closure of all our coal fired electric power plants that currently supply 39% of our nation's electricity needs. With today's low electric rates, you may currently be able to afford say 1,000 - 2,000 KWH per month, but what if supply and demand doubles or even triples our electric rate, as I expect will happen when all our coal plants go offline?
.... our mainland US electric rates (under current law, all coal fired electric plants will be closed by 2016) may well exceed this amount in the near future.

I'm just trying to think outside the box and plan for an uncertain future where electricity costs are expected to skyrocket.

Chip

I hesitate to get into a political discussion, so I'll try avoid that part, most coal fired plants can easily be converted to run on natural gas and back again depending on the cost of the source fuel. I'm fairly certain that electrical rates will not skyrocket as you suggest, it would be political suicide for any president or congress to allow it to happen... a third rail event so to speak. What's more likely is a slow but steady turn to alternative energy sources as the technology for them improves and prices continue to fall. Net net energy prices will continue to rise with general inflation forecasts but not at "scary" rates of increase.

Coal, despite all the talk, is not going away any time soon. They will find ways to make it burn more cleanly through new scrubbing technology which will be worthwhile if the price of thermal coal continues to fall due to falling demand in this country. The coal lobby will also be pushing hard for industry relief and other subsidies to make their product less environmentally harmful. 2016 is a long way off, and a lot can change in that time.

You are wise to plan for an uncertain future, but don't let political scare mongering sway you into making unrealistic projections.

FWIW, Brian

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

I didn't think there is a more cost effective electric solution that just plugging into your socket?

I mean.. adding up a 5k bill for solar.. then the added fuel to tow it around, and wear and tear on the rig.. Then how long before the batteries and stuff need to be replaced? Seems expensive for a very limited supply of electric..

My shops warehouse bill is less than $100 month.. At 5k install, That 50 months worth of the solar, and I have 220v, 3 phase, swamp coolers running etc and no limits.

I don't think a generator can compete with a outlet either? Seems overall it too, would cost more money to run a good sized RV..

I understand if you are willing to give up some comforts.. and suffer a little.. Not run 3 ac's at once , and wash your clothes while cooking..Maybe turn off your awning light.. Watch 1 tv, not 2.. Then I'm sure you can save a little.

Not sure where the electric bills will be a RV. But what ever it is.. I am willing to pay..

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

You may want to only stay in locations with solid electrical service, that is is your choice. If you want to get a bit further away from "that" action... solar and/or a generator will be needed. Otherwise you'll need a very, very long cord to plug into a socket. And that is a choice also. Neither is right or wrong. It really depends on what you want to do or accomplish.

Brian

-- Edited by biggaRView on Thursday 14th of August 2014 09:24:57 AM

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Back to the original question, which is 30AMP versus 50AMP. Barb had the answer for us, "50 amps just make life easier". On 30AMP you can run up to two large appliances at once, no more. These appliances are your air conditioner, microwave, electric hot water heater (this one catches people all the time), hair dryer, toaster, etc. On 50AMP you can normally run everything at once. We are on 30AMP right now and getting by fine, but it is more hassle. Many 30AMP RVs and some 50AMP ones have electric management systems (EMS, but not the surge suppressor type EMS) that will cut off loads to keep you under 30AMP automatically. In our RV, we have to do the work manually or pop a breaker.

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

I was wondering what they Power management system did.. Cool.

So I think I need 50.. if I'm in a warm area.. and running ac 24/7.. sounds like.

BiggarView · RV-Dreams Family Member

For what you have been planning have as a an electrical load, 50 amp is the way to go.

Brian

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

As Bill brought us back to 30 amp versus 50 amp, let's keep it on that topic. Sources of the generation of the power should be in a separate thread, but I fear that if one were started, I'd have to lock or delete it once the discussion got even close to political in nature.

Terry

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Can topics be split off? or would you rather we start a new one, all over?

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

The Junkman wrote:
Can topics be split off? or would you rather we start a new one, all over?

Some of the earlier comments got completely away from the discussion of what would run on 30 or 50 amp systems. Those should have been put into totally new threads. I chose to leave them in place because the information could be helpful for some, but it sidetracked the topic of the original poster.

In cases where topics "split off," the original poster, or others wanting an answer to the same question, have to read through a number of "unrelated" comments and find no answer to their questions.

In the past, Howard has stated that it would be better to start a new thread rather than hijack an existing one or reviving an old thread that may not have up-to-date information.

Terry

The Junkman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ok.. we'll try and give that a try.

Vstarrider1946 · RV-Dreams Family Member

My Allegro bus has 3 AC's and in August I ran all 3 plus an electric induction cooktop, a full size Kitchenaid refrigerator and washer and dryer with no problem. I find it a little restrictive when looking for parking spots but I'm limited more by my 45' length than 50 amps. However, I can always find a space for the coach. Usually without advance reservations. I prefer a pull thru site but I don't mid backing in if necessary.