DammitJim
Florida
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Can I make a reservation for a site that has 20amp hookups and be able to run my A/C, lights, refrigerator and LCD TV? Or do I need 30amp hookups?
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wildtoad
Blythewood, SC
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Joined: 06/05/2011
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You will be much better off with the 30. While the 20 amp MAY work you risk blowing a breaker when you least desire it.
Tom Wilds
Blythewood, SC
2000 Hurricane 30Q
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RoyB
King George, VA
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You sure can - its just like hooking up to your garage 15A/20A outlets at home with a long extension cord. Dont confuse the 15A/20AMP service with a single 2KW Honda Generator. This only puts out 12Amps. The only problem you may encounter is you may trip the camp site breaker everytime you turn on something else in your trailer...
Be sure to carry a RV30A-15A 18-inch long adaptor (WALMART) with you and not depend on the site having one for you to use. This will be like plugging into your home receptacle. You will need to adapt down your shore power 30A plug to a 15A/20A household type plug.
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me
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DammitJim
Florida
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Hhmmmm.... I am wondering if it is worth the extra 30 bucks it's going to cost me to get the 30Amp site.
I need to do some math, but I don't have the power consumption of the things I might need to run.
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Sandia Man
Rio Rancho, NM
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Joined: 08/09/2008
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It might be too close for comfort running everything off just 20 amps (if it's at all possible) especially if AC is going to run constantly to keep up with hot outdoor temps. I would opt for the 30 amp site, but if you only have 20 amps to work with, you may need to run fridge (and water heater) on propane to accomplish this task.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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DammitJim - try it out at home before going. Pick up a 25-50 foot 10 gauge (10-3) extension cord and the RV30A-15A 18-inch long adapter (WALMART) and hook up your trailer to the garage standard 120V 15A/20A receptacle. Then you can see what you can turn on before tripping the garage circuit breaker...
I use my trailer all the time here at CAMP BACKYARD hooked up this way. I can run almost everything in the trailer but if I have the A/C running and turn on the microwave it usually trips my circuit breaker in the garage. Running all those items you listed above worked just fine from the garage 15A connection here.
Having the RV30A-15A 18-inch long adaptor is a good thing to carry in your tool box anyway. Never know where you might need to plug into a standard household 120VAC receptacle.
Never know where you might be and wont have Scotty to give you more power Capt Kirk.
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DammitJim
Florida
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Hhhmmmm... interesting point, Sandia... I could do the fridge thing on propane  Great idea! I could buy another propane tank with those $30! Would I be able to just run lights and the TV w/o a problem? I don't have anything else that would need power.
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DammitJim
Florida
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LOL @ RoyB. I do have an extension cord that is heavy duty. The problem is that I can't do this test because my camper is stored somewhere else and I need to make the reservations. Good suggestions, though
I'll try to look at the documentation and see how much juice the A/C needs to be able to run. The microwave we don't use often and I'm sure I can turn off the A/C if I need to warm something up.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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I wonder how the camp site knows if you are only using the 20AMP service instead of the 30A service... I guess they have separate locations for the various sites. You may end up in a TENT group site and they wont let you camp there mixed in with tents... Would be a good question to ask I guess..
You shouldnt have any problems just be aware of what you have turned on... I was thinking I have seen you in some of the discussion of camping off the power grids. This would be a good test for doing that.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi Jim,
It is NOT worth $30 to get from 20 amp to 30 amps. Power management is a fact of life with even a 30 amp service.
For example from my RV:
8 amps for air conditioner (Mine seems to be more efficient than most)
13 amps for microwave
10 amps for water heater
6 amps for converter
2.5 amps for fridge
39.5 amps total
Do have a way to monitor the voltage.
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts Unisolar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries, 2500 MSW watt inverter.
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