Community Forums

tlaffourtit · 02-01-2015, 02:58 PM

when the camper is not in use is there anything wrong with using your camper's inverter to power refrigerators, some outlets and TV's in your home as long as you keep it under 30 amps? I would just need a transfer box using the inverter as first circuit and a sub panel for the circuits you picked. just asking.

palehorse89 · 02-01-2015, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlaffourtit

when the camper is not in use is there anything wrong with using your camper's inverter to power refrigerators, some outlets and TV's in your home as long as you keep it under 30 amps? I would just need a transfer box using the inverter as first circuit and a sub panel for the circuits you picked. just asking.

I would not want to use my Coach's batteries to power a home that already has electric in it..........use your homes electric to keep your Coach's batteries maintained instead

tlaffourtit · 02-01-2015, 03:12 PM

I was thinking if the batteries are charged and floating using solar why not use the electric for the home. if the camper is just sitting there it seems like a waste of electric to me.

vsheetz · 02-01-2015, 03:15 PM

What's the motivation, to save on the house electric bill? What are going to charge the RV batteries with? If from the house electric there is not much point...

tlaffourtit · 02-01-2015, 03:16 PM

I edited the post to add the solar. approx. 60 amps or less depending on weather.

tlaffourtit · 02-01-2015, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsheetz

What's the motivation, to save on the house electric bill? What are going to charge the RV batteries with? If from the house electric there is not much point...

well yeah. if I can get free electric and it's legal then i'm in.( I should change my name to " cheap bastard") in reality I went to the trouble of installing the solar for the camper. it would be a waste of resources and money not to take advantage of.

palehorse89 · 02-01-2015, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlaffourtit

I edited the post to add the solar. approx. 60 amps or less depending on weather.

Did you mean 60 watts?
I would leave your Coach do its own thing......it is setup just to do that.......if you are in need of "Free" power for you home.........I am thinking it would take some time......to get a pay back for a solar project to power said item in your home. As Vince pointed out, you will need the Coach plugged in to keep up with the battery draw/charge rate to power what you listed.
How many watts is your Coachs inverter?

FlyingDiver · 02-01-2015, 04:17 PM

The cost of changing the wiring in the house to safely isolate specific loads and feed them from an external source (the RV's inverter) will be an order of magnitude greater than what you'll save on your electric bill.

nothermark · 02-01-2015, 04:26 PM

The cost can be as cheap as moving a plug. The interesting issue is that you will still be exercising your batteries and may forget to switch back to line power. Do the math and see if it is worth it to you. If you have a large enough array go for it.

FlyingDiver · 02-01-2015, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothermark

The cost can be as cheap as moving a plug. The interesting issue is that you will still be exercising your batteries and may forget to switch back to line power. Do the math and see if it is worth it to you. If you have a large enough array go for it.

"a" plug? read the OP again. He was talking multiple devices, in multiple locations in the house. No way he can do that moving one plug, unless he does a significant amount of rewiring in the house first.

Scarab0088 · 02-01-2015, 04:32 PM

The house wiring would be an i$$ue and in a studs and stucco house = permits too.

It would be MUCH simpler to just run an appropriate gauge cord from the Coach's power system to an appliance you wish to run (Fridge/Freezer).

Here's an idea - according to Consumer Reports, the #1 BIGGEST consumer of electricity in a home in recent years is a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) like a TiVo or cable converter/DVR...because they run 24/7. Why not run a dedicated power cord to get that power pig off the grid? It is perfect to power with an inverter/solar set-up with a low/continuous draw.

Best luck

tlaffourtit · 02-01-2015, 04:36 PM

using a 4000 watt inverter, 1450 ah in batteries. not done yet but mppt-60 controller with 945 watts solar panels. ( extra solar for bad weather days) seems a waste to just let them sit there floating for 8 months a year. I should note the 2 refrig. are on their on c.b. the main tv with the dvr and stereo is on it own breaker also. I would just move those 3 circuits to the sub panel. using the ts. connect the inverter to main feed in transfer switch and second feed from home a/c panel to secondary side of transfer switch and the output of ts to sub panel. cost to me would be a transfer switch and sub panel. just not sure it this will work correctly. this is not my strong suit.

twinboat · 02-01-2015, 04:50 PM

I would set something up to send inverter power to the house, as long as the solar was charging. When the sun went down , the power would switch back to the house power.

You could use a 12 volt voltage sensing relay controlling a portable transfer switch.

Sounds good to me

Scarab0088 · 02-01-2015, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlaffourtit

using a 4000 watt inverter, 1450 ah in batteries...seems a waste to just let them sit there floating for 8 months a year. I should note the 2 refrig. are on their on c.b. the main tv with the dvr and stereo is on it own breaker also. I would just move those 3 circuits to the sub panel. using the ts. connect the inverter to main feed in transfer switch and second feed from home a/c panel to secondary side of transfer switch and the output of ts to sub panel. cost to me would be a transfer switch and sub panel

Described is basically a common home emergency generator set-up - just replacing the gennie with the RV. Not rocket science.

No reason to just let it sit...if you have the time and money to make the (permitted) changes to your home - go for it.