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Old 02-13-2020, 01:49 PM   #1
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kWh usage for a Motorhome and a outside shed in RGV

We are in the process of buying an RV lot in Rio Grande Valley—10 miles north of the Mexican border—and were now searching for an Electric Company to supply our electricity. This lot was wired for both 50amp and 30amp service at the pole.
However, the 30amp is no longer good on the service pole but was diverted to a shed that's also on the lot and it powers the washer and electric dryer, with a couple of 110V wall outlets.

We will be using this lot as our Winter Texan get—away from Dec. thru the end of April (6 months/yr. or so) for the first few years as we travel. But it's possible down the road we could be staying here year round—which down here—gets really hot in the summer and we would be running both AC's all the time.

We will also be using the washer & dryer once a week or so.

These electric companies are pretty much all alike.

• If you use 500 kWh you'll be charged this rate...

• If you use 1,000 kWh you'll be charged this rate...

so on and so on...

The less kWh you use the more per kWh you pay.

I have no idea how many kWh's our 50amp coach uses on a daily basis or the electric washer and dryer in the shed. In our coach we don't have any high draw appliances other than a microwave. We never use our propane furnace, but we do use an floor model electric space heater from time to time during the winter on cold nights and use the microwave some everyday etc. etc.

My question is, could any of you give me an estimated guess on how many kWh our 50amp coach would use in the winter months which you rarely need AC down here and then in the summer months when both AC's would be used extensively of course along with all your other regular stuff.

I know these's a lot of variables but I'm just trying to get an educated guess of our kWh usage might be in winter and then summer.
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Old 02-13-2020, 02:02 PM   #2
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We wintered in Palm Springs CA this winter. Average usage for January was 13kwh/day. First couple of weeks were pretty cool at night. We run a small electric heater from sunset till bed time. Set thermostat at 62 overnight. Use propane furnace overnight then to bring coach up to 66 when we get up.
Hope this helps.
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Old 02-13-2020, 02:18 PM   #3
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You don't say what improvements the lot has, other than the out building. The first thing that came to mind as you described your use, would be a large cement slab with a sloped tin roof toward the sun. I'm not big on solar for RV's unless you boondock a LOT. In your situation however, I would spend the money, if you can afford it, on a home sized solar array on the tin roof. The tin building would give you some sun protection in the summer and keep it from destroying the outside of the coach surface. The roof is good for mounting a satellite TV dish and may even provide a selling point if you decide not to stay there.

During the time you're not there, the solar could be going back into the system and giving you a break throughout the year.
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Old 02-13-2020, 02:36 PM   #4
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Don has EXACTLY the right idea!

Firstly, find out if any of the power companies will offer "net metering" and pay you at MARKET RATE (these are key terms) for any power you generate.

Then, you will want to look into panels and a grid-tie inverter system, a small array like what I put on my RV (3 340 watt panels) is capable of generating 5-7 kWh per day, but I have it for battery charging so the capture is limited by my batteries. With grid tie, the panels convert every photon they can right into the power grid.

Panels can be found for about 60 cents a watt, and whether to do a central inverter or let each panel have their own - will be a choice based on how many panels you can set up.

But a pole barn type structure would be an absolute to shield the coach from the sun.

To help you calculate on the power usage... My coach can idle through each day that I don't need AC at about 2-3 kWh per day. That's for a home inverter refrigerator, all LED lighting, my router / internet setup, and pretty much 12 hours daily of my 46" TV and Apple TV usage. ALL of that is on just the batteries.

When I lived in Savannah, I had an RV absorption fridge and that uses 400 watts pretty much 100% of the time, especially in the summer. So that's 8kWh per day, guaranteed. Then there's the AC. My Monaco coach is well insulated and I was under some trees, so I wasn't in full desert sun. As such, I could usually get away with just one AC unit at a time, but at least one of them was running 24/7 for about 4 months straight. That's 1500 watts, 36kWh per day. So if you have an RV fridge and use just ONE AC all the time, that's a minimum of 1320 kWh per month.

Solar will REALLY help you on this.
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Old 02-13-2020, 03:04 PM   #5
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Do you have a residential refrigerator, or an absorption refrigerator? If absorption, is it the 4-door kind (2 refrigerator doors, 2 freezer compartments)?
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Old 02-13-2020, 08:11 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oatmeal View Post
Do you have a residential refrigerator, or an absorption refrigerator? If absorption, is it the 4-door kind (2 refrigerator doors, 2 freezer compartments)?


We are in the RGV and we use on average about 1000 kWh per month. We use both air conditioning units as needed. We use a electric heater and electric fireplace for heat as needed. We have a residential refrigerator and a washer and dryer. This is with a 36’ motor home.
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Old 02-14-2020, 05:33 AM   #7
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OP here...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don View Post
You don't say what improvements the lot has, other than the out building.
That’s because there has been no other improvements.
The first thing that came to mind as you described your use, would be a large cement slab with a sloped tin roof toward the sun. I'm not big on solar for RV's unless you boondock a LOT.

Yeah I’m not big on them either, but we do carry a 200watt suitcase solar panel that keeps our batts topped off when boon docking.

In your situation however, I would spend the money, if you can afford it, on a home sized solar array on the tin roof. The tin building would give you some sun protection in the summer and keep it from destroying the outside of the coach surface. The roof is good for mounting a satellite TV dish and may even provide a selling point if you decide not to stay there.

Well your right about putting a pole barn over the whole rig and we plan on doing that later on if living down here year round becomes a reality. But not right now while were still traveling year round and only in RGV for just the few winter months. The concrete RV site is situated such that we would park the coach windshield to the north and the rear would be to the south.

As far as the solar part goes, that’s a pretty good idea but I’m not sure the 55+ community we’ll be in would let us do that—maybe though—plus I don’t think we could afford the cost or install. But I may just look into what that total cost would be and whether the ROI would be worth it or not. Thanks for that idea to ponder.
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Originally Posted by oatmeal View Post
Do you have a residential refrigerator, or an absorption refrigerator? If absorption, is it the 4-door kind (2 refrigerator doors, 2 freezer compartments)?
Single door absorption refrigerator with freezer up top.

Quote:
Originally Posted by geordi View Post
Don has EXACTLY the right idea!
But a pole barn type structure would be an absolute to shield the coach from the sun.
Yep plan on doing that later on if we live move down here permanently when traveling is all over.

To help you calculate on the power usage... My coach can idle through each day that I don't need AC at about 2-3 kWh per day. That's for a home inverter refrigerator, all LED lighting, my router / internet setup, and pretty much 12 hours daily of my 46" TV and Apple TV usage. ALL of that is on just the batteries.

When I lived in Savannah, I had an RV absorption fridge and that uses 400 watts pretty much 100% of the time, especially in the summer. So that's 8kWh per day, guaranteed. Then there's the AC. My Monaco coach is well insulated and I was under some trees, so I wasn't in full desert sun. As such, I could usually get away with just one AC unit at a time, but at least one of them was running 24/7 for about 4 months straight. That's 1500 watts, 36kWh per day. So if you have an RV fridge and use just ONE AC all the time, that's a minimum of 1320 kWh per month.
That’s helpful. thx

Quote:
Originally Posted by vanmark View Post
We are in the RGV and we use on average about 1000 kWh per month. We use both air conditioning units as needed. We use a electric heater and electric fireplace for heat as needed. We have a residential refrigerator and a washer and dryer. This is with a 36’ motor home.
That’s helpful. thx
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Old 02-14-2020, 05:54 AM   #8
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Just an aside comment that the size of the service 30 or 50 has no bearing on the amount of energy you'll use, only the amount you can consume at one time. I guess that means you "could" use more but not practically.
I can tell you we have used 1000- 1300 KW at .14/KW in both our AZ and Florida winter month long stays, the only times I kept data on. With a 41' motorhome we set the thermostat at 74 cooling and 70 for heating(which isn't used much if at all) . I kept that temp on even if out for the day, I hate coming home to a hot home. as usual YMMV but its a number at least. Cooling and Heating were minimal at that time of year.

oddly a couple of the places we looked at buying a lot at Banned solar on the Shed /port roof as unsightly!! lol and against HOA. I think I would fight that assumption but there are those places out there ...still.
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Old 02-14-2020, 06:31 AM   #9
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We use in the 1000-1500 range when either a lot of heat or AC is required

Above 90 we need all three AC units for part of the day

Moderate temperatures make a huge difference in kw,s required for comfort

Depending on the ks cost the diesel burner may be used instead of the space heaters
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Old 02-14-2020, 08:05 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by BillJinOR View Post
oddly a couple of the places we looked at buying a lot at Banned solar on the Shed /port roof as unsightly!! lol and against HOA. I think I would fight that assumption but there are those places out there ...still.
There is ZERO chance that I will ever live in an HOA community ever again. The things they view as "unsightly" are stupid, and frankly the only reason they seem to exist is to give people with a lust for power, something to lust for.

There's LOTS of open land in the desert, I'm sure you can find something to your liking in a different area - and without people looking over your property and wanting it to live up to THEIR tastes - however obnoxious their taste happens to be.
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Old 02-15-2020, 07:38 AM   #11
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There is ZERO chance that I will ever live in an HOA community ever again. The things they view as "unsightly" are stupid, and frankly the only reason they seem to exist is to give people with a lust for power, something to lust for.

There's LOTS of open land in the desert, I'm sure you can find something to your liking in a different area - and without people looking over your property and wanting it to live up to THEIR tastes - however obnoxious their taste happens to be.
I hear ya and to each his own, there are some instances of that across the nation for sure, but most are not that way down here, and especially in the 55+ RV retirement communities and there are literally 100's of them down here. When we had our S&B up in Houston, TX for 12 years before we went FT it wasn't that way either. The sub-division stayed nice, was clean and safe and our property increased in value 100K in 12 yrs. There has to be some rules and basic standards or the properties will just go to.....you know.

On the flip side though...Communities or groups of people that live in a common area without an HOA...that's where you see homes, RV's and trailers end up with all the pilled up junk, washing machines and dead cars in the front yard. They end up being trailer trash parks and properties and property values plunge to be worth hardly anything. Having a good HOA with concerned neighbors involved prevents that kind of stuff from happening.

As an alternative, to buy your own piece of land and then develop it for electric, water and septic tank is cost prohibitive for most retiree's. Living in the desert full time is not appealing to most either. Visiting the desert yes, living there 24/7/365...no.

The property in the community were currently buying into is a nice, well kept, established neighborhood and 90% of the people there are Winter Texans just like us with like minded living conditions. The modest changes/improvements we'd like to make to our site have already been done to many other sites and we've already discussed them with the HOA which are just our neighbors that rotate every year.
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Old 02-16-2020, 11:14 AM   #12
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Single door absorption refrigerator with freezer up top.
Rats. I've done extensive testing on my Norcold's electricity usage, but it's not the same model as yours.

One thing I do know is that my Norcold 1200 is by far the biggest energy user, not counting climate control. Mine uses about 7.5 kwh/day in moderate or cold conditions. When it's really hot outside, it runs pretty much continuously all day and night, which works out to about 10 kwh/day.

My unit has two 225-watt heating elements, and a duty cycle under non-extreme conditions of about 70%. Note that the "rating" on the inside label says 660 watts, and I assume that includes a heater that comes on only intermittently. But what's going to be running is the heating element, so you could find out what the wattage of yours is and use the 75% duty cycle as an estimate. And it would give you a maximum, for during the summer in the RGV.

But really, using a Will-a-Watt meter for a while is the only way to get an accurate reading of how much power it uses. Maybe someone has done that with your model--you might ask in another thread.

I'm harping on the refrigerator because it's so variable. A residential refrigerator uses about 1.5 kwh/day. Over a month, a residential refer would use probably 200 fewer kwhs than mine.

The microwave is a big electricity draw, but it's used only for short periods, so it's not going to greatly affect your total usage. I'm always nervous about using it when boondocking, even though I have a lot of solar. But when I actually run the numbers (X watts for Y minutes), it's not a huge deal even then, never mind when hooked up to electricity.

You also asked about the washer/dryer. I tested my Splendide combo unit, to compare it to using a laundromat. The wash cycle, which lasts 1-1/2 hours, uses 210 watt hours. That's almost nothing, although you have to account for heating water if you don't use cold water. It's not the same machine you have, but I would imagine all washing machines are light electricity users.

Drying is significant, though. But it's easy to calculate if you know the wattage of your dryer. Mine is 1250 watts, and running it for an hour used 1.25 kwh--exactly what I expected. You can run your numbers based on your own expected usage.

You can do the same thing with air conditioning. As you know, you'll be running both airs almost continuously in the middle of the summer. Get the watts for those and multiply them by 24 per day.

The more difficult calculation will be for the shoulder season, because it will vary depending on the weather, and your preferences. Facing north will help a lot to keep the air conditioning use down.

In years past, whenever I've had a meter available I've tracked my electricity usage, and always came up with about 15 kwh/day when no climate control is needed, and 30 kwh/day when moderate climate control is needed.

Right now, I'm in Arizona in a 40-foot-moho. I'm not using basement air at all--just a space heater, and then only in the evenings and overnight. I'm leaving the electric water heater on all the time, and have the energy hog of a refrigerator. I've been averaging about 30 kwh/day.

This makes me think that a "little bit" of heating (overnight space heater) is about the same as a "little bit" of air conditioning during the heat of the day (like in shoulder season).
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Old 02-16-2020, 12:35 PM   #13
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Then, you will want to look into panels and a grid-tie inverter system, a small array like what I put on my RV (3 340 watt panels) is capable of generating 5-7 kWh per day, but I have it for battery charging so the capture is limited by my batteries. With grid tie, the panels convert every photon they can right into the power grid.
The 7 kwh/day would be only under ideal conditions. We have 1,050 watts of solar, and estimate about 4 kwh/day on an average day.

But even at 7 kwh/day, if the electric company is paying 15 cents/kwh, that's only about $1/day, and less when conditions aren't ideal.
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Old 02-16-2020, 01:41 PM   #14
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I have a S&B that I live in and a RV lot with a Casita that I rent in Mission.
Both use <1000 KW in the winter, the RV lot uses 0 in the summer and the S&B <500 KW. (unoccupied) AC and security.

The rental has a 5th wheel on it, the Casita has W/D and a Frig. it is not air cond. The rental usually uses more power than the S&B.

Last Mo bills S&B $73.81 Rental $75.81

Many RVs here will use AC during the day and Heat at night. We have many days of >80 degrees and nights into the low 50s
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