Is 30 amps enough for full timers

[Doug Sage]

There seems to be a common thread here. If you don't want to worry about electricity and what you can run at any given time then get a 50 amp rig. If you are willing to watch your electrical useage and turn off high loads such as coffee pots, microwaves, hair dryers, portable electric heaters, airconditioners, etc. then you can get by on 30 amp. I have had 30 amp rigs, watched my usage and been fine. I now have 50 amp and never think about it.

[trainsktg]

I full timed it in a 31' Class A from April 2009 to February 2011 in the eastern Washington high desert. That's 100F in the summer and 0F in the winter. My 30 amp service was sufficient to keep things comfortable in both summer and winter, although as everyone says, you need to monitor your amperage. I usually ran two 1500 watt heaters in the coldest weather (in November 2010 it reached minus 19F), but I would turn one off to use the microwave. One useful tip is to plug your basement heat and water hose heat trace into power separate from your MH's. (In the northern climes, there is usually a main power receptacle for the MH, and a regular 20 amp GFCI right next to it to be used for such purposes.

Keith

[StStg1]

I do not fulltime. I do have a 30amp TT. I have only tripped a breaker in the TT 1 time in 6 years. I run everything I need to run, when I need to run it. I do have a wall plug volt meter to monitor the CG supply. Pick the rig you are happy with.

[RedneckExpress]

Hell, I can get by on 15 and 20 amp power and I fulltime.... hmm.... maybe that's why my electrical bill is rarely more than $25 a month....

Originally Posted by Gary - K7GLD

Probably not that many in this thread that have actually stayed on an extended basis in truly HOT weather!

We stayed in Florida for several months, and even though it was during "Winter", daytime temps dictated that we run the AC all day, and some into the night - the 30 amp service in our KIT 5er had ALL it could do to handle the A/C, let alone the microwave, refrigerator and power converter draw along with it - actually melted out one main RV power plug, and well into the second before we left!

As noted further above, in many older CG's where 30 amp is ALL that's available, and where everyone ELSE is also running THEIR A/C's, the main line power can drop far enough that what YOUR RV is getting is well down from 120 vac, and that makes it even harder on the appliances in your RV - and as also stated, none of that is helped just because your RV is capable of 50 amp service - if that 50 amp service isn't available...

That reminds me of the problem we used to have at the park here, the park's master breaker would overheat during the summer because it and the pole transformer weren't originally designed to have 20 50 amp rigs all running twin A/C Units at the same time, and about mid day the breaker would go "Pop!" and the park would lose power and water until it cooled down and someone went over to the master pedestal and reset it again.

The master feed and breaker were replaced along with the transformer this past fall, finally replacing the 1950s era power pole and unit that had been feeding us up till then.

Originally Posted by melvonnar

Some of the posters here haven't read your question correctly; I would sugest that they read your first post before answering and suggusting that you get 50 amps. you have already decided on a 30 amp motorhome.
That said:
My motorhome has only 30 amps; most campgrounds have a 30 amp and a 20 amp plug on there post.
I had my rear airconditioner rewired for a seperate 20 amp plug, I now have two plugs that come out of my motorhome, I plug one into the 30 amp, and one into the 20 amp; I run everything in the motorhome with no problem; my motorhome is 34 feet long and in the summer heat I run both airs.

The only catch to that is when you see that 20 amp and 30 amp, there's usually not a separate 20 amp and 30 amp feed coming to the box. Just the 30 amp feed and then the 20 amp is fed from the master 30 amp to protect the 20 amp outlet, so you're still running on a max capacity of 30 amps for the wiring.

As to the need to iron clothes, I usually do that in the laundry room where the ironing board is so its not being drawn through the camper's electrical system in any event.

[Lorna]

Originally Posted by RedneckExpress

... As to the need to iron clothes, I usually do that in the laundry room where the ironing board is so its not being drawn through the camper's electrical system in any event.

I don't iron much anymore (but I still have a small travel iron), I like to use one of the many "wrinkle releaser" products on the market. I also have replced pretty much everyting we own with clothes that do not wrinkle. It if wrinkles, it's returned or re-donated to a thrift store (we buy a lot of our clothes from the thrift stores).

Life is too short to waste it ironing clothes!

[Cat320]

It's all about what you get used to. We have 50 amps, we are used to running two A/Cs, the W/D and anything else we want. However, in the past, when we had 30 amps, we did fine, just have to monitor what power you are using.

[AFChap]

The OP's sig indicates they are part of the Winnebago Owners GP. Based on that, they need to know that later model Winnebago coaches (after late '90s or earlier?) are wired so that they can safely run BOTH ac units on less than 30a (apx 24a). The EMS system is designed to shed some loads if you try to run more than 30a will feed, but we normally just avoid running any other heavy load when running the dual compressor basement ac/heat pump.

To answer the original question, 30a can easily "be enough" for fulltiming if that is what the coach was originally wired for, OR if you are carefull. Our's is a 50a coach, but we can make do with only 30a when necessary and not feel terribly inconvenienced.

[melvonnar]

Quote"
The only catch to that is when you see that 20 amp and 30 amp, there's usually not a separate 20 amp and 30 amp feed coming to the box. Just the 30 amp feed and then the 20 amp is fed from the master 30 amp to protect the 20 amp outlet, so you're still running on a max capacity of 30 amps for the wiring.

As an electrical Engineer; I would like to inject this in here; most if not all campgrounds that wire their posts, use a wire from the source that will easily handle 50 amps. when they wire the posts they wire both from that 50 amp wire, therefor running both 20 anps and 30 amps normaly is no problem and does not overload their circuts. some of the realy old campgrounds have only wired for 20 amps, there is where you will have a problem.
The breakers on the post will tell you real quick if the post is wired to run both 20 and 30 amps together, if the breakers don't blow, you are good to go.
A voltmeter to check AC voltage in your motorhome is always a good idea.

[Shore2Shore]

Fulltimers from southeast TX here

30amp is totally fine for fulltiming even in major heat. Summer just past was constantly in the 100's for weeks *melt* The 30amp with the ability to run only 1x roof a/c at a time was totally fine.

Yes we had to manage our useage manually (no fancy energy centers in this vintage wagon, except good old fashioned turn something off to run another!)
What we have found most important is to get a good circulation of air going in the enclosed space of the MH or trailer. With the front a/c in use and 2x good electric fans we kept nice and comfortable even in constant 100's.

1 fan in the kitchen and the other in the bedroom, coupled with the a/c seperation front to rear via the vents kept a good front to rear & vice versa breeze going.

Yes when nuking something or using other high power devices 1 fan had to be switched off depending on what circuit it was on but becomes 2nd nature

So yeah if when we get our next rig it may well be 50amp, but 30amp does us just fine and will continue to do so