Community Forums

Always-RVing · 09-23-2009, 10:28 AM

Does anyone know what the typical (if there is one) RV electrical and water may cost? I've heard electric for a typical motorhome may run $20/month, water $5.00/month.

cb5300 · 09-23-2009, 02:08 PM

I'm guessing it would depend on the camp ground you are staying at...

TXiceman · 09-23-2009, 08:12 PM

$20.00 per month....I wish...
When we lived in the 5er for a year in Houston, our site had water included, but electric was extra. In the summer we came close to $200.00 per month and winter ( 1 or 2 months) maybe $50.00 per month. we probably averages $125 to $150 per month.

Ken

Hitchhiker · 09-23-2009, 08:39 PM

If you averaged about 40 -50 kwh per day it'd cost nearly $5 per day depending on the rate your power company charges.

If your rig pulled an average of 15 amps for 24 hours it would work out to 43.2 kwh for that day. My power company charges around 11 cents per kwh so that power would cost me $4.75 plus taxes and any other stuff they tack on. Actually, unless you were running the AC or heating with electric, I doubt you'd average the 15 amps in the example.

Wayne M · 09-24-2009, 08:12 AM

The campground will post the rate, like 14 cents per kilowatt hour. Based on an average of 50 KWH per day it would coust you about $7 a day, or $210 a month. The CG can set their rate higher than what they pay for it themselves, but usually not more than a penny or two. I have only had to pay for what I used one time in the past two years. All other stops included FHU.

Gary RVRoamer · 09-24-2009, 01:56 PM

40-50 KWH per day is probably the ball park usage when heating or air conditioning much of the day. That's about what I use in my stick house at our home base during the a/c season, or for electric heating in the winter. More like 12 KWH per day otherwise. I know my rig pulls about 34 amps all day along when both a/c's run continuous, as they do on a hot (90+) day, so that's roughly 10 hours x 34 amps x 120v = 40.8kwh plus another 10A x 120v x 14 hours = 16.8 kwh for the rest of the day/night. That's almost 58 KWH.

Electric power rates vary from around $0.08/KWH where hydroelectric power is abundant (Pacific Northwest) to $0.19/KWH in areas where power is generated from expensive petroleum fuels. Most places are probably in the $0.13-$0.16 range.

Always-RVing · 09-24-2009, 02:40 PM

Thanks :-)

bsavage · 09-25-2009, 12:01 AM

We own a small RV Park, and for our monthly tenants we do charge them for their electricity. Each site is metered. I charge what the electric co. charges me (about 10 cents/kwh). Most of my monthly tenants average around $40/mo, unless they run the A.C or heat constantly, in which case it's more like $65/month. When I didn't charge monthly tenants for electric, everyone left everything running all the time. Our electric bills are half of what they were before I changed to metered sites.

However, I have heard of campgrounds (not too far from us) that have a monthly minimum electricty charge of $50, even though the sites are metered. Seems pretty harsh to me.

Hope that helps...

Brenda, of...

tumbleturn · 09-25-2009, 09:42 AM

I spent a month at an RV park in Dayton Nevada during August. Without running the AC I was using about 10kw in a 24 hour period. If I turned the Refer to propane. I used a little less than 2kw in a 24 hour period. There was a 3 day cool period where the draw from the refer was less by about 3kw per day. If I ran the AC it was drawing a little over 1kw per hour. Had it been winter time. My electric heater is 1500 watt which would be 1.5kw per hour. For me it is cheaper to use propane than it is to use electricity. Both for heating and running the refer. Now if I could only get the AC to run on propane.

Mike

LindaH · 10-03-2009, 05:17 PM

We've never been in an RV park that charged separately for water. Electrical costs can be all over the board depending on how much the RV park charges per killowat and what you are running.

BookIIRoadtrash · 10-03-2009, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne M

The campground will post the rate, like 14 cents per kilowatt hour. Based on an average of 50 KWH per day it would coust you about $7 a day, or $210 a month. The CG can set their rate higher than what they pay for it themselves, but usually not more than a penny or two. I have only had to pay for what I used one time in the past two years. All other stops included FHU.

Most States have a law that states the CG can not charge more for a KW than what they are paying the Power Company for electricity. The advantage we have is they all use digital meters over the dial style. A digital meter tends to read slower, to you're advantage. What I look for is the test date of the meter which is usually on the face of the meter. Most States require the Power Company to test a meter every so many years and a CG metering electricity has to follow those laws. Make sure you check the laws of the State you are camping in.