Maya.215 wrote:
Ok I have a question I'm looking for a generator and would like to know a good brand or what watt generator would be best my 1979 dodge cruise master I'm running a surflo 45psi water pump, ac, a domatic fridge witch has 12v,gas and 110 hook up and there are 7 outlets
I'd recommend a 4000-6000 watt (4-6 kW), especially with an AC unit.
Look at the labels or owners manual (if you have them) for what each device requires in terms of watts or amps and add those up. Alternatively, add up the amperage of all your 120/240VAC circuit breakers. Then, add 25 percent to the total. (Multiply the total amps or watts by 1.25.)
For your purposes, amps times volts equal watts. (Pay attention to whether the AC is 120 or 240 VAC.)
Your AC will have the greatest demand, followed by your refrigerator and furnace. Lights and most things you plug into outlets don't draw a lot. Outlets on a 15 amp circuit breaker limit plugged-in devices to 1800 watts. Two 15 amp circuit breakers means 3600 watts maximum demand, and so on. (Tandem circuit breakers, with the trip levers tied together, indicate a 240VAC circuit. So, a 30 amp tandem circuit breaker means 7200 watts maximum.)
One of your circuit breakers is likely the "main" and protects/limits all the 120/240VAC circuits in your motorhome. If so, you can simply use the amperage rating of the main circuit breaker, multiplied by 1.25, to determine how big your generator should be.
If you can email me a picture of your 120/240VAC breaker panel, I can tell you easily what you have and need.
By the way, we live for most of decade with a propane refrigerator when we were "off-the-grid" and it served us just fine. Along with some propane light fixtures and a direct-vent propane heater meant we only need a generator to run the computer and TV/VCR. (I also had a 12VDC adapter for the laptop computer so we need the generator even less often.)
