12 volt or 110 volt

Rigs would normally have a power converter that changes 120 volts AC to 12 volts DC. Lighting, fans and appliances normally work or controlled by the 12 volt DC system.
Rig should be wired for 12 volts DC.
Items like air conditioning and any other large normally 120 volt AC items should be wired to that system.

Our 5er ceiling fan/light is 120 vac. Most of the other lights are 12 vdc.

Certain items are 120VAC (or 110VAC) period, like the air conditioner and microwave oven. They won't run unless you have pedestal power or an elaborate inverter system (very rare). Certain items can take advantage of available 120VAC, like most RV fridges and many water heaters. Just about all other electrical in a typical travel trailer is 12VDC, even if you are plugged into that pedestal. Nearly all travel trailers have a converter that converts 120VAC to 12VDC, which is used to charge your battery(s) and power the lights, furnace, fans, etc.

I was told that the use of 12 volts stems from when RV camping was camping. That is you needed a stove, lights, refrigerator, water and a heater.

So early on you find Stoves mostly gas, lights gas or 6 or 12 volt electric, refrigerators were ice or gas/12volt/120volt, water pump was manual or 12 volt, the heater as gas with a 12 volt blower if any.

There were variations on the themes but AC, Microwaves, Televisions and other high current devices were best served by the 120 line voltage. These conveniences from home introduced the populous to modern RVing. Still the Industry was a whole usually adheres to the self-contained philosophy. Your TT can provide the basic functions for a day or so if needs be.

The beauty of modern RVing is it can be adapted to what ever style you prefer, from remote boon docking to full service multi-week resort style gatherings.

If you want, somebody will provide it.

If you are going to wire into a ceiling light, it's 12v. TT lights are 12v so they can run off batteries when not plugged into shore power. When plugged in, the converter makes 12v for shore power. If you want a 120v fan, wire it into one of the outlets, they only run off of shore power.

What I am thinking of doing is install a box or two inside the trailer and run it to the pedestal and plug it into the 120v ac. This way I could plug a couple space heaters into it and not overload the trailers system.
What do y'all think. Any other ideas are appreciated.

I've seen others to that, should be no problem at all.

If you are wiring it into an existing light fixture it would be 12 volts.
if you are wiring it into an existing plug in receptacle, it would be 120 volts.

jack L

Yes, most folks that use space heaters do this. If you wire the box for 20a (use #12 wire) you can use the the 20a outlet on the pedestal that has its own breaker. This way you can run a space heater or 2 and not worry about the microwave and HW heater

Thanks for the replies. Good info.
God Bless †