30 or 50 amps?

50a in a heartbeat. Not because you can' t do certain things with 30a. But because you pretty much don't have to worry about it with 50a.

My rule of thumb with 30a is no more than one major plug in appliance running at a time. This allows for AC to run, electric HWH and fridge to run.

Try to run a coffee pot and hair dryer at same time usually won't work.

With 50a, you can run all kinds of items at once, provided they don't overload the individual circuit.

Canyon-Cruiser wrote:
Geeze!! All of you with the 50 amp saying you "can't" do this and "can't" do that with 30 amp, what are you trying to run? We have 30 amp and run our lights, WH (yes electric), refrigerator and A/C (even a coffee pot and TV at times) and have yet to trip the circuit. Either a lot of you are using older appliances that draw more amperage or your fudging on what you really do run.

OP, My opinion is not worth anymore than any of the others on here but, it just comes down to personal preference and usage. You also have to take into consideration where you will be doing the majority of your camping and what they provide. If they only provide 30 amp, it really doesn't matter that you are capable of 50. We live on 30 so when 50 is available there is no change in our camping style.

We had a 2011 Keystone Springdale TT. It didn't have old appliances but the breaker would trip if trying to run hair dryer or microwave at the same time as AC. Like I said before, it was ONLY if one of those two things were running along with AC that it would trip. We never had an issue with water heater or refrigerator (running on electric) or coffee pot etc. running when AC was on. I agree, if 30 amp service is all that is available than that is all you have no matter what your trailer is wired for but for the instances that 50 amp is available, I prefer my trailer be wired for such. It just makes things easier in my opinion. We only use the dog bone (50 to 30) when we have no other option which so far on our FW has been very few instances.

Geeze!! All of you with the 50 amp saying you "can't" do this and "can't" do that with 30 amp, what are you trying to run? We have 30 amp and run our lights, WH (yes electric), refrigerator and A/C (even a coffee pot and TV at times) and have yet to trip the circuit. Either a lot of you are using older appliances that draw more amperage or your fudging on what you really do run.

OP, My opinion is not worth anymore than any of the others on here but, it just comes down to personal preference and usage. You also have to take into consideration where you will be doing the majority of your camping and what they provide. If they only provide 30 amp, it really doesn't matter that you are capable of 50. We live on 30 so when 50 is available there is no change in our camping style.

If you stick with the 13.5k a/c and don't anticipate ever changing that nor moving to a bigger a/c, then 30amps should be fine. Nevertheless, I'd go 50amp because it would give me flexibility down the road plus it lets you run a bunch of things at once (a/c, micro, hair dryer, elec water heater) that would trip a 30 amp.

More important, I would go with a 15k a/c. I believe the upgrade, when I ordered my trailer a couple of years ago, was $150. I don't think the difference in cooling is huge, but it's there and worth the small premium.

FWIW, if my a/c starts while we're running the microwave, we'll often trip the breaker (30A). It doesn't always happen, so I'm thinking something else is running when it does...probably the water heater element.

Spend the extra few dollars now and get the 50 amp, you can't go wrong. :)

On our prior TT we had 30 amp service. If I ever tried to use a blow dryer with the AC going or run the microwave, the breaker would trip. Everything else seemed to work simultaneously except those two things. If I were you, I would go ahead and upgrade to the 50 amp if purchasing new and get a 50 to 30 dog bone to connect at campgrounds where only 30 amp is available.

50 amp for sure. Stuck at a 30 amp site and it is a pain. With 50 amp you can run refer and HWH on electric and save propane. Your microwave and AC can run at the same time. If you use any electric skillets or induction plates to cook with you will have plenty of power.

30amps X 120 volts = 3600 watts

50 amps X(two legs of 50) X 120 volts = 1200 watts

Almost four times the power available with 50.

There is no need at all for 50 amp service. I have had many trailers with one air conditioner and never had 50 amp. I ran the electric water heater, 15,000 BTU A/C, and microwave or coffee pot at the same time and never had a problem. OP will never need a second A/C so 50 amp is not necessary.

NHIrish wrote:
50 amp allows you to run the ac and other things at the same time....like electric water heater, microwave etc. Go with 50 amp.

50 amp service makes electrical usage management less of a concern. We had 50 amp service on our fifth wheel and we do miss having it in our TT. But, it's only the two of us so we get by...........

The 50 amp may also help your resale/trade value.