Benefit of 50 amp over 30 amp

If I had a choice and could only make one improvement to my trailer, it would be to have a fifty amp service. Winter time we often run two electrical heaters instead of the propane furnace. That leaves little power left over to run anything else, ie; microwave, hairdryer, TV, toaster, waffle iron. Another consideration is the plug-in at the power pedestal. 50 amp plug and receptacle usually make a good secure connection, 30 amp not so much, and often times when carrying a full electrical load the plug will get hot and need to be replaced.

time2roll wrote:
With 30 amp service you may have to manage power at times. That is to say if you run everything at once the breaker will probably trip.

Such a hardship. :W

The only real disadvantage I can see is initial cost. Unless it's standard equipment, the upgrade will cost around 1K - or at least it did on our AF.

As mentioned multiple times above, more power. We have tripped the 30 amp park breaker running one A/C, microwave, water heater on electric, etc at the same time. With 50 amp we have never tripped a breaker, even running two A/Cs.

With 30 amp service you may have to manage power at times. That is to say if you run everything at once the breaker will probably trip.

With 50 amp service you will have virtually unlimited power same as at home. Both air conditioners, electric water heat, microwave, hairdryer can all run together without worry.

Of course the camp supply must also be 50 amp to actually enjoy the convenience.

I think if you ever plan on traveling in very hot area's then it's a good idea for the extra AC capacity.
Otherwise, it will come in handy if you ever come up short in capacity. For us that happens in the morning when we want to run elect. heat, coffee maker, water heater, micro and waffle iron!

valhalla360 wrote:
A 50amp provides 2 - 50 amp 120v circuits coming into the trailer (and the potential to run 240v appliances). A 30 amp provides a single 30amp 120v circuit.

50 amp service = 12,000 watts
30 amp service = 3,600 watts

A considerable difference. ;)

Only real advantage I know of is to run two AC units. One disadvantage is that the cord is larger and heavier and a bit more of a pain to deal with.

Regardless of the amperage it is important to monitor the volatage at the park you are staying in. We were in an older park when the temperature was rising. The park was full of large trailers and a few large motorhomes. As the day wore on our AC became less and less effective. I had it checked and the voltage had dropped into a level that became problematic for the AC.

Learned a big lesson that day. Now I have a plug in voltage meter and can watch conditions that do change even at newer facilities.

From a purely practical standpoint where a post has both 50 and 30 amp outlets the 50 amp is more likely to be in good condition because it is not used as much AND the 50 amp user is also more likely to shut off the circuit breaker before unplugging the power cord.

My experience is at times 30 amps are not 30 and the same for 50 amps at times. I have been in 2 very nice rv parks and the 50 amp power was horrible. 3 times in one in different sites. It is off our list to stay now.

chevman