Electrical Usage when Camping
just curious since electrical costs especially here in Ontario are astronomical who leaves their ac and water heater on constantly? we shut off the ac except when we're actually in the trailer f...
Forum Discussion
We run everything on electric when we are "plugged in." We keep the water heater turned on, and we run the gas furnace and electric heaters in the winter, and the air conditioner when weather is hot.
The inside of a camper will turn into a broiler oven very quick if you don't keep the air conditioner turned on. Start it in the cool of the morning and it will keep up as heat increases through out the day, if you are at the camper or engaged in activities away from the camper. If the camper gets hot inside, it could result in a VERY miserable sleeping experience, because once they get hot, air conditioners in RV have a very HARD time cooling things back down.
Now, we always camp where we have paid electric with the campsite. No problem there.
The difference is at home. We park our camper at home and we use the camper (driveway camp) pretty much all year round. At home, we do have the convenience of the house. So bathing and cooking is usually inside the house, but the air-conditioner stays ON 24x7 if we know we are going to be sleeping in it. When we know we won't be in it, we'll turn the air conditioner off. And of course, the water heater is off. I can dump my tanks at home, so we keep water in the tanks and use the camper bathroom all the time.
However, the refrigerator is NEVER turned off (electric, back-up gas if we have a power failure). We stock the refrigerator with frozen meats and drinks all the time.
Does keeping the camper plugged in and operating 24x7 at home cost us any noticeable difference in our electric bill? Considering our entire house is 100% electric, and we are on a well, and have a septic tank, and live in the country, .... the answer is "no". The difference is keeping the camper air conditioner running vs. keeping it off doesn't affect us very much at all on our electric bill.
The inside of a camper will turn into a broiler oven very quick if you don't keep the air conditioner turned on. Start it in the cool of the morning and it will keep up as heat increases through out the day, if you are at the camper or engaged in activities away from the camper. If the camper gets hot inside, it could result in a VERY miserable sleeping experience, because once they get hot, air conditioners in RV have a very HARD time cooling things back down.
Now, we always camp where we have paid electric with the campsite. No problem there.
The difference is at home. We park our camper at home and we use the camper (driveway camp) pretty much all year round. At home, we do have the convenience of the house. So bathing and cooking is usually inside the house, but the air-conditioner stays ON 24x7 if we know we are going to be sleeping in it. When we know we won't be in it, we'll turn the air conditioner off. And of course, the water heater is off. I can dump my tanks at home, so we keep water in the tanks and use the camper bathroom all the time.
However, the refrigerator is NEVER turned off (electric, back-up gas if we have a power failure). We stock the refrigerator with frozen meats and drinks all the time.
Does keeping the camper plugged in and operating 24x7 at home cost us any noticeable difference in our electric bill? Considering our entire house is 100% electric, and we are on a well, and have a septic tank, and live in the country, .... the answer is "no". The difference is keeping the camper air conditioner running vs. keeping it off doesn't affect us very much at all on our electric bill.
