Looking at a 30 amp 5er

[janegowest]

OK...so now we are needing to know about 30 vs 50 amps. I found a small 5er nearby that has 30 amp service.

I am assuming that the rest that we have viewed all have 50 amps. What does 30 vs 50 mean in terms of our living comfort? We need to live in it in the hot/humid South for a few months..maybe a year into the cold months.

Can either of them be hooked up to a 110 residential line?

[Irelands_child]

There is little chance on running an a/c, 13.5 or 15,000 Btu with an extension cord from a 15 amp home service outlet. Starting current on a 15K unit is over 20 amps and running current is about 16 amps. The Dometic a/c IB says install with 12 AWG wire, not exceeding 25 feet for hook up. 12 AWG wire is rated for 20 amps. Your 30 amp service wire is 10 AWG which is rated for 30 amps. 2 a/c, running at the same time will 'consume' ~32 amps

On a small, 30 foot or less, 5er, a single 15,000 Btu a/c may be enough for most uses. With a 30 amp service, you should be just fine. Our 5er has 50 amp service but for a couple more weeks only a single 15K a/c. With that, we have seldom used that heavy, unwieldy 50 amp, multiple conductor 6 AWG cord but have used adapters and a simple 30 amp cord with 100% reliability on all gadgets. That added 13.5K Btu a/c goes on the roof and my workout at each stop will then begin.

[dedmiston]

janegowest wrote:
You say that if we plugged into a friend's house line, it would trip their breaker to run our A/C. I suppose that a 50 amp would trip their breaker even faster?

I should have been more clear when I mentioned tripping breakers at my house.

The largest circuit I have in my garage is a 20A service. I've never had any trouble plugging in our old trailer that used 30A, but I never really overtaxed the power either. I could run the A/C and vacuum at the same time and nothing bad would happen.

Now with our larger 5er (50A) we have three A/C units. If I accidentally have two or more of them turned on, it will trip the breaker immediately. I've even blown the surge protector that I used to plug into.

So can you run your A/C? Sure. You can definitely run one. Can you run more than one A/C. My experience says no. You also probably can't run the microwave and one A/C at the same time.

I live outside of L.A. and our last trailer only had one ducted A/C unit. It worked like a champ and I was never really sorry that we only had one. Our new rig is much larger (longer & taller), so we have way more cubic feet to cool. I'm glad we have the three units now.

I don't know where you're shopping and whether it's starting to get hot there or not, but crank up the A/Cs on the coaches you're looking at and judge for yourself whether they cool it down enough or not.

[Irish2]

Video on this topic for your viewing. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/kOQBVYxAUxc

[DutchmenSport]

In all my years of RV ownership, I've had only 30 amp trailers. Never had a problem with 30 amp only. But, do have to be mindful of what is running before turning something else on. But, never really a problem. Funny, I've never popped the breaker at the box, but have popped individual breakers inside the camper. It's a way of life, you get use to it.

It's hard to fathom that some older homes were originally wired for only 100 amp service! And today's RV are 1/2 that! With modern gizmos and gadgets, a home 200 amp service is now becoming obsolete.

[2oldman]

janegowest wrote:
if we plugged into a friend's house line, it would trip their breaker to run our A/C.

Depends on the breaker size, and most importantly, if you use a typical house extension cord, and its length. Most cords can't handle steady large draws.

Don't sweat the 30a too much.. I have a 34' triple slide 5er and I'm quite comfy with one ac.. unless it's in the mid 90s and above. If I want to run the MW I give the air a rest for awhile while I make dinner. To be fair, I also have a lot of solar which takes a burden off the converter, which can also be a power hog. I run my WH on gas most of the time.

[janegowest]

1ofmany wrote:
In our previous trailer, we had 30amp service...always tripping breakers and never was able to cool down the thing. Our current fifth wheel has 50amp service and we run whatever we want, including both acs, which do the job in "hot/humid" climate.

Sigh!! Sounds miserable!! So now, back to square one!! I thought I finally found a 30' rig with a full wall closet that had enough counter space! I was willing to give up the w/d, the rear window view, door side dining, just to have a shorter trailer, BUT...30 amp!! Can't be miserably hot on top of all the other sacrifices! Well...at least the choices are narrowing down, as we learn more and more!!

[janegowest]

laknox wrote:

janegowest wrote:
OK...so now we are needing to know about 30 vs 50 amps. I found a small 5er nearby that has 30 amp service.

I am assuming that the rest that we have viewed all have 50 amps. What does 30 vs 50 mean in terms of our living comfort? We need to live in it in the hot/humid South for a few months..maybe a year into the cold months.

Can either of them be hooked up to a 110 residential line?

30 amp is good for 1 A/C and some appliances and lights. With an older rig, I'd change all the incandescent bulbs for LEDs to help reduce the load. 50 amp will run 2 A/Cs and pretty much all your appliances. As far as plugging in on a 20 amp residential circuit, you =might= be able to run the A/C, but chances are you won't without tripping the house breaker. Everything else would work OK, most likely, though you'd still want to be cautious with power. Personally, I'd run the water heater and fridge on straight gas, just to be safe.

Frankly, living in the South in the summer, you're probably going to want 2 A/Cs, which means 50 amp service, even with a smaller FW. If you're going to be in one spot for a while, it's not a huge deal to have a 50 amp RV plug wired into a house's electrical panel (I have a 30 amp at my house) but you have to be d@mn-sure whoever does the work knows the difference between a 220v plug (like for an electric dryer) and a 50 amp RV plug; they =are= different and, if it's not wired correctly, will fry every electric/electronic thing in the FW when you plug in.

Lyle

Thank you! Wow!! Didn't know that we had to wire a special service at our house! Would NOT want to fry the electrical in our "new" 5er! We know an electrician who owned a fifth wheel, so he should be the man for the job!

You say that if we plugged into a friend's house line, it would trip their breaker to run our A/C. I suppose that a 50 amp would trip their breaker even faster?

Great idea about changing out the light bulbs!! So many wonderful ideas by all you experienced folks!!

[1ofmany]

In our previous trailer, we had 30amp service...always tripping breakers and never was able to cool down the thing. Our current fifth wheel has 50amp service and we run whatever we want, including both acs, which do the job in "hot/humid" climate.

[laknox]

janegowest wrote:
OK...so now we are needing to know about 30 vs 50 amps. I found a small 5er nearby that has 30 amp service.

I am assuming that the rest that we have viewed all have 50 amps. What does 30 vs 50 mean in terms of our living comfort? We need to live in it in the hot/humid South for a few months..maybe a year into the cold months.

Can either of them be hooked up to a 110 residential line?

30 amp is good for 1 A/C and some appliances and lights. With an older rig, I'd change all the incandescent bulbs for LEDs to help reduce the load. 50 amp will run 2 A/Cs and pretty much all your appliances. As far as plugging in on a 20 amp residential circuit, you =might= be able to run the A/C, but chances are you won't without tripping the house breaker. Everything else would work OK, most likely, though you'd still want to be cautious with power. Personally, I'd run the water heater and fridge on straight gas, just to be safe.

Frankly, living in the South in the summer, you're probably going to want 2 A/Cs, which means 50 amp service, even with a smaller FW. If you're going to be in one spot for a while, it's not a huge deal to have a 50 amp RV plug wired into a house's electrical panel (I have a 30 amp at my house) but you have to be d@mn-sure whoever does the work knows the difference between a 220v plug (like for an electric dryer) and a 50 amp RV plug; they =are= different and, if it's not wired correctly, will fry every electric/electronic thing in the FW when you plug in.

Lyle

[WTP-GC]

Place your worries elsewhere.
We have a 32' 5er with a single AC unit and 30A system. We camp in FL and "sometimes" in the summer. We have ZERO issues keeping the unit cool and/or using multiple appliances.

[Irish2]

No they are not harder to sell. Maybe easier as it will be in more people's price range. Of course this will depend more on its condition rather than it!s electric service.. Yes you can connect to a home service.

[TucsonJim]

The key point in your comment is that you're looking at a "small 5er". Most rigs with 50amp service are wired that way in case you want to install a second air conditioner. The second AC is typically needed on larger fivers because they have more cubic feet of air to cool. On a smaller FW, this should not be needed and 30amps of service will meet your needs.

On our last FW, it was a 29 foot Keystone Cougar with one slide. We had 30 amp service and it was plenty to run the AC and the microwave at the same time. Having one AC was fine with that rig. It cooled effectively and quickly. Our current FW is 36' long with three slides. We tried getting by with one AC, but it wasn't enough in the Southern USA in the summer time. Since we have 50amp service, we installed a second AC, and now it cools much better when both of them are running.

Having 30 amp service in a smaller FW is fine, won't affect resale value and will meet all your needs. And another benefit is that the cord is much easier to handle than a 50amp cord.

Jim

[dedmiston]

janegowest wrote:
And can either be 30 or 50 be hooked up to 110 house current? Like if we go visit friends, can we hook up to their residential line?

With either 30 amp or 50 amp you'll need an adapter and probably an additional extension cord to connect to their power. Either one will work from their 110, but with 50 amp it's a lot easier to trip their breakers. I keep forgetting to leave the air conditioners turned off when we have ours home to pack & clean up.

[janegowest]

Are 30 amp trailers harder to resell?

And can either be 30 or 50 be hooked up to 110 house current? Like if we go visit friends, can we hook up to their residential line?

[Artum_Snowbird]

The real difference is is the available power. 120 volts at 30 amps means 3600 watts available. 50amps at 240 volts means 12000 watts. That is the difference.