When Your 5'ver is at Home - Do you.........???

[Gooselover]

have it plugged in at home? If so, did you convert where you plug in your fifth wheel to a 50 amp????

I am curious - a regular wall socket in a house - how many amps can be drawn from that?

This is all stemming from DH thinking we need to get an electrician over here to get us a 50amp plug in. Keep in mind we are NOT going to be staying in the coach while at home - maybe a day here or day there just for fun, though.

[oilslick]

Gooselover wrote:
For those of you that have stated that your RV is plugged in all the time.....why do you have it plugged in all the time?????

Over the summer I leave the fridge stocked and running on electric also having it plugged in keeps the battery charged, things like the TV antenna booster, carbon monoxide detector and propane detector quickly run down the battery. Over the winter the battery comes out and the 5ver unplugged.

[Gooselover]

For those of you that have stated that your RV is plugged in all the time.....why do you have it plugged in all the time?????

[stro1965]

Ours sits next to the house on a concrete pad and, except for when it's winterized, it's always plugged in to a 30 amp outlet. Very handy.

[jalichty]

The normal plugins will work for what you seem to want. We poured a dedicated pad next to our driveway area and had the electrician put in a 30 amp outlet. When we back our FW in, we plug in and see if everything works and then go in the house and let the batteries stay charged up until we go on our next adventure.

[Gooselover]

Thanks everyone for the advice! The rig is 31 ft - a Gulfstream Yellowstone 30FSK. It is a normal refrigerator - not residential. We will NOT be using the frig or anything like that - basically for lights and maybe an occasional heat or air if I have to go out there due to the hubby snoring! As for using it for a guesthouse, etc., unfortunately, we are too selfish to do that! With the kids and grandkids, it just seems like no one takes care or respects your "toys" like YOU do!

[jnharley]

We have 20/30/50 power panel installed along with sewer and a water hydrant. We were parking on gravel but it never seems to harden up since we do not drive on it much so we put in a concrete pad. It was expensive but well worth the money to us.

[wilber1]

I don't know how big your rig is or if you have things like a residential refrigerator but if you have normal RV appliances and only plan on using it in weather that doesn't require AC or electric heat, a 15-20 amp circuit is adequate for storage, running the fridge and the odd day you might want to use it.

Lots of us dry camp with single 2000W generators that only put out 13.5 amps. Just put your RV appliances on propane and limit the use of high demand appliances like microwaves, toasters and kettles to one at a time. If you use an extension cord, make sure it is a good quality 12 gauge cord.

A 110V, 30 amp circuit is easy and inexpensive to install. Everything you need is available at Home Depot. 50 amps is overkill unless you plan on using it a lot or as a guest house.

As far as parking goes, for years ours was parked with one side on concrete and the other on 3/4 crush gravel with no noticeable difference. It is now parked on gravel with the tires resting on a pair of treated 2X10's that are imbedded into the gravel. Also works well.

[RE_Todd]

30 amp and gravel. Plugged in and on all the time, the fridge that is

[Vulcaneer]

Gooselover wrote:
All right! This answers my questions! Thank you! Oh, have one other question - do a lot of you have an RV pad of poured concrete or something else other than just on the "grass"? We can put our coach next to either side of the house, but DH is thinking "concrete" may be better or some sort of "pad" made out of concrete blocks???

A concrete pad is best. Make sure it is thick enough, and has reinforcement enough to hold the weight. Parking on grass is a terrible idea. That moisture held in grass will cause serious (I mean really SERIOUS rust) issues. Probably pavers are a good choice. But more expensive. Crushed stone being the third choice. Gravel next. Dirt after that. And grass last.

[oilslick]

Although the 5ver is 50 amp I went with a 30 amp outlet, it's enough to run the AC when loading or unloading on hot days. I also installed full hookups, the sewage dump being important as late in the year many dump stations have closed and have almost got caught with sewage in tanks about to freeze for the winter, concrete pad makes rolling under on a creeper very easy or storing things under the trailer for the winter, lounger chairs, 5ver hitch ect.

[laknox]

Gooselover wrote:
have it plugged in at home? If so, did you convert where you plug in your fifth wheel to a 50 amp????

I am curious - a regular wall socket in a house - how many amps can be drawn from that?

This is all stemming from DH thinking we need to get an electrician over here to get us a 50amp plug in. Keep in mind we are NOT going to be staying in the coach while at home - maybe a day here or day there just for fun, though.

Unless you're' going to have every light on, the furnace running and use the MW oven at the same time, you're probably fine on a "regular" plug. If you plan on any heavy draw, like the A/C, you'll want to use the main shore cable, 50A in your case. It's really not that expensive and it's sure a lot cheaper than a fire from an overloaded circuit. I've got a 30A at my house and use it whenever I'm there.

Lyle

[Allworth]

When we had the house panel replaced a couple of years ago, I had a 50Amp-2 phase breaker left open. I installed 50Amp RV boxes from Lowes back to back, one inside the garage for when the trailer is in the driveway and one on the outside garage wall for when the trailer is in the back yard. With a PSI multi-stage converter/charger I just leave it plugged in all the time. Water is available at either location and a sewer cleanout is convenient when in the driveway.

[Gooselover]

Billmac - now that is NICE for home storage! I want that!

[billmac]

Ours is stored on gravel behind our shop. We have full hookups, including sewer and 50amp. For long term storage, we just hook up a tender to the batteries.

[avvidclif1]

Mine sits on a concrete pad under a RV Port. I have 3 outlets on a storage building beside it, 50A, 30A, and regular 20A outlets. I also have a faucet there. We use it as a guest/grandkids house. The fridge is never turned off and always stocked with drinks. The grandkids love it. It also serves as a man cave.

I currently don't have a sewer hookup but the macerator idea has me thinking about getting one. Gray water can run on the ground. It's the black I worry about. That would convert it to full service.

On the concrete vs gravel vs whatever. Anything would probably be fine for storage but it sure is nice to get on my creeper and scoot under the rv to check out the bottom side every so often. One advantage of the newer rv's that they are high up to match the new trucks.