Generator Size for Three RV's

dadgumitjimbob wrote:
Hello,

We have a spot on our farm that we would like to setup for three campers. We are wondering if we could buy one generator to power all three.

One is a 50 amp with two A/C's
Two with 30 amp and one A/C

What size generator would we need? I'm not an electrician and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but if the normal size Gen in most RV's is 4000 watts, wouldn't a 15,000 watt Gen cover them all? Again not an electrician, so I'm sure there are some complicated calculations to figure this out.

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

Find out the BTU's on all the AC units for us and get back to us. Will they also be running the microwave ovens at the same time as the AC's? That's another consideration. If you have to go that big, consider looking into a diesel generator instead of gas. Think red dye diesel, since this is off road use only, for operating expenses.

No, the computations are pretty simple. 50+30+30=110 amps. At 120 volts, that would be 120 x 110
= 13200 watts, so yes, a 15,000 watt generator would cover you.

dadgumitjimbob wrote:
Hello,

We have a spot on our farm that we would like to setup for three campers. We are wondering if we could buy one generator to power all three.

One is a 50 amp with two A/C's
Two with 30 amp and one A/C

What size generator would we need? I'm not an electrician and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but if the normal size Gen in most RV's is 4000 watts, wouldn't a 15,000 watt Gen cover them all? Again not an electrician, so I'm sure there are some complicated calculations to figure this out.

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

Jimbob,

While the idea of a campground is good, best pat your checkbook. A 15KW genset will be pretty big cash. It may be less expensive to get a power line pulled in. In most states, farms can have multiple services. Yes, you will get an extra bill and may even have to pay a service fee, but you won't have to lug fuel and maintain a remote machine. And, then you can plant three 20/30/50 posts and be ready for future expansion.

Matt

You need one capable of 15k steady state, not just 15k peak. you are looking easilly at a few thousand for a proper genset to handle the 3 RVs plus breaking out the power. Most suitable generators for this type of duty would easilly cost $4000-8000 depending on used to new requirement. As mentioned, you may be able to get service pulled in and install a weather tight breaker panel to provide 30 and 50A outlets to plug into at a central location and not have to worry about bringing in fuel and maintaining the genset. Plus if you add another RV, a 200A panel could handle that.

naturist wrote:
No, the computations are pretty simple. 50+30+30=110 amps. At 120 volts, that would be 120 x 110
= 13200 watts, so yes, a 15,000 watt generator would cover you.

Except 50 amp service is 12 kW right there.
Otherwise yes I think 15 kW would be fine to share.
Kill it with 18 or 20 kW.

+1 for pulling utility power.

You will also be running the road daily getting the diesel fuel for the genset haha... GENSETs are great for backup power but for primary power not really a good idea. Almost need two GENSETs in case one breaks down if you got folks depending on the power plant... Commercial Power is big time more cost effective...

I would think getting commercial power would be the overall best solution.

Of course when I watch the GOLD RUSH TV series where everthing is suppose to be running from generator power you never hear one running in the background. They just plug into any tree up there I think to get power..

You also should be checking with your county folks on what kind of rules and permits you will need to have. Sewer and Comercial Power all have their own legal things to go through to even get a permit for setting up RV's and mobile homes... One thing always seems to lead to another thing... Not like the old days anymore... I don't think our county here in VA would allow a semi-permanant setup for RV's (permanent sewer and commercial power setups)- would probably have to become a legal trailer park. I do have shore power cables running across my yard to the garage for 20AMP service and also on occasion use a Macerator to run black water down into the sewer septic tank vent pipe (you know that is probably not legal)...

I know we were looking at purchasing some land up against the mtns close by here and wanted to install electric power to a centralized post on the mtn lot with the idea of living in a RV or Mobile home while we worked on building something. That was not allowed by the local county rules...

Your noisy generator may evade the rights of some extinct WHITE OWL Bird community - who knows... Private property isn't the same as it was just 15 years ago in these times.

You probably should check out all circumstances before dumping a bunch of money in your idea here...

Just saying...
Roy Ken

Anyone whos ever been to hershey or another outdoor RV shows, youll see commercial houshold generators all over the place running the entire show. But those big units burn 1-3 gallons per hour and you barely hear then running.

Consider digging a hole or building a brick or cement "dog house" for that big diesel. They are really loud, your campers are not going to like it.

50 amp service is really TWO LINES of 50 amps each
So it's 160 amps total, need a 20kw generator
Me.. I would install a 15kw, and Three 30 amp outlets
Everybody can be equal, and the big rig will just have to learn power management
The extra watts from the generator will provide some overhead, and nobody will have low voltage , nor will the generator struggle when somebody turns on the MW while the a/C is on
He might trip his breaker, but he won't bother the generator

A 15KW will be fine- people rarely use the full capacity of their electrical system. I've run 10 rigs off a 30KW genset with regularly with no problems.

15 KW is actually more power than I have ever used in my all electric house and shop, with several rigs plugged in.