how big of a generator is needed

A 3500 watt would be min. This should be enough to charge battery, run one AC unit and small appliances.

A 1000 watt will charge batteries quietly and efficiently. It will not run anything else. A single 2KW will run a few things plus battery charging. It will not run an AC. 3000KW or larger or a pair of 2KW with a parallel kit will run a single roof AC. Residential refers realpy are a poor choice for non hookup camping, but if you do choose to camp with no hookups, you first need to figure out exactly what you want to power while off grid.

30 amps of AC current (assuming 110-volts) is 3300 watts; assuming the post is delivering 120-volts the resulting watts is 3600-watts. you’ll likely never pull all 30-amps at one time but if it were me i’d be looking for nothing smaller than 4000-watts. that will give you plenty of power and handle your appliances start up surges.

9 times out of 10 my single 2000 watt Yamaha meets my needs, recharging batteries in a few hours as needed.

Wild camping in July sometimes I need two generators to run the AC in the late afternoon during peak sun.

If boondocking will be frequent, systems need to be matched and sized together for best outcome, batteries + charger + generator. Otherwise you'll be one of those trailers that has their Honda idling all day chasing 100% state of charge on a wfco converter.

Plan on at least 4,000 watts for a residential fridge and AC.

“how big of a generator we will need to buy for when we are not hooked up to elec power.“
“a/c,t.v.,coffee maker etc.”

You can do all that at a motel...or a private RV campground plugged in. If you boondock with a big noisy generator please camp away from me. Consider solar. TV off batteries and solar is doable...I do. Coffee can be made on the stove...heck over a campfire. Residential fridge is not my choice for camping...in a forest, in the desert, on the beach.

1320Fastback wrote:
Plan on at least 4,000 watts for a residential fridge and AC.

A/C perhaps, fridge not so much

A/C is the big draw at 13.5A-15A, fridge 1.2A-6.5A depending on size and features.

The OPs rig has a 30A 120V shore cord, that is 3,600W, not 4,000W.

OP most likely could get away with 3,000W inverter gen for lower noise levels or two 2,000W Honda inverter gens paired or a open frame Chinese 3,500W import gen for low cost at a higher noise level.

The big thing is the OP WILL need to load manage, no way will they be able to run coffee maker AND A/C plus charge batteries.

So, they will need to figure out how to manage high wattage load priorities.

The 120V residential fridge issue can be easily managed by adding some solar panels (200W-400W) and making sure they have at least one pair of 6V GC batteries although two pairs might be closer to ideal..

For example, I run a residential fridge and have no problem running it for 24 hrs and I am able to run a furnace overnight and a few hrs of lighting before charging off of only one pair of 6V GC2 batteries. For the record, I do not have any solar.

Don't get residential fridge if you plan to camp off grid much. Most end up with twice+ the battery and 500+ watts solar to minimize generator run time. You can probably do a quick overnight some place with OEM set up but actual camping will need the generator running near continuous.

Certainly you don't need a generator to get started camping. Hop around to a few campgrounds with electric power and see where you want to go with this. Or seek out a common 2-way fridge that runs on electric and propane. Pace yourself. Get the generator for a trip when you actually need it.

Fridge doesn't need power 24/7 if you minimize opening the doors

This “I’m a new RVer (or want to be an RVer) and I gotta get a generator to run AC, coffee maker, tv, fridge etc.” attitude is troubling to me. “Hurricane Irma taught me a valuable lesson:“ Keep learning.