Kilowatt usage

[Kountryguy]

Can someone tell me what is the max possible kilowatt usage having 30 amp service? If i figured correctly, it is 86 kw/ day. That sounds like a lot to me.

[wa8yxm]

IN theory

30 amps * 120 volts * 24 hours / 1000= 86.4 if calculator did not mess up.

the math for the impared

30 amps times 120 volts = 3600 volt-amps, IF the power factor is ONE (1) then that is 3600 watts, Else less. (Space heaters are dang close to, if not 1)

3600 watts times 24 hours is 86400 watt hours

Since we want KILOwatt hours, and KILO means 1,000 that's 86.4 KWH.

[DryCamper11]

Kountryguy wrote:
Sorry for the confusion. I am not having any problems. Just making sure my calculations were correct. Thanks for all the info.

We're curious. Why did you do this calculation?

[Kountryguy]

Sorry for the confusion. I am not having any problems. Just making sure my calculations were correct. Thanks for all the info.

[Chris_Bryant]

You can also get at least 3 gallons per minute out of a water hookup- 3 gpm times 60 minutes times 24 hours means you could use over four thousand gallons of water a day.
Capacity has little to do with actual use.

[DryCamper11]

MrWizard wrote:
maybe i missed what the OP was after
but i think his 'question' was regarding a 50amp RV on a 30amp service (he did Not Clarify)
with two or more A/C units or heaters, electric HW, etc
he can't get max power he wants or thinks he needs
which is correct, he can't
he has to learn the art of power management

Initially, I thought he might be wondering about an electrical bill. I thought he might be wondering if he'd been overcharged when he'd been using power limited by his 30A connection. When I got to the end of his post where he commented that the total "sounds like a lot" I thought he might be wondering if he needed to buy an RV with 50A service or if 30A would be enough. It's hard to say what he wanted to know.

The total energy consumed by an RV in one day can easily be supplied by 30A service. The problem, however, is that the maximum current draw in normal use may easily exceed 30A, or to put that another way, you may need more than 3600W. (You will exceed that if you try to simultaneously run a couple of ACs, a WH and your microwave.) You don't get to spread your energy use over an entire day. You must meet your maximum power needs (rate of energy use), not just your total energy use per day.

[MrWizard]

maybe i missed what the OP was after
but i think his 'question' was regarding a 50amp RV on a 30amp service (he did Not Clarify)
with two or more A/C units or heaters, electric HW, etc
he can't get max power he wants or thinks he needs
which is correct, he can't
he has to learn the art of power management

[DryCamper11]

2oldman wrote:
1 KWH is 1000w used for 1 hour. But I'm pretty sure you knew that. 🙂

Or 2KW used for 1/2 hour, or 4KW used for 15 minutes, etc. Right - KWH is a measure of total energy consumed, while KW is a measure of the rate at which energy is being used. KW (rate of energy use) = KWH(energy) divided by time (Hours).

[ken_white]

2oldman wrote:

DryCamper11 wrote:
A kilowatt-hour (KWH) is how much energy you've used (and will have to pay for) over some period of time.

1 KWH is 1000w used for 1 hour. But I'm pretty sure you knew that. 🙂

Yep, 3,600,000 Joules (or 3.6 MJ) of energy...

[2oldman]

DryCamper11 wrote:
A kilowatt-hour (KWH) is how much energy you've used (and will have to pay for) over some period of time.

1 KWH is 1000w used for 1 hour. But I'm pretty sure you knew that. 🙂

[PUCampin]

Hope electricity is cheap there, here a 65KWh per day average (easy to do in summer with A/C) gets me a $530 electric bill!

[DryCamper11]

Kountryguy wrote:
Can someone tell me what is the max possible kilowatt usage having 30 amp service? If i figured correctly, it is 86 kw/ day. That sounds like a lot to me.

Just to clarify. A kilowatt (KW) is a measure of how much power you are using right now. A kilowatt-hour (KWH) is how much energy you've used (and will have to pay for) over some period of time.

So, the answer to your question, is that 30A 120V service can provide a maximimum of 3600 watts or 3.6 KW. If you run maxed out, the most energy you can use is 3.6 KW times 24 hours or 86.4 KWH.

If you have 50 A service, it is actually 50A at 240 volts AC (or 120 VAC on two circuits), so the max wattage is 12 KW - much more than double even though the amps specified are less than double.

[fla-gypsy]

Usage could go up if you are plugging in sources at the box that are not run through the trailer system.

[SteveAE]

Good points Don.
I guess I should have specified "usage in a similar climate".
Time to go enjoy my hot tub now 🙂

Steve

[pianotuna]

Hi Steve,

RV's don't have much in the way of insulation in them. They tend to also be full of holes. Window area per square foot is much higher in an RV than in a home.

I'm currently drawing about 2950 watts from two 15 amp circuits.

One is running a fan heater Voltage is 105. Watts are about 1613. I have a 50 foot #12 cord, on that circuit.

One is running 1337 watts on two oil filled heaters and the converter. I have a 25 foot #12, on that circuit. I don't monitor the voltage on that circuit. The heaters in the bedroom are cycling.

Temperature outside is -9.6 c (14.7 f) Inside it is 21 c (70 f).

I will "loose the battle" in the front of the RV as I'm expecting -14 C tonight.

The bedroom, which has a sliding fabric door will stay pleasantly warm.

I'll cook tonight using my inverter--and then overnight the converter can recharge the bank for me.