Benefit of 50 amp over 30 amp

[1Longbow]

The wife just ask me that question and I'm not sure I know the answer,I guess more is better ,little help please ---Thank you

[pianotuna]

There are ways to be able to operate the AC, water heater, and a hair drier on a 30 amp service. In fact I could run all those devices at the same time on a 15 amp shore power supply. It was not cheap to find the technology to allow me to do so.

I do have to rely that the duty cycle on the water heater is 15 minutes every 4 hours (if no water is being used) and the hair drier is not going to run all day long.

2112 wrote:
As an example we can not operate our AC, electric water heater and the wife's hair drier at the same time on our 30A service without tripping the breaker.
A 50A service can handle that and more.

[Lantley]

50amp is essentially unlimited power. Not only can I run 2 A?C units but I can run everything else too. Water heater on electric , microwave, washer dryer too.
There is no need to use power management techniques with 50 amps

[pianotuna]

30 amp = 3600 watts total

50 amp = 6000 watts per leg totaling 12000 watts.

[ford_truck_guy]

2112 wrote:
As an example we can not operate our AC, electric water heater and the wife's hair drier at the same time on our 30A service without tripping the breaker.
A 50A service can handle that and more.

Tell her that and see what happens 🙂

X2 ^^^^^

[rbpru]

So much depends on your TT, camping style and location. I spent last week in 90 degree heat and humidity so the AC was nice and I needed the 30 amps.

I spent two weeks in MN in 60 and 70 degree heat with just 15 amp service and a large fan was all we needed.

There is nothing beats AC when you need it. Fortunately we do not often need it. Other cannot live without it.

[2112]

As an example we can not operate our AC, electric water heater and the wife's hair drier at the same time on our 30A service without tripping the breaker.
A 50A service can handle that and more.

Tell her that and see what happens 🙂

[Mont_G_J]

If I had a choice and could only make one improvement to my trailer, it would be to have a fifty amp service. Winter time we often run two electrical heaters instead of the propane furnace. That leaves little power left over to run anything else, ie; microwave, hairdryer, TV, toaster, waffle iron. Another consideration is the plug-in at the power pedestal. 50 amp plug and receptacle usually make a good secure connection, 30 amp not so much, and often times when carrying a full electrical load the plug will get hot and need to be replaced.

[SoundGuy]

time2roll wrote:
With 30 amp service you may have to manage power at times. That is to say if you run everything at once the breaker will probably trip.

Such a hardship. :W

[ScottG]

The only real disadvantage I can see is initial cost. Unless it's standard equipment, the upgrade will cost around 1K - or at least it did on our AF.

[BB_TX]

As mentioned multiple times above, more power. We have tripped the 30 amp park breaker running one A/C, microwave, water heater on electric, etc at the same time. With 50 amp we have never tripped a breaker, even running two A/Cs.

[time2roll]

With 30 amp service you may have to manage power at times. That is to say if you run everything at once the breaker will probably trip.

With 50 amp service you will have virtually unlimited power same as at home. Both air conditioners, electric water heat, microwave, hairdryer can all run together without worry.

Of course the camp supply must also be 50 amp to actually enjoy the convenience.

[ScottG]

I think if you ever plan on traveling in very hot area's then it's a good idea for the extra AC capacity.
Otherwise, it will come in handy if you ever come up short in capacity. For us that happens in the morning when we want to run elect. heat, coffee maker, water heater, micro and waffle iron!

[SoundGuy]

valhalla360 wrote:
A 50amp provides 2 - 50 amp 120v circuits coming into the trailer (and the potential to run 240v appliances). A 30 amp provides a single 30amp 120v circuit.

50 amp service = 12,000 watts
30 amp service = 3,600 watts

A considerable difference. 😉

[aftermath]

Only real advantage I know of is to run two AC units. One disadvantage is that the cord is larger and heavier and a bit more of a pain to deal with.

Regardless of the amperage it is important to monitor the volatage at the park you are staying in. We were in an older park when the temperature was rising. The park was full of large trailers and a few large motorhomes. As the day wore on our AC became less and less effective. I had it checked and the voltage had dropped into a level that became problematic for the AC.

Learned a big lesson that day. Now I have a plug in voltage meter and can watch conditions that do change even at newer facilities.

[Dick_B]

From a purely practical standpoint where a post has both 50 and 30 amp outlets the 50 amp is more likely to be in good condition because it is not used as much AND the 50 amp user is also more likely to shut off the circuit breaker before unplugging the power cord.