Amps

[Bridget2]

What will we lose from a 50 amp service to a 30 amp service? Our RV has only one AC unit. We have a 50 amp RV however the site is only 30 amps

 

[DutchmenSport]

On a 30 amp site, you will have only 30 amps.... that's it. You'll need to practice "power management" so you do not exceed the 30 amp limit available at the shore power pole. But, the most that will happen if you exceed 30 amps is, the breaker at the shore power pole will trip.

"Power Management" simply means being aware of how much amperage each appliance in your camper draws, adding up the amps in your head and making sure you do not exceed 30.

Basically, turn your water heater on propane and not on electric. Run only 1 air conditioner at a time, and if you need to run the microwave, turn off all air conditioners.

Here's a list of the most common amp draw. Add them up, once you reach 30, you turn something off to turn something else on.

https://www.rvtechlibrary.com/electrical/applianceloadchart.php

https://www.keystoneforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6798

The converter in your camper will divide up the 30 amps and send the necessary electricity to each circuit as it's being used. Everything should work in your camper on a 30 amp circuit, but not everything will work at the same time like it does with a 50 amp outlet.

 

[scottz]

Short answer: don't run your AC, microwave and maybe the water eater (on electric) at the same time; other than that you will be fine. You can try leaving the water heater on electric; it might be fine. Worse thing that will happen is the 30A breaker on the pedestal will trip. If that happens you know are pulling too much; reset it and switch the water heater to gas.

50A service provides 12000 watts, 30A service provides 3600 watts.

 

[Theunz]

I had an older 5th wheel with 30 amp wiring. It had a 15,000 btu A/C and I always had my water heater on electric. Occasionally, but not always the microwave would trip the breaker. I bet at least 80% of trailers are 30amp only.

 

[Bourbon County]

With one AC you will be fine with 30 amps, as mentioned before there are many RVs with one AC and run quite well on 30.

I just watched my local weather forecast. Starting in the morning we're supposed to get between 0.5 and 0.75 inches of ice followed by up to 8" of snow on top. To put the cherry on top, it's not supposed be out of the twenties (degrees) for a week. I'm envious of anyone that even needs an AC now.

 

[BB_TX]

Agree with above. We sometimes stayed in 30 amp only sites. And basically a matter of trial and error. Water heater on propane removes 12 amps from your power draw. A/C draws 13-15 amps. So you can assume you have about 15 amps to play with. I occasionally tripped the park breaker. Just turned something off, reset the breaker, and tried again

 

[brycesteiner]

I think you should be just fine for about everything.
Last year when I was remodeling my 2001 Montana I was able to run everything, including the AC, (not all at once) with the exception of the microwave on a 15 amp circuit.
I purchased a Kill-a-watt digital device from Harbor freight that would show what power I was using at anyone time so I could see what the limits are. very handy for this situation

 

[TomCat]

50 amps is actually 100 amps (2 legs at 50 amps each), so it is a LOT more than 30 amps. But I agree with everyone else. As long as you don’t run two ACs at the same time you should be good

 

[Rnjmurray]

Frankly a lot!!!!!! With 30!amps this it!!! 50 amp 100 amp available as long as neither leg exceeds 50 amps. I managed a rv resort for 17 years. Seldom saw rigs with problems with 50 amps. With 30 amp rig i saw daily problems. You can manage with 30 amps but you will have to follow strict power management. With 50 basically turn everything on.