Take
a minute and see how many AMPS you could be using in your RV's 30 or
50 amp electrical systems. It's surprising how fast the amps add up
which causes your breaker or the resort's breaker to trip. Knowing the
amperage of all the electrical appliances in your RV can help you
manage electrical use and prevent the inconvenience of:
"MY ELECTRICITY WENT OUT!"
The following is a list of the typical appliances used and the average amps required to operate them:
Air conditioner-15,000 BTU 12.5 ampsRefrigerator 2.7 ampsElectric Frying Pan 10 ampsElectric Water Heater-8 gallons 12.5 ampsIron 10 ampsMicrowave Oven 12.8 ampsFood Processor 6 ampsElectric Coffee Pot 9 ampsCrock Pot 1.5 ampsToaster 10 ampsHeating Pad .5 ampsHair Dryer 10 amps110 Watt Heater 10 ampsTV 2 amps
In
the morning if you start your air conditioner and the hot water heater
is on, and then you start your coffee pot, make some toast and watch
TV-you're pulling 55 amps with all of these appliances operating at
maximum. If you also cook some bacon in the microwave at the same
time, LOOK OUT! Many RV's have a switch so you can only run the
microwave OR the water heater at one time, but some RV's do not have
this feature.
Most
electrical products show how many watts or amps it takes to operate
the appliance printed on the product itself or in the instruction
manual. If it shows the watts, divide the watts by 120 (volts) and
that gives you the amps. To get the watts, multiply the amps by the
120 (volts).
I have found that if we are parked in a 30 amp site I can run two major
electrical appliances at one time without setting off the circuit
breaker, such as my electric water heater and the microwave. Using the
toaster is possible also. But to run the central vacuum cleaner while
cooking breakfast? Not going to happen. If it's hot outside and I want
to run the air conditioner while on 30 amps, then I'll switch the
electric water heater over to propane or simply turn it off until right
before I need hot water and make sure I'm not using another appliance
that pulls a lot of amps. It's a balancing act but it's easy to deal
with once you get into the habit. Because if you set off those circuit
breakers too many times, chances are you're going to be damaging the
circuit boards of your appliances at the same time which is not a good
thing. Even with a 50 amp site you have to be careful, although 50 amps
normally allows you to add the use of one more large amperage appliance
to the things you can run at one time. It's a matter of taking a moment
to think about what you have running and what you want to operate
before you start turning things on.
Be safe!