10/9/2014 Don’t Blow Your Breaker!

In the past few weeks that we’ve been on the road we have come across several people who blamed the campground or Famcamp or RV park for having inferior electrical supply.  Their breakers kept tripping and surely it was not their fault.   Hmmmm,,,,,I wonder.

 

Let’s take a look at how many AMPS you could be using in your RV’s 30 or 50 AMP electrical systems.  I think you will find it surprising how fast the AMPS add up which causes your breaker or the RV Parks breaker to “trip” or shut down.  Knowing the AMPS of all the electrical appliances in your RV can help you manage electrical use and prevent the inconvenience of “MY ELECTRICITY WENT OUT!”  This list is the typical appliances used and the average AMPS required to operate them.

Air Conditioner                12.5 amps
Electric Water Heater       12.5 amps
Microwave Oven              12.8 amps
Electric Coffee Pot             9.0 amps
Toaster                              10.0 amps
Hair Dryer                        10.0 amps
TV                                      2.0 amps
Dirt Devil Hand Vacuum   2.0 amps
Electric Frying Pan          10.0 amps
Iron                                  10.0 amps
Food Processor                  6.0 amps
Crock Pot                           1.5 amps
Heating Pad                         .5 amps

 

Example:

In the morning if you start your air conditioner and hot water is on, then you start your coffee pot, make some toast and watch TV – you are pulling 55 amps when all appliances are operating at maximum, if you cook your bacon in the microwave at the same time – LOOK OUT!  Most RV’s have a switch so that you can run only the microwave or the water heater at one time.  That said, not all RV’s have this feature.


Most electrical products show how many watts or amps it takes to operate them on the product itself or on the instructions.  If it shows the watts, divide the watts by 120 (volts) and that will give you the amps.  to get the watts multiply the amps by 120 (volts).  It’s worth your time to take an inventory on the AMPS each of your electrical appliances uses.  then you can manage your total usage at one time and this greatly reduces the “MY ELECTRICITY WENT OUT” anxiety.

I hope this helps our RV friends get a handle on just how many AMPS everything takes and prevents some unnecessary breaker tripping.