I have seen people around asking about RV power and things a like. One of the common things I get asked is how much can I run, what is the difference between the plug at my house 30amp and 50amp.
So lets talk about a few basics (WARNING there is some math here) Volts, Amps and Watts along with Watt hours
VOLTS: The best way to explain volts and what we care about here is something like water pressur, higher the volts more pressure to move the electricity along with less heat - This is why those big wire voltage lines carry thousands of volts.
AMPS: Its the Strength of the power, similar to how fast water is traveling in a current.
Watt: Watts is the power usage - Here is the math that is important - You take the
(Volts x Amps = Watts)
Watt Hours: This is how many watts you can run something for an hour -- So think about it like a gas tank you will see batteries that are in watt hours or amp hours - This is how much "Fuel" or "Electricity" that is in the battery
Amp Hours: Similar to Watt hours you will see batteries that have 50amp hours of storage. So you take volts x amps = watts so if you have a 12volt 50amp hour batter you have 600 watt hours. So you could run a 100 watt light bulb for 6 hours before the battery goes dead.
So with that lets talk about some power sources that you can plug your RV into.
Standard ol' power plug at your house Most of the time these are 15amp 120v standard house old plugs so with the math formula above we take 120v*15amp=1800 watts that I can use
30 Amp RV Service:
120v*30amp=3600 watts
50 Amp RV Service: Ok this one might get some folks as this one is a little confusing. 50 amp RV Service is at 220 volts NOT 120 volts
220v*50amp=11,000 watts
Ok now you are armed with all of this good information how do I use it?? A/C Unit: 13.5kw - Watts 1850
Microwave: 1000 watts
Blower Dryer: 1000-1500 watts
Side by Side Norcold: 600-850 watts
I ll add more to this blog over time but I really hope this gets everyone started on understanding their power consumption and needs.