Things to take along and not take along

Thank you to toe OP for asking this question.  It's really helping me figure out what I need to get to put in the new RV.

A couple of years ago at Quartzsite (I think), they gave out free samples of the Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. Toward the end of the week, they were trying to get rid of all the ones they had left and were handing folks hands full of them. I still have several in the motorhome so have never purchased any. They're great although they subscribe to the "one size fits all" philosophy and they're kind of big for the Rival crockpot I have. But it sure cuts down on clean up ! Go here and you can get a coupon, info on the liners, and an awesome recipe for Irish Creme Cupcakes (ok, so that has nothing to do with crockpot liners but it does look yummy).

BTW, can you run a crockpot if you're only plugged into 20-amp?

Wendy

The crockpot should work fine while plugged into 20amp.  Of course it depends on whatever else you are running at the time.  There's a max limit of what all you can run on 20amp simultaneously. 

I looked on the bottom of my crockpot, the label read  it's only 120 watts. 
A toaster is about 1250 watts, to give you a comparison.
Microwaves are 900-1500 watts
A coffeemaker 600-1200 watts.
Laptop computer 50-75 watts.

For example 120 watts/110 volts = 1.09 amps

1000 watts/110 volts=9.09 amps

2200 watts/110 volts= 20 amps

I have spent time with only 20amp electricity.  You have to be careful to keep everything unplugged, except what you are using. Some appliances can't be run together, it will trip the breaker. Like trying to run the 1000 watt microwave and 1500 watt ceramic heater simultaneously, won't work, so you unplug the heater, use the microwave, then plug the heater back in.    Sometimes you seem fine, then your battery charger kicks in, and BAM you trip the breaker. I think battery chargers are around 50watts.

Good Morning all;

I wanted to add my never forget, turn around and go get it item!!  We never leave home without our small portable weather radio.  We found a little battery powered Motorola weather radio that will pick up the nearest severe weather alert regardless of where you are.  As we travel primarily in the midwest, and what would be considered tornado alley, it is very important to me that we are alerted when severe weather is in the area.  Be aware that this little radio will scare the pants off you when it goes off in the middle of the night as there is no volume control on the alert.

Have a wonderful summer!!!

Jeanne

Thanks Jeanne - We were just wondering about snowfall and passes since we are leaving in early April and will be traveling south over the Sierras and then across the midwest.  The radio is a great idea!

Traveling in April through the Rockies can be nasty. April is one of the snowiest months in Colorado. So be prepared to hunker down if the weather goes caca and do keep listening to a local radio station for road/weather conditions. And don't forget that spring out on the plains is lovely tornado time, too. Our Winnebago came with a radio that included a weather channel. We listen to it and pay attention.

Wendy

My check lists....the ones that have details of each step to take when I depart from home, when I arrive at the camp site and for departing from camp site.  It saves a lot of embarrassment :-[ !!!  When I see someone going down the road with the steps out or the TV antenna still up...well gotta wonder if they had and/or followed their check list.... 

OK, I need help here.  If I have hookups (30amps) can I use a slow cooker using one of the regular outlets?  If yes, will it limit other items like the coffee maker while slow cooker is on?  What about if its plugged in to the trailer outside outlet?  Is it the same deal?

I picked up a 2 qt slower cooker at Christmas for $2 but I also have a 1.5 qt for home use.  (Might flip-flop the two cookers)

Thanks,
Terie

You should be okay with the crockpot unless you've got everything else on too.  The outside outlets pull from the 30amps as well.

Some campsites have regular outlets on the pedestal for extention cords.  If you plug into those, you won't draw from the RV.  When we have one, I use it to power a box fan for the dogs and awning lights if I use them.

That's what I thought but after my disaster with the drill charger I wanted to double check.  ;D  Sometimes I need things spelled out for me.

Thanks,
T.

Crock pots (or slow cookers) are relatively low power users, I would expect a 2 qt. cooker to use <200 watts, so they can be plugged into any outlet.

Ned said:

Crock pots (or slow cookers) are relatively low power users, I would expect a 2 qt. cooker to use <200 watts, so they can be plugged into any outlet.

Click to expand...

Can slow cooker be used at the time as using a coffeemaker or hair dryer ?

Terier said:

Can slow cooker be used at the time as using a coffeemaker or hair dryer ?

Click to expand...

Probably, but one at a time.  Check the power requirements for each appliance and do the math.  Be sure you know what the circuit breaker is rated for on that branch circuit.

Ned said:

Be sure you know what the circuit breaker is rated for on that branch circuit.

Click to expand...

How would I go about that?  In other words I am clueless about this stuff.  I had no idea that I couldn't use a hair dryer in an inventor in my car until I said something about getting a refund and my brother spoke up.  I still don't get it other than it seems that not everything is equal. 

Ok I'm going to take a stab at this -
Is a outlet 120 or something?  If I use something that is 60 then I can use another 60 at the same time?  If I go over the 120 then trouble can occur?

I'll try to explain as best as I know.  With inverters and generators as well as shore power you have a specific numbers of amps or watts available.  This is true at home as well.  If you draw more amps than your breaker is rated for it will trip, if you draw more amps than your inverter is rated for same thing.  A coffeepot draws a somewhat small amount of amps unless it is actually brewing coffee, then it goes nuts with both heating elliments running and the water pump at the same time.  A 1000 watt microwave draws double that when it first fires up.  Electronics have on them a label that states the wattage of the equipment.  You have two options you can either add up the number of watts you want to use at once and convert that to amps or you can convert the total number of amps available to watts and make sure you dont exceed that.  To make live easy here are the formlas for Ohm's Law that is be basic principal of how power conversions work.

Watts to Amps:
Amps = Watts/Volts
Amps to watts:
Watts = amps*Volts

A 1000 Watt Microwave draws 16.66 amps of a 20 amp circuit.  (2000 watts / 120 volts)
A 1200 Watt 10 cup coffee pot on brew uses 10 amps
A blow dryer can use as much as 1600 watts so 13.33 amps.

Simple addition can tell you how many things can function on a 20 or 30 amp circuit.  Trickel thing that use clocks and recharge batteries are sucking between 1 and 5 of those precious amps as well.  So no two of those items at the same time...

The math isnt that hard, you just have to know the formulas.

Jeff

I need to work on this a bit. Follow some of it but not all. 

The label on my slow cooker reads:
120V - 60HZ - 120W

Watts to Amps:
Amps = Watts/Volts
120W ? 120V = 1 ?  It does not look right.

If I ever get the Amps = Watts/Volts part down I will move on to the other method.  Right now it looks like I have some math exercises for this weekend.  Thanks for your help.

Terier said:

The label on my slow cooker reads:
120V - 60HZ - 120W

Watts to Amps:
Amps = Watts/Volts
120W ? 120V = 1 ?  It does not look right.

If I ever get the Amps = Watts/Volts part down I will move on to the other method. 

Click to expand...

Yes, 1 amp is correct.  That is one of the advantages of the slow cooker.  They are very economical in the power they use.

Your math is correct so you are good to go and manage your power.

Camping world, Amazon and most big book sotres will have a book with a title something like "Managing 12 volts" and another one "Using your Volt Ohm meter"

The titles may not be exactly correct and I can't check as they are in the MH which is getting its annual maintenance.

They will help sort out the power and electrical stuff for you.

Now you know how to covert watts to amps.  Find the circuit breaker that controls your outlets.  It will have a number on it, either 15 or 20.  That's how many amps you can draw from that circuit before the breaker trips.  Try to limit it to 80% of that, or 12A or 16A, for continuous use.  Add up the amps for each appliance you want to run on those outlets and see that the total is less than the calculated maximum (12 or 16).

1 amp may sound small but when you only have 20-30 of those precious amps to go around it is a bit more significant!  My list was intentionally the highest usage items in most homes. 

The Slow Cooker only uses 1 amp but a blow dryer will use around 13.5 so 13.5+1=14.5 if you are plugged in to 20 amp that is cutting it a bit close.  But the beauty of a slow cooker is you can turn it off for 5 mins to dry your hair and turn it back on and it will not loose much heat. 

Jeff