120 to 240 volt appliance

[gdelanghe]

i have a 50 amp service DRV RSB3 5th wheel RV with a Splendide 120V, 60hz, 12amp dryer. I'm looking at an LG DLHC1455P heat pump dryer. As you know, no heating element, just a heat pump to dry. 120/240V,60Hz,3.1A /120/208V,60Hz,3.5A
The wattage would be 744 watts (240X3.5) vs the 1440 watts of the Splendide (120x12) Sounds like your Parkworld 886115 Combiner would work. And use less electricity than the Splendide does now.
No heating element and low amp draw to operate. I can run the condensation hose in the same hole as the washer.
Sounds do-able
Your thoughts?

thanks George

 

[Jim18655]

Not sure I understand the question. Do you want to use the combiner to plug the dryer into the 120volt receptacle from the old dryer? If so, it won't work because your specs are that it needs 120 and 240 volts. That means a 240v circuit with a neutral to make 120v from one of the hot legs. Usually the light and timer or control circuit runs on the 120v.

 

[John From Detroit]

You say the LG (I've never been Lucky with Goldstar) can be wired for 120 or 240... This is a bunch of electrical work but you might want to bring the leads out to a switch box so you have a 120/240 switch you can flip. how it connects to the RV's electrical system will also be decided by that switch.
Reason: More efficient on 240... But 30 amp is only 120.

 

[Henry J Fate]

i have a 50 amp service DRV RSB3 5th wheel RV with a Splendide 120V, 60hz, 12amp dryer. I'm looking at an LG DLHC1455P heat pump dryer. As you know, no heating element, just a heat pump to dry. 120/240V,60Hz,3.1A /120/208V,60Hz,3.5A
The wattage would be 744 watts (240X3.5) vs the 1440 watts of the Splendide (120x12) Sounds like your Parkworld 886115 Combiner would work. And use less electricity than the Splendide does now.
No heating element and low amp draw to operate. I can run the condensation hose in the same hole as the washer.
Sounds do-able
Your thoughts?

thanks George

Operating temperature of the dryer becomes the biggest question here. I would have some doubt about a heat pump dryer as it is heavily reliant on the thermal value of the air it has available. Colder air less heat. Warmer air more heat. Humidity is also a very big factor when drying cloths. To combat humidity, higher temperatures must be attained. 110 volt dryers are not very good and not efficient so any comparison to them sets the bar very low. A 220 volt heating element would seem to be the best choice and would dry your cloths very well.

As mentioned earlier, what if you do not have 220 volts available?

 

[Larry N.]

110 volt dryers are not very good and not efficient so any comparison to them sets the bar very low.

We have a Whirlpool stack in our RV, and the dryer is 110V just like the washer, but it dries things just fine and in a reasonable time frame (a little longer than our 240V unit at home but not much). So I'd not get hung up on the voltage, in and of itself. That was true of the stacked units in our previous motorhome, too. I've never used one of the combos (Splendide, et al) so can't comment on how they compare.

 

[Kirk]

The wattage would be 744 watts (240X3.5) vs the 1440 watts of the Splendide (120x12)

The voltage of 120/240 means that you can connect to either voltage but if 1440 watts is 3.5A at 240V then on 120V it will draw 7A.

 

[Jim18655]

That voltage rating indicates a 3 wire circuit - 2 hot, 1 neutral. If it could be wired for 120v or 240 then there would be 2 amp ratings. 120/240volts 7/3.5 amps
From the manual, Page 17, installation:
The dryer has its own terminal block that must
be connected to a separate 240 VAC, 60-Hertz,
single-phase circuit, fused at 30 amperes (the
circuit must be fused on both sides of the line).
ELECTRICAL SERVICE FOR THE DRYER SHOULD
BE OF THE MAXIMUM RATE VOLTAGE LISTED ON
THE NAMEPLATE. DO NOT CONNECT THE DRYER
TO 110-, 115-, OR 120-VOLT CIRCUIT.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

From the installation manual:

The dryer has its own terminal block that must
be connected to a separate 240 VAC, 60-Hertz,
single-phase circuit, fused at 30 amperes (the
circuit must be fused on both sides of the line).
ELECTRICAL SERVICE FOR THE DRYER SHOULD
BE OF THE MAXIMUM RATE VOLTAGE LISTED ON
THE NAMEPLATE. DO NOT CONNECT THE DRYER
TO 110-, 115-, OR 120-VOLT CIRCUIT

Some 50A RVs have load centers that are not designed to accept 240v breakers, e.g. the Intellitec Smart Energy Management system. Others have a conventional 120/240v breaker panel and 240v appliances can be wired to it. Of course, 240v is available only when connected to a 240v external source (i.e. not an RV 30A/120v source).

 

[gdelanghe]

The 50-amp service has 4 wires with two 120-volt HOT feeds. From this common service we can draw 120 or 240 volts. Each leg is 50 amps @ 120 volts. 50-amp X 120-volt = 6000 watts. But since there are 2 HOT 120-volt legs at 6000 + 6000 = 12,000 watts to use in the RV or 50-amp X 240-volt = 12,000 watts when used as a 240-volt service.

Almost ALL 50-amp wired RV's use both sides of the service separately as 120 volt on each leg. A few mostly high-end coaches utilize the 240-volt from this same service.

 

[Lou Schneider]

If you install a 240 volt dryer it won't work whenever you're plugged into less than a full 50 amp feed. Using a 50 to 30 amp adapter gives 120 volts from each leg to neutral, but since both hot legs are connected to the same point there's 0 volts between them, not 240 volts.

Depending on the dryer's internal wiring it may go completely dead but if the drive motor and controls are wired between one hot leg and neutral it may spin but there will be no heat from the 240 volt heating element.

 

[gdelanghe]

Doesn't use a heating element. Uses a heat pump. Only uses 744 watts (240vX3.5amp) vs the 1440 watts of the Splendide (120vx12amp). I'm trying to find out from LG why they decided on 240 V. Efficiency is generally better in the 240-volt system. But, as mentioned, the 120-Volt system is actually a 240-Volt system divided into two.

 

[Henry J Fate]

The LG Heat Pump Dryer requires a 240volt connection. I assume the 120volt reference in the specifications maybe be applicable when the dryer is only using 120volts. It may have something to do with the Dual Heat Pump design, but it seems to require 240 according to the installation instructions.

 

[Henry J Fate]

Doesn't use a heating element. Uses a heat pump. Only uses 744 watts (240vX3.5amp) vs the 1440 watts of the Splendide (120vx12amp). I'm trying to find out from LG why they decided on 240 V. Efficiency is generally better in the 240-volt system. But, as mentioned, the 120-Volt system is actually a 240-Volt system divided into two.

Do your research on this. A heat pump will have lots of variables. It is possible to get enough heat out of a heat pump system but I can not say what is needed and when it stops heating enough. That information maybe be out there from owners of the unit.

My guess is that there will be times when it works fine and other times when it is not so great. There is some math involved but too any variables especially in a mobile application. My first question would be, what is the thermostats highest set point. The highest thermostat set point would be just a reference as the system may not get to that set point and just run and give whatever it can. It looks like the unit is ventless which is a by product of using the heat pump design and probably reuses the heat from the exhaust which would affect its efficiency rating.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I'm surprised they don't put propane dryers in RVs. Reduces the power consumption enough to make it practical to run on solar and the gas consumption is the same as a 20,000 BTU furnace - about 1/4 gallon per hour so a 7 gallon cylinder gives 28 hours or so of drying time.

 

[Jim18655]

Some of the online reviews mentioned longer drying times. Less power for longer time might not be a big savings over more power for shorter time. A heat pump has to take heat from the air so if you use it in the winter it might change your heating load.

 

[gdelanghe]

The thread is LG 240 volt dryer with ENERGY STAR Most Efficient recognition. The RV column and your home dryer plug use NEMA 14-50R four-prong 50A: neutral/ground/120 volt/120volt. Not 240 volt one side/120 volt the other.
The 240 volt LG heat pump dryer is rated 840 watts (240volts x 3.5 amps)
The 120 volt Splendide is rated 1440 watts (120 volts x 12 amps)
An LG condenser dryer is rated 4800 Watts (240 volts x 20 amps) Not considering.
Standard electric dryer rated 7200 watts (240 volts x 30 amps) Not considering.
The Parkworld 886115 Combiner should work.
I'm checking with some licensed electricians and RV technicians to flesh out my idea. If I go ahead and it works NO PROBLEM, I'll post the results.

 

[Henry J Fate]

I'm surprised they don't put propane dryers in RVs. Reduces the power consumption enough to make it practical to run on solar and the gas consumption is the same as a 20,000 BTU furnace - about 1/4 gallon per hour so a 7 gallon cylinder gives 28 hours or so of drying time.

That would be the way to go. Gas dryers are typically hotter than electric and offer faster and more dependable dry times. My guess is that the safety issue probably detours builders from using them. Vents like to get pretty full of lint and need regular cleaning or fire becomes a possibility. Probably several ways to combat that but maybe it is just something builders do not want to deal with.

 

[Ray-IN]

The thread is LG 240 volt dryer with ENERGY STAR Most Efficient recognition. The RV column and your home dryer plug use NEMA 14-50R four-prong 50A: neutral/ground/120 volt/120volt. Not 240 volt one side/120 volt the other.
The 240 volt LG heat pump dryer is rated 840 watts (240volts x 3.5 amps)
The 120 volt Splendide is rated 1440 watts (120 volts x 12 amps)
An LG condenser dryer is rated 4800 Watts (240 volts x 20 amps) Not considering.
Standard electric dryer rated 7200 watts (240 volts x 30 amps) Not considering.
The Parkworld 886115 Combiner should work.
I'm checking with some licensed electricians and RV technicians to flesh out my idea. If I go ahead and it works NO PROBLEM, I'll post the results.

Household 240VAC dryers tap into one 120VAC leg to run the electronics internally. IMO this requires a new main breaker panel, as an Rv main panel has a different bus bar specifically so a 240V breaker cannot be inserted.
IMO that and a dedicated 240VAC circuit to the dryer is all that is required.

 

[gdelanghe]

You say the LG (I've never been Lucky with Goldstar) can be wired for 120 or 240... This is a bunch of electrical work but you might want to bring the leads out to a switch box so you have a 120/240 switch you can flip. how it connects to the RV's electrical system will also be decided by that switch.
Reason: More efficient on 240... But 30 amp is only 120.

The connection would be right in the washer/dryer space. There's two 120 volt plug 20 amp plugins being used by current washer and dryer.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Almost ALL 50-amp wired RV's use both sides of the service separately as 120 volt on each leg.

Right, but not all RVs have load centers that incorporate bus bars suitable for 240v breakers.

IMO this requires a new main breaker panel, as an Rv main panel has a different bus bar specifically so a 240V breaker cannot be inserted.

Again, some RVs have panels that can accept 240v (twin) breakers and others do not. There is nothing inherent in an RV that prohibits use of 240v circuits, but relatively few RV models have any need for them and may employ a load center panel that provides two "legs" of 120v only.