Electric cost? How much will a 50 amp run?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

leilani

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Posts
15
Hi Everyone ,

This is a 2 part question and I am new so please excuse me :)

I have noticed some parks charge for electric and I realize it is based on how much you use but does anyone have a ballpark idea or examples of what it is??? I have a home that is costing me $150 on a budget plan so I don't have a clue as to the comparision if we went full time.

Also, the 5th wheeler we are going to buy is a 50 amp. Could anyone tell me how much you can run at one time. I have visions of having to shut off the air while I cook dinner.

Thanks for your help

Leilani
 
leilani said:
Also, the 5th wheeler we are going to buy is a 50 amp. Could anyone tell me how much you can run at one time. I have visions of having to shut off the air while I cook dinner.

Well,  Trailers come in basically 3 sizes, now you might notice the math is off here

20 amp, or about 2,000 watts,  30 amp or about 3,000 watts, and 50 amp (that's 5,000 watts right, nope, 10,000)

You can run two rooftop air conditioners, a refrigerator, microwave, all your internal lights, television and/or sattalite receiver and/or radio and have power left over, no problems at all

With 30 amp service,,, Delete one air conditioner
 
Electricity costs will vary with the part of the country.  In AZ, $.12-15/kwh is typical.

With 50A service, you can run anything and everything in your RV, generally.  You can easily run 2 A/C units and your microwave and/or a electric grill with no problems.  If you're connected to 30A service, however, you will have to do some power management.
 
Thanks so much! That helps me out a lot :)

Do you have any idea abou the electirc bills? I'm just thinking if we were in Vegas in 110 heat running 2 air conditioners, washing clothes, etc. Do you know if it would be bad? I would have to get a $ 200 shocker!

Thanks
 
You monthly bill for electricity will depend on your power usage, of course, and that is something only you can calculate.  Find out the power consumption of your applicances and multiply by the hours of use per day and add them up to get your kilowatt hours per day.  That will let you estimate your monthly electric bill.  I would say it is likely that you would have a $200 bill in LV in summer with 2 A/C units running nearly full time plus other electric appliances.  Ex: If your A/C units draw 10A each and you run them both 16 hours/day, and electricity costs $.15/kwh, the cost/day for just A/C would be about $5.25, or about $160/month.  That's why we go north in the summer :)
 
We average about 500 hours a month.  We installed another 50 amp circuit in Maryland last month and it cost us $385 for the installation.
 
:eek:

Wow, I didn't realize how expensive it is to run the A/C,etc.  I guess it is worth it to look for a park that includes electricity since we are going to permanent park it.

500 hrs? Are you in a hot climate? I am going to have to pay attention to my next electric bill here at the house to get an idea of what we are using.

Thanks again for everyone helping me out. I didn' t have a clue what they run and natrually the sales man is telling us they are about $20-$30 a month! LOL

Leilani
 
If electricity is included, you'll still be paying for it, but have no control over the amount.  You'll also find that, at least in the popular winter areas, that monthly and longer rentals will almost alway be plus electricity.  It's only for shorter stays that the electricity is included, and the cost is much higher per day than renting by the month or by the season.

I suspect Smoky meant 500kwh, not hours.  500kwh at $.15/kwh is $75, about right in my experience.
 
I would say that typical electrical usage in a 50A  RV would be anywhere from $30 to $100 per month, depending on climate, local power costs and your personal power usage habits.  There can be dramatic differences in Rvs too, with the better brands generally having noticeably superior insulation.

You can also help reduce yor costs in hot sunny climates by using your awning to shade one side, add window awnings and insert insulating covers or pads in the ceiling vents/skylights. A lot of heat enters via the ceiling vents, which are uninsulated plastic covers. And make sure whatever Rv you buy has dual pane glass in all windows.
 
Thanks for all the info. I guess it won't be as bad as what I was thinking.

There is so much to learn with all this and I have no experience so I am trying to think of everything.

I don't want to be paying $1,600 a month to live, you know? Each place has all their little add on's, elec, dog fees, extra people fees ( there will be 3 adults) etc. it all adds up.

I just know Vegas will be HOT and I know the A/C will be running.

I will look into the shades, awnings, etc. when we order our RV. We are looking at Fifthwheelers and are planning on taking our time before we jump into anything.

Thanks again!
Leilani
 
September is not a problem as we get free electric.  October through May is when we get measured.  My figures might not be comparable for the thread question.
 
==I just know Vegas will be HOT and I know the A/C will be running.==

My daughter mentioned 106 when we chatted yesterday.

Vegas in January,  AC may well be optional, Vegas in July, mandatory

As you implied, shade, awnings, where you park, etc, all help

Example.. Parking in, oh, Wisconson, not nearly as hot as Vegas :)

You want to put the big window on the NORTH of the house if you can, Block off windows that do not open Use reflective panals or insulation where needed.

Many RVers do have a winterise/Summerise method that involves driving,  Winter, Vegas, Dallas, Key West

Summer, Northern Michigan, Wisconson,  You get the picture


 
Also, the 5th wheeler we are going to buy is a 50 amp. Could anyone tell me how much you can run at one time. I have visions of having to shut off the air while I cook dinner.
Don't know why you'd have to shut of a/c while cooking, unless you have a 240V kitchen range or use several electric frypans. Most of us cook with LP ranges and sometimes electric grills of the Hamilton Beech/George Foreman type. Mine has 30A service, and I can run both a/c units because it has automatic load shedding to temporarily shut one down when it may exceed the 30A limit.

Tell that salesman that told you "...$20-$30 per month" that I want some of what he's smoking ;D
 
Smoky~ where are you located? Are you in Nevada? The "free" electric is entising. We are just so sick of paying so much in taxes, utilities, payments, etc. to live in cold, cloudy, gray Ohio. UGH Going fulltime seems to be a great solution.

It's just a matter iof finding a nice park that will let us stay permanently, is clean and safe that has a pool, etc., takes dogs, free power and we will be in heaven! LOL Do places like that exist in Southern Nevada ? :)

Karl~ yep, that salesman was smoking something! LOL I think he got fired from being a used car salesman for being too pushy and got a job at this place. I don't know anything about RV's and I still was able to catch him in quite a few fabrications of the truth.

Thanks for the chat!

Leilani
 
There is no "free" electric anywhere.  Either you pay by the meter or it's built into the camping fee.  TANSTAAFL :)
 
leilani said:
Smoky~ where are you located? Are you in Nevada? The "free" electric is entising. We are just so sick of paying so much in taxes, utilities, payments, etc. to live in cold, cloudy, gray Ohio. UGH Going fulltime seems to be a great solution.

It's just a matter iof finding a nice park that will let us stay permanently, is clean and safe that has a pool, etc., takes dogs, free power and we will be in heaven! LOL Do places like that exist in Southern Nevada ? :)

If in fact you want to go full time why worry about finding a place to park on a permanent basis. The beauty of full time is never being in one place too long. Usually the only place that will charge for electric are places where you take extended stays, for shorter stays electric is part of rate structure so crank up the A/C babe. Several full timers have a park for the winter/summer (seasonal), usually they have metered service.  It sounds more like you need to consider moving to a more tax friendly state like Delaware  and live in a stick house.

Nelson
 
No Delaware is way too cold for me. We are running from Ohio due to the winters. If I never see another snow flake again, I will be happy.

I understand the electric being built in, etc. I guess nothing is ever free :(

We would want to be able to move but we are more the type to stay put if possible. We will still be working so we would have to stay close to our jobs.

The nice thing that we like is the ability to move if we get to a park we don't like, etc.

We have a house that is located next to people who have 2 dogs (beagles) that bark from sun up to sun set and there is nothing I can do about it. (we have looked into it)  They are a big part of why we want to be able to get up and move!~ LOL

Have a great day!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
131,753
Posts
1,384,367
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom