Plug in at home 50 or 30 amp?

[EricRom]

Our fifth wheel is 50 amp and wondering whether to do a 30 or 50 outlet. Looking at about $150 price difference between the two installed. I guess the only down side to the 30amp would be not being able to run the second a/c at home. Any recommendations?

[Skaling]

Only $150 more, might as well go 50 amp. Seems like an easy choice.

[gaserv]

Originally Posted by Skaling

Only $150 more, might as well go 50 amp. Seems like an easy choice.

50 without a doubt

[Old skipper]

I agree as above plus why limit yourself. An extra bonus is you can run a 220v welder on a 50 amp circuit never can tell when that could come in handy.

[RedHorse1]

We were able to run our first TT (X23B) on a 20A circuit. That's fridge, lights and A/C. Could not run A/C on a 15A.
If I wanted to install a plug and circuit for the 5th I'd go 50A.
Could get the TT in the drive, close to the 20a plug. The 5th has to park on the street.

[SouthCo]

So you bought a nice big 5th wheel and your asking if you should spend a measly $150 more to get the correct 50 amp power for it?

Of course you should.... That is a no brainier lol.

[DrtEmaxChvy]

I just plug into my outside outlet to keep the battery taken care of.

[tularockstar]

Oh yes! If I had a choice I'd do 50amp. I had a 30 amp installed at the house when we had a smaller TT. Our next house will have parking for the 5er and 50amp connection!

[Bassdogs]

$150 is not a lot, but do you need it? If you use the rv as overflow for family visits then by all means go all in. If all you're doing is keeping the battery up and powering up a few lights or the microwave, you really don't need the 50amp setup.

I would go 50 because we use our RV often while set up in the back drive. Even has its own sat dish and receiver. I installed a 30amp because my tT is only 30amp but would have gone to the bigger if my Rv was wired for it.

[Camper_bob]

I agree that you should go with the 50A. That's what we did. Granted, we won't likely ever use the full capacity, but that's how my trailer is wired, so that's the plug I had installed, and I'm glad I did it that way. The upsides are that I can run my trailer at it's full potential right in my driveway. Primary concern is the AC, it gets HOT down here, and loading up or working on a hot trailer in August is NO FUN.

I guess I don't understand why the cost difference is so significant? Is a 50A box really all that much more expensive than a 30A? The labor cost to do the wiring should not be significantly different? What gives?

I would still go with 50A, but the cost increase sounds a little fishy to me.

[spoon059]

I just have a 15amp outlet outside the garage and an extension cord. I don't plan to camp in my backyard...I only need to keep the battery charged and start my fridge the day before we leave. To me, $150 could be a nice couple extra days camping...

[dalebra]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

$150 is not a lot, but do you need it? If you use the rv as overflow for family visits then by all means go all in. If all you're doing is keeping the battery up and powering up a few lights or the microwave, you really don't need the 50amp setup.

I would go 50 because we use our RV often while set up in the back drive. Even has its own sat dish and receiver. I installed a 30amp because my tT is only 30amp but would have gone to the bigger if my Rv was wired for it.

X2

It all depends on your intended use. I have a 30A that I used for my TT and I have no plan to upgrade it to 50A for my 5er because the only time I would need it is to be able to run both A/C units at the same time.

It also depends on the size of your service? Can you even add another 50A breaker? Are you doing this yourself for $150 in materials or are you hiring an Electrician for $150 which includes labor, materials and a permit? If so, I would go for 50A for $150.

Strictly your preference with your intended use.

[Cdash]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I agree that you should go with the 50A. That's what we did. Granted, we won't likely ever use the full capacity, but that's how my trailer is wired, so that's the plug I had installed, and I'm glad I did it that way. The upsides are that I can run my trailer at it's full potential right in my driveway. Primary concern is the AC, it gets HOT down here, and loading up or working on a hot trailer in August is NO FUN.

I guess I don't understand why the cost difference is so significant? Is a 50A box really all that much more expensive than a 30A? The labor cost to do the wiring should not be significantly different? What gives?



I would still go with 50A, but the cost increase sounds a little fishy to me.

The 50 amp requires an additional conductor, different plug, different breaker and is likely more difficult to work with. Doesn't surprise me.

[DrtEmaxChvy]

Where are you guys getting this $150 number from?
I ask because I looked into it and the electrician told me essentially high amount of $$$ because they have to tap into the he main breaker, dig and run line to the outlet post for the 50 amp.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by Cdash

The 50 amp requires an additional conductor, different plug, different breaker and is likely more difficult to work with. Doesn't surprise me.

It's just odd to me. My 50A plug was $150 installed. By a professional electrician. Now, granted it's right there next to the main box that comes into my house, so it was SUPER easy. So that's why I would be wary of a $150 increase to go from 30A to 50A.

[tularockstar]

If you ask an electrician to run conduit from the breaker box to anywhere father than a foot below the box, he will charge you $$ by the foot! If he has to route the conduit underground or through walls/ceiling, he will charge you big dollars! Fortunately, my 30amp was installed right under the breaker box, and my cord was more than long enough to reach the TT.

Originally Posted by DrtEmaxChvy

Where are you guys getting this $150 number from?
I ask because I looked into it and the electrician told me essentially high amount of $$$ because they have to tap into the he main breaker, dig and run line to the outlet post for the 50 amp.

[dalebra]

Camper_Bob is absolutely correct.

The DIFFERENCE of $150 does not make sense if it's just wire size, breaker size, and outlet. Where this may make more sense is if the method of wiring is different such as using UF vs. in conduit. Then you will have additional labor cost.

[Bassdogs]

My RV power post is a good 75 feet from a breaker panel. Had the direct bury cable left over from running power to my barn. Did the digging and buried the cable myself. Even though this was direct bury I ran it inside 1" plastic water line [also surplus from a project] because 1/2 the line ran under a gravel drive. Probably not necessary but felt it would give some extra protection from heavy vehicles. My costs would have been significantly higher to go to 50a because I would have had to purchase the cable ad breaker. I only needed 30 so it made sense to use what I had.

[Raugustin]

Hi Ericrom,

I had a #10 4wire circuit installed in my garage for my 30 amp pull trailer and it only used 3 wires. When we upgraded to the Pinnacle I simply installed a 30ampduplex breaker and energized both circuits and installed a 50 outlet in place of the 30 amp. the difference is that you now have 30amps available on each line which will provide 60amps of power to the coach. I can run everything in the trailer, however, I only have one AC.

[DocBrown]

I certainly don't want to come off as offensive, but considering you just spent a pretty good chunk of cash on the trailer what's another $150? It's less than 1/2 of a percent of what you have already spent.