110 vs 30amp During Storage

Keithinouye · 12-08-2019, 02:21 PM

Hi Everybody,

Sorry if this question has been asked before, I could not find it doing a search.

For reference I have a 2018 27RB Whitehawk...

I am in the process of building a new house and have an option of having a dedicated 30amp outlet for my trailer when in storage. Currently, I have it plugged into a 110 on a general outdoor outlet (not even a dedicated breaker) and have no problems (or at least none that I know of).

What are the advantages or disadvantages of having your stored trailer on a dedicated 30 amp vs a dedicated (it will be dedicated in my new house) 110?

Thank you in advance everybody for your input.

RetiredOne · 12-08-2019, 02:29 PM

Just to keep the batteries charged, or to turn the lights on when fooling around, or cool down the fridge the night before you leave on a trip, a standard outlet is fine.

If you want to run your A/C to cool the rig down, or run your water heater on electric, you might have a issue on the standard line, depending on what else is on the circuit. In that case, install the 30 amp line.

I can run the A/C on my rig on a standard 15 amp circuit (nothing else is on it), because it comes off close to my main panel, so there's very little voltage drop.

**norty1** · 12-08-2019, 02:47 PM

I would prefer a 30a rv outlet dedicated to the rv. If you ever need a small heater or the ac, there will be no questions about about whether it will be adequate.

EA37TS · 12-08-2019, 02:51 PM

I would go with 50 amp and dog one down. I initially paid 350 to have 30 amp installed and then when I needed to upgrade to 50 amp it cost me 500 because everything except the box had to change.

2naEagle · 12-08-2019, 03:42 PM

I would also go 50 amp (30 at the least). Also having full power available could come in handy if anything ever happened to your house (water, smoke, in-laws). You would have a easy to go to refuge.

Tunce the traveler · 12-08-2019, 06:15 PM

Do it right the first time.

cekkk · 12-08-2019, 06:20 PM

I stored mine in the RV barn and kept it on the standard outlet in the attached barn. It kept the battery charged and allowed me to turn on the lights and fridge when preparing for an outing. But I also had a 30 amp weatherproof outlet on the side of the garage where we parked it for company. And it was available for relatives that brought their own RV.

So it's convenient to have but not absolutely necessary.

**norty1** · 12-08-2019, 07:28 PM

If you think you would ever have a future rig with 50a service, go for it. I have 30a and use an adapter and it serves my purpose. Only limitation is I can only run 1 ac at a time.

Lake Huron · 12-08-2019, 08:52 PM

As posted before, install a 50A and adapt it down to a 30A. Go big or go home.
I had the delima between 30 and 50. My trailer is a 50A and dont think I'll ever need it, but I installed a 50A anyway. When I built my house I poured concrete along side the house and down the driveway. I made it for the trailers I had at that time never dreaming I'd have a 45' 5th wheel parked here. The apron down the driveway had to be tripled in length because of it. Again, go big or go home. You never know.

Nathan S. · 12-08-2019, 09:40 PM

Put in a 50A for future capabilities and if your mother in law comes over she has no excuse for not being comfortable.

**JFlightRisk** · 12-08-2019, 09:50 PM

I would put a 50 amp service in, also. You never know when you'll get the very contagious RV disease, known as "twofootitis". Nor will you know how many times you'll get this disease over your lifetime.

Jagiven · 12-08-2019, 10:05 PM

110 volt 15 amp outlet, and a 30 amp outlet is the same voltage, you just cannot pull as much power through a 15 amp outlet. A 15 amp outlet will let you keep the batteries charged, run the frig, maybe a little short run time of the AC. 30 amp outlet let's you run everything like your at camp.

I just installed a 20/30/50 amp outlet. I did the work, and ran aluminum wire (113 ft), total cost about $250, including an rv box.

RetiredOne · 12-08-2019, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jagiven

I just installed a 20/30/50 amp outlet. I did the work, and ran aluminum wire (113 ft), total cost about $250, including an rv box.

Why did you run aluminum and not copper?

**JFlightRisk** · 12-09-2019, 12:50 AM

A few years ago, I needed to install 220 volt service in my garage, to accommodate a larger air compressor. I went to our local electric store to buy the wire, and some pieces that I didn't already have at home. I was going to use 8 ga. copper, but the tech told me to go up to 6 ga aluminum wire and save some money. Boy, did it ever. I walked out spending about $75 for everything, versus $400 for just copper wire.

I can't say right now how long the run was in feet, but I needed to start at the farthest corner of the house, through the back wall and diagonally under a very large deck, then underground to the garage, and up into the breaker box. I already had most of the conduit already, plus the 50' of wire to go across the garage to the compressor outlet.

Keithinouye · 12-09-2019, 09:35 AM

Thank you all so much for the great feedback! Looks like I will be asking my builder to install a 50 amp!

Jagiven · 12-09-2019, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

Why did you run aluminum and not copper?

Price, cost savings was about $650 in materials; I was able to get 2 awg AL for $0.28/ft verse 3 AWG CU for $1.74/ft. The 4 awg ground wire was an additonal 0.21/ft. My wire run measured in at 113 feet, so I purchased for 120 foot run to be safe.

Thomson · 12-09-2019, 10:22 AM

The standard 110 v plug will keep your batteries charged and let you run the fridge. Since the outlet is either 15 or 20 amps, you cannot run much of anything else. I would opt for a 30 amp dedicated breaker/plug so that you can test the A/C and everything else before your trips. Besides it's only about $100 to $200 depending where you live. You may want to consider a 50 amp, because you never know when you might move up One other thing you might want to consider is having the RV parked on the sewer clean-out side of the house so you can dump your tanks or clean them out at home.

RetiredOne · 12-09-2019, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jagiven

Price, cost savings was about $650 in materials; I was able to get 2 awg AL for $0.28/ft verse 3 AWG CU for $1.74/ft. The 4 awg ground wire was an additonal 0.21/ft. My wire run measured in at 113 feet, so I purchased for 120 foot run to be safe.

Are you aware of the thermal expansion and contraction and creeping of aluminum wire and connectors, specially on cycling of higher amperage loads in residential wiring?
https://www.squareoneinsurance.com/us/aluminum-wiring

Jagiven · 12-09-2019, 10:59 AM

Yah, I work for a major industrial firm. I had a lot of conversations with our process and facility electrical Engineering, along with electricians, before deciding to go with aluminum.

Thomson · 12-09-2019, 11:08 AM

Regarding aluminum wire. As mentioned below it expands, contracts, and oxidizes. Most companies that have aluminum wire have an annual tap tightening event where they go through all the connections and retighten them. If the company doesn't, then it it headed for a problem, like 220 v where 110 v should be. That happens when the neutral loses the connection by oxide, or whatever reason. So those of you using aluminum wire tighten the connections annually (power off), and buy an EMS box to protect your electronics, fridge, and A/C.

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