need info on older rv stuff- ac, power draws etc

[cvin]

have a guy workamping at my place in a very well maintained and in some ways upgraded 1986 winnebago

it has a newer dometic frig and what we think is the original ac- although not sure about this

it is not really hot here in az yet and the thing seemed to use $150-175 in power this month, which is a lot more than my house

he is willing to buy a new ac for it but we dont want to waste the money if that is not the issue

the frig is running on shore power and obviously the ac

think he only turns the hot water heater on when he needs it

he has been turning the ac off every nite from 10pm to 7-8am and when it is on it is on low
so even if it was not that efficient seems like it drew a lot


he does think that he hears the converter coming on pretty often at nite, would this be normal?


are the refrigs not efficient on shore power?

and would an older ac draw $50-70 more in power a month?

any thoughts would be appreciated

[outwest]

New RV air units can use as much as 1700 watts. So, assuming the air isn't low on freon, I don't think a newer one would save any significant $ on the utility bill, though I could be wrong.

[cvin]

this unit seems to cool good, which is why we hesitate to replace it unless we are sure it will make a difference

going to post in the tech forum about 30 amp watt meters, would be interesting just to make sure it is something in his camper and not in my house...

hoping we can find something that just plugs in

[JRTJH]

You can go to this website and get some "very generalized" information about the cost of running a window unit which is very similar to the cost of running an RV unit. Keep in mind that most window units provide cooling in a room with substantially more insulation and protection from the sun than a typical RV unit. So the RV unit would very probably use more energy than a comparable window unit installed in a home window.

Essentially they are saying that a 1.5 ton (18000 BTU) air conditioner would use about 1.65 kilowatts per hour with 10 hours of daily use. If we use that as a "best guess" for his RV air conditioner and if your electrical rate is 14 cents per kilowatt, it would be roughly this:

1.65 kw/hour times 10 hours a day is 16.5kw per day times 30 days (monthly) is 495kw per month. At 14 cents per kw, that is 495 x 0.14 = $69.30 per month Depending on your actual cost for electricity, that could be a high or a low estimate. Some places only pay 8 or 9 cents per kilowatt, some locations pay up to 22 cents or even more.

That is for the air conditioner only, his refrigerator and water heater would use more as would the converter and any electrical appliances like coffee pots, toasters, TV/radio/computer, etc. So it's reasonable to expect that with the air conditioner running as described here, he could use at least $100 a month without any problem.

Here's that website link: https://www.quora.com/What-would-be-...ge-of-10-hours

[cvin]

thanks for that link, we are well over 100 a month, a friend that does electric stuff is going to come check things over
we are wondering about the converter and if it is worth it to be charging 3 batteries in there- also dont know exactly how his camper works electric wise

would using those batteries and running a converter a lot draw a lot of power?

hoping to get some answers thursday morn

[JRTJH]

The refrigerator will draw about 250 watts when on electric, the water heater about 1100 watts, the converter (when charging the batteries) about 500-600 watts. Depending on whether he's using incandescent lights (each bulb draws about 25 watts) and what other electrical items he might be using, it's not unrealistic to see an RV that's being used to live in that consumes upwards of $100 a month.

As for the batteries, if they are charged, there shouldn't be very much consumption to keep them "floating". Depending on the age of his converter, it may not be a 3 stage charger so it may not have a "float" level. In that case, it could be overcharging the batteries and he may be using more water than normal to top off his batteries. In that case, (if it's an older converter) I'd remove two of the batteries from the system (just unhook them) and leave only one connected as a buffer to protect the converter from heavy loads. If he does that, put the batteries on a trickle charger or connect them to an automatic charger for a few hours monthly to keep them "conditioned".

[cvin]

guess my biggest concern is it is not hot here yet, not looking forward to a $500 power bill in july and august ....

his electric panel is old, has the glass fuses in it

he does here what i am guessing is the fan on the converter running off and on a decent amount

one question we have is if the converter is a 1986 or old in general will it be less efficient and drawing a decent amount of power? he is fine with upgrading some stuff we just are not sure what to upgrade...

if we took out 2 batteries and put them on plug in trickle chargers would they draw less power than staying in the camper with the converter?

we may put those on solar also, i have a decent size panel in the shed, will see if it still works

will work with the electric guy thursday using the progressive industries surge protector, etc and see if we can pinpoint the bigger draws better

i am guessing we used $170 in power this past month on his camper- and like i said , not hot here yet

[ctbruce]

From your other post is this at a campground or at your house? What kind of power is it plugged into? House, 30 or 50 amp?

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[cvin]

This is at my house plugged into a 30 amp receptable we put in