110 volt what can I run?

[Deeds]

Might be a basic question but I've always used 30amp hookups, were spending the weekend at a friend's property and they only have standard 110volt power, I'm wondering if I'm able to power up the fridge, ac,tv and lights off the 110 volt adapter? I've used the lights and cooled down the fridge in the past but had a guy at work tell me I'd fry my ac cause there's not enough power for it... is there any truth to this?

[Stumpy75]

Refrig, TV and maybe even the hot water heater would be ok. However, if you want to try to run the AC, then all of those other things will have to be shut off or turned to propane. The starting surge of the AC is what draws the big amount of power. Depending on your friends available power, the AC will probably run on the standard 120volt, 15amp household circuit, as long as it's the only thing on the circuit. Keep any extension cords short and heavy(10 gauge wire). And don't use the cheap 15A to 30A adapters. Get a heavy duty one of those too.

While you're at it, pick up a voltage monitor. It plugs into a 120volt outlet and reads out the voltage. Anything below 108 volts will be real hard on the AC, or whatever else is running too.

The lights run off of 12volt, and should not be as much of a problem.

[jxnbbl]

It really isn't voltage its the amps. I just went through this type of analysis purchasing an inverter generator as we were staying at some Harvest Host locations. So in this case the 2500W duel fuel generator (Champion) runs at about 20A starting and 13-15A continuous depending on the fuel used.


I'd equate this to the circuit you are plugging into. Is this a 20A circuit or a 15A circuit (you can tell by the outlet)...the slots for a 20A are a bit different that accept a 15A plug as well as a 20A plug.


Anyways, I installed a soft start on my AC to minimize the starting amps required and could run that along with most low power items. But couldn't run the AC when I was using the microwave or the coffee maker.

[Canonman]

You need to verify the AMP capacity of the circuit provided at your friends property. Most services have 15 amp circuits for lighting and light duty outlets. They also usually provide some 20 amp circuits for heavier use circuit applications. Just because it's a 110v outlet does not mean it's not a 20 amp circuit. 20 amps will run your single A/C as long as you don't run the microwave at the same time. You can use the M/W but not other high amp draw gadgets simultaneously. The fridge , TV and lights can run together with no problem.
I'd suggest running the water heater and fridge on gas so you won't overload the 110v supply. All assuming of course, you are plugging into a 20 amp outlet. We use a 20 amp circuit here at the house and run the A/C plus all the 12 volt accessories with no problem.

[jsb5717]

You can easily run everything except, maybe the AC. Are you connected to a 15A or 20A circuit? Is that circuit shared with anything else? Is it a GFCI? You can possibly run your AC on 20A. If you don't have an easy start system in your AC then it's the start up that can pop the breaker. Once running it'll run on 20A. The microwave will also tax a 15A circuit but will run if not overloaded.

[wiredgeorge]

The electric element in the hot water heater runs on a 15A or 20A breaker. Run the hot water heater on propane only. Don't try and run the A/C and do not run the microwave with anything else. TV/radio will be fine. Cook on the stove. Don't plug in an electric heater. I would be wary of using a drip coffee pot when using anything else.

[NH_Bulldog]

Just to clarify, your camper operates on 110v. Whether it is a 30a plug or a 20a plug or a 15a plug, it is still 110v. What you need to be concerned with is the amperage capacity of the circuit and what else is also on that same110v circuit you are going to plug into.

Basically you have 3 energy hogs that typically cannot operate at the same time on a 15a circuit; water heater, AC unit and microwave. I can run my 13.5k AC unit on a 15a circuit as long as I have the water heater and refrigerator on gas. If I need to run the microwave, I turn off the AC. If the DW wants to run a hair dryer, I turn off the AC. Otherwise no issues.

At one family members house they have a 20a dedicated exterior outlet so we can typically run the AC and fridge on 110v power.

[notanlines]

Common sense will tell you to stay away from the water heater and the microwave. The water heater should be on propane (as was was said) and the microwave should be avoided on a light weight extension cord.

[bobbecky]

You also need to be aware of the load the converter adds to the mix. When we dry camp, which is rare, and in the morning start the 2,000 watt Honda after being off all night, the converter is pulling quite a bit of load, and to use the coffee maker or the microwave, we shut off the breaker to the converter until we are done with those two appliances, otherwise the breaker on the generator trips. Like what was already said, switch the water heater and fridge to gas only, because they don't need to be adding load to your already limited available circuit.

[markcee]

We covered this a couple of weeks ago so don't mean to be stubborn, but after I mentioned running one of my ACs at home, on a 110v outlet, and finding out about potential compressor damage I did the following:

* Looked at my house circuit breakers. Minimum breaker is 20 amp in my panel and subpanel. My garage outlet (where I plug in the trailer - using 50 amp RV cable, stepped down to 30 amp RV extension, and then to a 110v dogbone) was a 15 amp GFI.

* Since all the breakers in my panel are minimum 20 amp, I swapped out this outlet for a 20 amp GFI receptacle (note - I investigated and there is nothing else on this circuit)

* Purchased a plug in digital AC voltmeter. Inserted this into an open 110v outlet in the RV.

* Plugged in the trailer to house connection, fired up the fridge and the one AC. The voltage monitor I purchased for the trailer does not go below 114v. I monitored this continuously while camper was at home.....readings constantly between 117v and 114v. As a side note, this is essentially the same voltage (within a volt or two either way) of what the meter showed at the campground plugged in to a 50 amp pedestal outlet with both ACs, fridge and HWH fired up this past weekend.

So, what is the harm in running 1 AC from a dedicated 20 amp dedicated circuit, particularly when the monitored voltage to the trailer does not drop into the danger (107v and lower) zone?

I'm not the guy that insists I can tow a 10K GVWR trailer with my 1/2 ton because the manufacturer says my tow rating is 13.2K....I really am interested why my scenario is an issue.

[notanlines]

Mark, without stretching this into a long-winded explanation, the main reason is because newbies and those members not as astute as you appear to be won’t be using heavy cords, won’t be plugged into 20 amp at home, I could go on and on.
This is like the rv owner of an RV with 6 years on the original battery and trying to promote this as acceptable. It is an extraordinary situation, but not to be recommended.

[sourdough]

Just my thoughts on the scenarios mentioned;

All power is not the same; 110/120vac - whatever you want to call it is neither, it will measure somewhere in between (hopefully). You can install all kinds of breakers on that voltage depending on many variables including wire gauge, length of run etc. There are many, many VARIABLES that go with that; connections, condition of the equipment operating on it etc. Age and exposure to weather can make a big difference in outdoor type connections. So, a 110/120vac circuit with a 20A breaker in home A has zero bearing on the operation of the same thing in home B with completely different circumstances. In theory yes; but reality can be very different. My brand new 13.5k RV A/C may run like a top on my 15A dedicated circuit for it. Your 15 year old 13.5k A/C may not be as efficient at start up OR when operating so may be a different cup of tea. Generalizations work for the theoretical part; the piece/parts will determine how it will or will not work.

Our community is blessed with some of the poorest power distribution I've ever seen. We can have outages or brownouts....because. During some of those periods, when there were absolutely no indications of a power anomaly, I could watch voltage wander all over the place. When you have that situation it affects your usage of "amperage"; as the voltage drops your appliance, whatever it is, then draws more "amps".

All that to just say the at this house I had a dedicated 20A line ran to run my RV. Ran AC from time to time; never the water heater or microwave; lights and that's about it and never had a problem. As I've mentioned in another thread, when I brought this trailer in (last one and this were 50A) I did the same thing for a short period of time before departure on a long trip. When I returned and went to hook it back up again I found the outlet partially melted from heat (DW had pulled the plug when we left). The end of the extension cord had some black on it. I did not throw a breaker and I did not know I had a problem. I also don't know what damage I may or may not have caused to the compressor due to any power fluctuation. I do know it got too hot. There is now a dedicated 50A line/receptacle and outdoor cover for the RV.

Sorry for the long post but the takeaway to me is that yes, you can run that A/C, lights, converter etc. if you want BUT you really need to watch the amperage draw, connections and components. Because it is "running" does not mean that it is "running well" or not damaging your A/C.

[wiredgeorge]

Why folks shy away from running an A/C on a 20A circuit? The 13.5K BTU will draw 2800 to 3000W on start up. If you have 117VAC, this means 26A draw initially. When you combine this with the loss in an extension cord you are stressing the A/C compressor. The running A/C will be pulling 1500W to 2000W so you may be OK. You might want to look into one of those smart start gizmos. You might also want to avoid using much of anything else while running the A/C.

[jxnbbl]

Just wanted to post this link. As there have been many comments on extension cords. In my case, although I don't run the AC other than to test it out I have a long run so bought a real heavy extension cord. Similar to this, highly recommended:


https://www.lowes.com/pd/Utilitech-P...ght/1003086410


(it additionally is an example of a 20A vs 15A plug)


Someone mentioned something about the converter. When testing out/monitoring power usage I was initially surprised that something like 4-5A was registered when I first plugged in my trailer then this subsided to 1A after a while. Its these hidden draws that don't get accounted for most times. To have some headroom for that and using the AC on the generator I did install this for peace of mind. It did work quite well:


https://www.softstartrv.com/



The other item that I mentioned was the softstart install for the AC due to the generat

[flybouy]

I’ll keep my response in context to the OP. As so many folks that are new to this the OP obviously doesn’t know the difference between volts and amps and doesn’t know what’s available at his friends house. I seriously doubt that he’s going to purchase a $100 + extension cord for this trip.

So here’s the “safe”, easy, basic answer. DO NOR RUN THE AIR CONDITIONER!. You can run the fridge on electric or gas. You can run the water heater on electric or gas. Watching the television is ok, With that being said, do not use the microwave UNLESS you run the fridge and water heater on gas only.

[skids]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Why folks shy away from running an A/C on a 20A circuit? The 13.5K BTU will draw 2800 to 3000W on start up. If you have 117VAC, this means 26A draw initially. When you combine this with the loss in an extension cord you are stressing the A/C compressor. The running A/C will be pulling 1500W to 2000W so you may be OK. You might want to look into one of those smart start gizmos. You might also want to avoid using much of anything else while running the A/C.

Don’t forget the 450 Watts (4 amps) or so to run the converter just to charge the batteries!

[Deeds]

Thanks for your help to everyone who replied, I have no idea how many amps his outlet has, but if I can operate the lights, tv and fridge on 15 to 20 amps ill be happy... he didn't know the amperage of his outlets so ill find out when I get there... propane unfortunately isn't an option I ruptured a rubber line off the tanks where it leads to the main line and they're too backordered in mn to get ahold of... thanks for everyone's help FYI im not using any extension cords other than the built in power cable and the household style adapter

[JRTJH]

Lights, TV and refrigerator should be no problem with either a 15amp or a 20 amp supply as long as the run is not more than about 50' and you're using 12 gauge or 10 gauge extension cords... I wouldn't try it on 14 ga over 25-35' and wouldn't even consider a 16 ga extension cord, even for 25' runs with an RV.

[sourdough]

You are good with the items you listed. Taking the A/C out of the equation makes a lot of difference.

What LP hose are you talking about? The supply hoses from the tank to the regulator show to be in stock most everywhere. Didn't look at the one from the reg but an LP supplier could probably make that for you. I sure wouldn't do without LP for that - I'm sure there is a way to get what you need.

[flybouy]

That hose should be available at most any RV dealer, on line, or as previously mentioned can be made by just about any LP supplier that sells bulk gas (ie not an tank exchange). Use gas rated redline tape (yellow) or pipe sealant on the pipe threads.