How much power do you really need

[digitek718]

Still waiting for my 6x12 haulmark to be built, and in the meantime reading everything I could find about rv electric. Not sure If I want to go all out with my power or simple and cheap. I know that most people in teardrops opt for regular old 15 amp service..What do the majority of cargoists go for ,15 amps or 30amps?? I know it will be fun to rig up a powerhouse of a camper but also expensive..I wonder if I will ever need all that power or if 15 amp service will suffice.. Not too sure what my power consumption will be..I guess a few trips would help me figure that out a little better. I think I need a little insight so I could figure this out. Should I stay simple or should I get all the bells and whistles??

Simple

15 amp service
Battery tender 6 amp charger
Gravity fed water system
02 cool walmart fan
surge protector outlet strips
Battery operated boom box

Powerhouse

30 amp service
converter with smart charge
water pump
fantastic fan
wall outlets
car stereo with speakers








I was thinking if I go the simple route I could just run 2 regular extension chords from the campground to the cargo-one of them plugged into the 15 amp service and one plugged into the 30 amp service (with adapter of course). This would give me more capacity.

Again, not sure what I will need to power...some must have items are.
5000 btu air in the summer
small heater in the winter
laptop/phone charging
Some kind of battery charger

Not sure how I feel about the small dorm fridge..I know for certain that I will not need a microwave, coffeemaker or television..

I know that the smart thing to do is just run a regular extension chord through a $5 dollar cable hatch and connect that to a surge protector and see if that works before I put in 30 amp..On the other hand that would delay progress on the cargo as the electric should probably get done before I insulate, cover the walls and ceiling, and start furnishing.

Please help! 30 amp or 15 amp for a small 6x12 cargo conversion????

[8ball_99]

Really depends on what you plan on having in it. My 6x14 was pretty loaded and it only had 15 amp inlet.. Really 20 amp because the wire and breaker were all rated for 20 amps.. My roof AC only pulled around 9 amps. If most everything in the trailer is 12v the only two things you have to really look at is the AC and the Converter since those are the two AC loads. Keep in mind anything you might plug into any outlets you put in the trailer.
I put 30 amp cord on my new trailer because its larger has more electrical. Any RV spot is going to have 30 amp service. So the only real down side with setting it up for 30 amp service is the extra cost and bulk of the main cord. That and you will need an adapter to plug it in a standard outlet. Really its not much difference cost wise.

[Shadow Catcher]

What you think you need now may not be what you will use in the future. You are already paying for electricity, we use an electric fry pan rather than paying for the propane, we use electric heating eliment in the water heater rather than the propane, we have a ceramic heater rather than use the diesel heater, and then there is the AC, radio TV satellite receiver...

If you decide not to now, plan on it for the future.

[digitek718]

I didnt think of it in that sense..good point..I am paying the same fee when I go to the campground whether I have 15 or 30 amp service so might as well get my moneys worth..It seems that Adventurerv.net seems to have everything I need, and there prices are pretty competitive as well..
progressive dynamics 4045 converter/powerstation/charger $179.99
25 ft 30 amp chord $26.99
Marinco 30 amp inlet $42.99
Cable hatch $5.29
Fantastic fan 4000 $125.79
shurflo water pump $58.99

will be placing an order soon

[Wolfscout]

I went with the WFCO 25 AMP CONVERTER with automatic three-stage charging. I think it'll be plenty with room to spare if I add much..
I've not noticed my 110 voltage meter dipping into the red zone yet.

[Glenlivet]

Straight 12 volts, and I have a TV/Media player and stereo with great sound.
What need for all that AC power?

[Shadow Catcher]

digitek718
We have the Progressive Dynamics 4045 and I am using all the 12V circuits. I had a problem with ours (would not come down off of boost mode) and called them on a Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning had the replacement power head delivered by Fed Ex.
PD is US made, WFCO is not.

[pete42]

with your list of items I would go with the 30 amp setup.
I don't see the need for a "Marinco 30 amp inlet $42.99" and an inlet hatch.
look at travel trailers most only have the hatch and the cord is pushed inside the trailer where it lays upon itself in a box or bottom of a closet space.

"some must have items are.
5000 btu air in the summer
small heater in the winter
laptop/phone charging
Some kind of battery charger"

15 amps will run an ac unit but there wont be much left over for other items microwave fans toaster ect....
go big

[d30gaijin]

Digitek,

I went with 20 amp wire and breakers as that would do everything I originally planned for. Recently, however, I bought a roof mounted A/C unit that will need 30 amp service when installed. Obviously I didn't make my initial plans for such a unit but now that I have it, well... I plan to run that on a separate circuit with 30 amp wiring and outlet. Every RV spot I've been to so far has multiple outlets, typically one for 30 amp service and two others for 20/15 amp service. It means I will have to carry an additional extension cord for the 30 amp service... not a big deal to me.

I also installed a simple cable penetration at the rear of the CT (see my CT build thread) to have another option of running ac power into the CT via a simple 20 or 15 amp extension cord.

I use a very simple hand pump faucet at the sink (something I plan on switching to a foot pump for convenience/ease of use), the sink pulls from a 5 gallon fresh water container and drains into a 5 gallon bucket. I have 12v dc lighting running off the battery and a battery tender to keep the battery charged. If I don't have access to 110v ac (such as when boondocking) then I fire up the Honda EU2000i generator to run the 110 ac stuff and a 10 amp battery charger to charge the battery.

It seems the further I get into our CT conversion the more complicated it becomes. Still, I am constantly re-evaluating our needs to try and keep our conversion as simple as possible... but it doesn't always work out that way.

Going camping in our CT is the best means of evaluating what works and doesn't work for us. We learn a lot from each camping trip and apply it to our build. If you follow our build thread you will see that we have done some 180's from what we thought we wanted to what turned out to actually work best for us, and the changes have been significant. Eventually we'll get it right. Never-the-less, it has been fun going down the various roads as we learn.

Don

[8ball_99]

If you look on ebay you can get those cable hatches with locks pretty cheap.. Think I paid 10 bucks for mine. I have a small box framed out on the inside that cord coils up in. For the cord I just took a 30 amp RV extension cord and cut off the female end and hard wired it to my converter box. So cord and hatch might cost you 50-60 bucks total..

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

8ball

your CT needs a min 100 amp service

http://overthetopcargotrailer.blogspot.com/