Running power to rv at the house

[Dillon Ventures]

My dad used to say the longest way is the shortest way in the long run. I'd do the 50 and be done. Less than re-doing it later.

Very True!
Thanks for the reply

[Dillon Ventures]

Just make sure if you go with 30a the electrician knows it's not 240v, Residential electricians normally wire this size plug as 240 which would toast everything in your RV.

I have decided to go with the 50A 240V
Thanks to everyones imputes.
Much Appreciated

[Malco1]

This would accommodate my current 30A - 2021 GD Imagine 2400BH.
I am guessing when I buy a new 5th wheel that will require 50A down the road , I will have to change out the breaker and the plug, the wire will already be run/installed to accommodate the 50A rv.

I have (2) electric panels installed in my house 200A & 100A Service

Run a 50A line now and just use a 50A to 30A dogbone. I have A 50a RV post about 50' from my house, that was put in by the previous owner, but I moved the driveway so it was easier for me to back into. So now I have 75' of 50A line. It runs my 2 ACs fine and any other appliances I have on in the RV. What you need is an electrician that knows RV type wiring.

[Steve & Kathy Rasmussen]

Wire the circuit with 60 amp sized wire (#6 AWG), but used as a 50 amp 4 wire circuit (use the 50A/30A dogbone for your existing trailer if placing a 50 amp receptacle). The combo RV 50A/30A and 20 Amp GFCI panel mentioned above is a great idea, and avoids a call back to the electrician. The voltage drop on the 120+ foot circuit will likely affect your AC if you intend to run it while parked, thus upsize the wire. If the circuit will be used only for battery charge and refrigerator cool-down, stick with a less expensive 30A 120 volt circuit.

[Jerryr]

I put one of these in at my vacant lot were we were camping. https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-RV-Pa...32SS/203393689

It was a short run from breaker box so wiring materials was not expensive . It could accommodate either 50 or 30 amp RVs plus it gave me an additional 15 amp 120v outlet to plug in other devices like cordless battery chargers etc.

I still would seriously consider the 50/30/20 box above. It allows you to run your 30a now without any dog bones. It also give you a 120v/20 amp GFCI if you want to only connect a Battery Tender to maintain your battery. And later if you get a 50a trailer or a friend comes to visit you’re all set. Another plus is you will have a NEMA 14-50R to charge an Electric car in the future.

I’m a big proponent of having ability to have a breaker at the box, rather than 120 feet away.

It also gives you ability to plug into power then turn on breaker to make the receptacle live. That way you’re not disconnecting and connecting the trailer plug into a live receptacle. Makes it a little safer.

[kminer49er]

The decision to install a 50/30 combo connector box will be best long-term. If you are burying the wire, the cost or trenching is the same no mater what size wire. The difference in the cost of a 50/30 connection combo box and 30 amp only box is minimal. The biggest difference in cost is the wire. To run 100’ for 30 amps will take #8 or #6 copper wire (check local codes). 50 amps most likely will require #4 copper.

[tent2tt]

Using a dogbone adapter would draw from only one side of the 240 volt source which might now be rated for 30 amps.

[JFF&KRN]

I wouldn’t bother with the 30A outlet. Get the 50 and use a dogbone for 30. You are going to want to carry one anyway.

Just be sure the electrician understands it’s a 4-wire circuit with a NEMA 14-50R receptacle.

i agree, don't waste the time and money on 30 amp, just do 50 amp and be done with it. you can use the dog bone as needed as we carry them with us anyway.

[Malco1]

To address your question about amperage loss, it is actually the voltage loss that will occur over a long run that is critical. The electrician should be able to tell you what your voltage drop will be based on the length of your run and the current you want available at your camper. He should install a cable large enough to keep voltage drop below 3%.

I personally don’t see a need for a 50 amp service unless someone would be living in the camper. The cost difference of installing a 15 amp vs a 30 amp should not be that great, just the difference in the cost of the cable and the outlet box. The labor cost will be your largest cost and should be the same for either choice. Based on the minimal cost difference, I would go with the 30 amp install which would allow you to run the AC and the fridge without any issues.

Neither would the cost of installing a 50A line and if you upgrade to a larger trailer in the future the 50A will be there. When I first moved into my house I had a class a diesel pusher 50A. Then I sold it and bought an GD Imagine 30A with a dog bone. I had that one for 2yrs. Now I have a GD Reflection 303 50A. I am glad that 50A box is there, you can use it for anything.

[Overtaxed]

Using a dogbone adapter would draw from only one side of the 240 volt source which might now be rated for 30 amps.

No. If you have a 50A circuit with the correctly sized wire for all 4 of them, hot/hot/neutral/ground then you're fine. The neutral and hot wires are all the same size, generally 4 or 6 gauge (depending on the wire type and length). So you can pull 50A from either leg and have the neutral take the return or pull 50A from both poles at once and the neutral is less/unloaded. The only way you'd wind up with a derate pulling from one side or the other (instead of both) is if your neutral line was undersized, if you ran 4 gauge for the hot but 10G for the neutral. Don't do that! I don't even think that's up to code, I believe in 4 wire 220 line your required to have L1/L2/neutral at the same gauge and the ground you can, IIRC, size down by 2 gauges (so if you're running 6GA for the hots/neutral, you can run 10G for the ground; DO NOT quote me, but I believe that is the rule in my area).

i agree, don't waste the time and money on 30 amp, just do 50 amp and be done with it. you can use the dog bone as needed as we carry them with us anyway.

Exactly. You'll save a few bucks with the 30A, but then wind up spending 2-3X as much when you dig it all back up to install the 50A you should have had in the first place. Put in a 50, get a dogbone for like 20 bucks from Amazon (which you'll need anyway for traveling in case you run into a 50A only site) and be done with it. 50A delivers almost 4X the power as a 30A circuit, and it's easy to split it out at the end into other circuit sizes and get a 110 20A, for example, if that's something that would be useful. With 30A, you can split it out, but if you put a 110V 20A outlet on there and plug in your skill saw/other high draw item, you'll almost certainly blow the breaker. With 50A you almost certainly will not, there's gobs of "extra" power available most of the time on 50A service, the most I've ever seen my RV draw was about 50A combined across the poles, with basically everything running. That still leaves you 50A at 110 left! You could run 3-4 circular saws at once from that! For a small increase in cost, you get a line that's far more useful and flexible. Honestly, if I had to do a really long run, I'd probably do it in SER/USE aluminium wire (depending on if underground or not) and drop a full subpanel. Wouldn't cost that much more and now you'd have all the flexibility in the world if you wanted to put more outlets/different outlets there.