if I run my generator do I have to switch to
gen power or can I draw power from both shore and gen to feed my a/c units and hopefully use less gas?
I kind of got sick when someone on the previous thread talked about "under a gallon an hour"
a gal/hr around here would cost me about $45 a day in mid summer.
Oh help and bother.
rusti in a 31' 1985er

To answer a question with a question, why would you run the genny at all if you're hooked up to shore power? If you're not getting enough power for the AC from the shore power, I'd check into some alterations in that regard.

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Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

That was estimate- Just to round it out I would say a gallon an hour is what I used with both ac's, the ice maker, some lights at times and the microwave at times and leaving the frig on lp gas.
I have a 7.5 Kohler and don't know if that is average or not.
On our recent trip we ran the gen. for 20 hours. I topped the tank with just over 20 gallons of reg. and have a 40 gal tank.

A bit of ino for all if traveling in south Ga. Found fuel reg. gas $1.99 and diesel fuel $2.03 at el cheapo Shell station.

Jim

"...can I draw power from both shore and gen to feed my a/c units and hopefully use less gas?"
Several reasons you cannot. First is your switch gear prevents it. Second is you will not only be drawing power but potentially sending power. To do this you have to be permitted by the power company, be able to synchronize with the 60 cycle of the line and a bunch of other "No" style hoops.

I've got the same problem. My Barth came from the factory with one a/c unit and a 30 amp service. Somewhere along the way, someone added a second a/c in the bedroom, and since the 30 amps couldn't handle it along with the first one, they had the new one wired so it would run off the generator. I haven't tried running the generator with the new a/c on and the switch set a shore power. I think bad things would happen. So I'm converting the whole rig to 50 amps. In the meantime, I can run the rear a/c off the generator but that leaves the front off since I'm running on generator power and running both of them on a 5.5kw onan is a little bit of a stretch

Have you tried running both on the 5.5K genny? Camping World says the current 5.5K Onan - called the "Marquis Gold," "Starts two 13,500 Btu air conditioners, or one 15,000 Btu air conditioner."

My old 6.5 K Onan will run both of my a/c's, plus one 1500 Watt heater. If I start another 1500 Watt heater, it pops one of the two breakers on the genny. Found that out while trying to see how much load the genny would carry. Now I know.

I don't know the rating of my rooftop a/c's, but 13,500 Btu seems most common among the older ones.

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:
.

I don't know the rating of my rooftop a/c's, but 13,500 Btu seems most common among the older ones.

It is common for the bedroom AC to be a little smaller.

Dan _I'm living in ths rig while getting a house built. I have a 400ft #6 line from a 15 amp circuit at a friends house. If you can suggest a cheap fix I'd love to hear it.

Rusti, sounds like you're on the right track as far as the #6 [huge] wire for that distance. As far as the service goes I'm not expert enough to tell you exactly what you can do but perhaps billh or one of our other resident electrical geniouses can offer a glimmer of hope that will keep the coach cool and the genny off. How about it guys?

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Dan & Suzy Z
'81 Euro 28

A 15 amp circuit will really not support even one a/c. I believe you would be in danger of burning the a/c up. a 30 amp circuit would do for one a/c, plus run some of the other appliance you need living in the coach full time. What size is your generator? If it's big enough, you would be better off running both a/c's off of the generator. But to run both a/c's, the frig, the lights, and all the other appliances needed full for full time living, you would need 50 amps of shore power. What is your coach wired for? If it is wired for 50 amps, the simple solution is to install a 50 amp box at your friends house. I did this at my daughters place and we plug in and run every thing we've got with no problems.

I've got another idea. If you have a temporary power pole at your construction site, have your electrical contractor install a 50 amp 110 volt box for your rv. It won't require a 400' line and you'll only pay a little more for your electricity while you're building the house. All this assumes you have a 50 amp service in your Barth.

I haven't got ANY power at the construction site yet. I'm trying to find an engineer to sprinkle some holy water on the plans so I can get them thru permiting. Normally this would be a fairly simple job but remember this is IVAN center and everyone is booked ahead for months and won't take the time to slide in a small deal like mine. SO I'll just keep looking and hope it doesn't get too hot beofre I can move over there.
thanks for all the great suggestions

rusti the Tigger