Residential refrigerator and induction cooktop-

[PAylor]

Hi all,

 

We are considering a new fifth wheel. We love the one we have but it's time to get something new. We are looking at one that has a residential refrigerator and induction cooktop. Very fancy but don't know if it fits our lifestyle.

 

Mostly we don't know if it's possible to use it on 30 amps. When we are on 30 amp now we turn our refrigerator to lp and are very careful with power.

 

Anyone out there have experience with residential refrigerator and 30 amp?

 

Thanks in advance!

[remoandiris]

Residential fridge will use only a few amps, plus it "should" have batteries as backup thru the inverter. At least that is how mine operates. I think you're much more likely to pop the 30 amp breaker using the micro and electric water heater at the same time or micro and coffee maker simultaneously.

 

Is the coach you are looking at a 30 amp or 50 amp unit? If 30 amp, it is already designed for 30 amps, so there should be zero issues. If 50 amps, you'll be able to run only 1 air con at a time.

[Ranger Smith]

It will work just fine. Why don't you get the same model as the one you want with a second AC unit and it will be 50 A and you will be all set.

 

With 50 A you can run both AC units refer and anything else you want. We do that with ours and never tripped any breaker for anything.

[Orvil Hazelton]

We have a motor-home rather than a fifth-wheel, but for the sake of this discussion I don't believe it makes any difference. You shouldn't have any trouble at all running a residential refrigerator on 30 amp service. We dry-camp extensively, running everything in the coach off the inverter, with the exception of the ACs. We have a Magnum 2812 inverter with 3, 8D AGM batteries and are able to live comfortably for between 12 and 15 hours without running the generator. With a residential refrigerator you will need to have a pure sine inverter. This is better for most of your other electronics as well. You may very well run into difficulties trying to operate an induction cooktop on 30A service. You'll have to do the math yourself and figure it out (use OHM'S Law: Amps x volts = watts). I hope to have been of some assistance, oRV

[budeneighe]

There is a variety of induction cooktops out there ranging from 1 - 4 burners. There are both 110vac units and 220vac units but it is not likely that they would put a 220vac unit in an RV so I expect you are talking about a 1 or 2 burner unit.

 

Some of these units are designed to use a max of 1500-1800 watts which translates to about 20amps max. The good units manage this use and split the load between the units so that whether you are running just one or both burners at the same time, it will hold the use to that limit. Other units, usually 220vac units, are not managed and just cycle on and off like 2 separate devices. These could , like dual air conditioners, cycle on at max loading and might not be able to work on 30 amp. Knowing which kind it is would be helpful to know. Having said that, though, I find it hard to justify being stuck with only a 30 amp supply system to an RV for anything more than occasional camping. A 50 amp source will split the load across separate legs of the supply whereas the 30 amp all goes through just 1 pin of the pedestal socket. 50 amp RVs have a lot more flexibility when if it may come to future upgrades, too.

[jmarxen]

It will also depend on the brand of the induction stove. For example we have a two 'burner' True that can be run off of 30 amps (1 phase), however we've met a few others who have a Wolfe 2 burner Induction cooktop, and that requires 50 amps to use (2 phase).

 

- Jim & Nancy

Newmar Mountain Air

[SPII]

We spend the summer in a park with only 30 amp service and use the residential fridge and a True Induction cook top with no problems.

[Dance Chick]

Ditto the above regarding residential fridge and 30 amps. We're staying somewhere right now that only had a 30 amp site (even though we have a 50 amp coach). As stated, we're being careful to only run 1 a/c and watch the # of amps when needing the micro or coffeemaker as they'll run it up quickly. When the a/c isn't running, and we're only running a couple of fans, laptop, fridge, and TV, we're only using 4 to 6 amps total. You'll be fine.

[mrschwarz]

Consider adding an Intellitec Energy Management system. I senses when you are on 50 or 30 amps. When on 30 amps, it shuts things down in a programmable manner so that you never exceed 30 amps. For example, if you are using your cooktop, it might shut down your electric water heater to keep your usage at 30 amps or less.

[docj]

We spend the summer in a park with only 30 amp service and use the residential fridge and a True Induction cook top with no problems.

 

X2, we spent last summer on PEI on a 30A site without any problems. What was a big help for us was the ability to let the Hurricane heating system take care of hot water, but it really isn't all that difficult to keep track of how many amps you are using. My wife knows that she can use 2 "big ticket" items (A/C's, microwave, hair dryer, etc) at one time. It's not rocket science and I see no need to purchase an energy management system to turn off things I can turn off myself. Anyway, the worst that can happen is you trip the breaker and have to reset it.

[Aeronie]

I'm behind on the forums, but my MH has a 12 volt residential frig/freezer and a 2 burner induction cooktop and I only use a 30 amp connection. quite doable.

[Jim Gell]

We have residential fridge, heat water with electric, and cook on a portable single burner induction plate most of the time. Our inverter is a Magnum 3000w Hybrid. When we have been plugged into 30 amp service the inverter frequently boosted the shore power with power from our 9 KWH lithium battery. We actually saw that hybrid feature kick in when we were on not so good 50 amp in some campgrounds if we were using a lot of power at once.

 

I am not saying you need a hybrid inverter or large battery bank, but it is an option.

 

Jim