Amperage of Caravan Equipment

[Michael_374349176]

We are taking our new Sterling Europa 525 on a tour of France in two weeks. I see that some of the sites that we have booked only have 6 amps of electricity.

Therefore I need to know the amperage of the on-board electrical items, especially the water pump. I cannot find any details in the information given by Swift, and when I 'phoned the man who answered didn't seem to be very helpful. Although it may be my lack of understanding.

I am confused because the figures given for the ventilator for example ( posn. 1 = 10 watts - 0.8 amps Posn. 2 = 25 watts - 2.2 amps and posn. 3 = 60 watts - 5 amps) seem very high when I understand that a 2000 watt electric fire is only about 9 amps.

What about the Microwave, space heater, Wife's hair dryer, electric hob, battery charger, radio and the lights? We have so many items all drawing some electricity. What I need to know is which items do I turn off, so that others may be used?

Advice would be much appreciated.

Michael - Derbyshire

 

[Robtel]

Michael, if you go to the Caravan Club website, practical advice section there is a download (available to non members) "hooking up to the mains" which lists the amperage of some of the commonly used caravan equipment.

Robert

 

[RogerL]

The ventilator runs on 12v so it's amp requirement can't be compared with the heater which is on 230v.

Don't forget that a 700w Microwave actually consumes 1000-1400w because the 700 is output, not input.

 

[Billy3fish]

Hi Michael!

Divide the number of Watts by the Voltage and that equals the Amperage.

For example: 1000 watts divided by 230 Volts = 4.35 amps.

Bill

 

[Michael_374349176]

Hi Michael!

Divide the number of Watts by the Voltage and that equals the Amperage.

For example: 1000 watts divided by 230 Volts = 4.35 amps.

Bill

Thanks folks, looks like the wife's hair dryer will have to be left behind!!!!!!!!

Michael

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Michael,

As you are probably aware, your caravan uses both 12Vdc appliances and some 230Vac (Mains) appliances. It is correct to relate the power of an appliance in Watts, but the current (Amps) that each appliance uses is determined by the voltage it must be used on and a simple mathematical formula Watts = Volts x Amps.

You will need to check your ventilator, but the figures you quote suggest it is designed for 12V operation, not 230V.

Your water pump is also a 12V device.

The current limit on the French sites only refers to the 230V ac mains hook up, and thus it does not directly affect the 12V system.

As others have said, each kW of mains power uses about 4.5 A, so the 6A limit will still give about 1.4 kW of power. Just as a guide you fridge will consume about 0.6A., your water heater will use about 4A. And all your mains lights will be less than 1A. Your battery charger may consume 1.5A under heavy usage, but this is not very likely. Selectively turning appliances on and off to control the load is possible, but easy to forget with the result that the trip may operate.

Don t forget that some of your appliances are dual fuelled, so the fridge, the water heater,and of course the space heater can use gas to avoid loading the mains supply. You can use the cooker to boil a kettle.

It would be wise to have a leisure battery fitted to smooth out the load on the 12V system.

Incidentally, your water pump will be a 12V device, and so has little effect on the 230V supply.

 

[Michael_374349176]

Thanks John L

So it seems I can take the Wife's hairdryer after all.

I was concerned about the new electrical items which we didn't have fitted to our previous 'van. The microwave oven and the water pump in particular. Yes we can use the gas as an alternative but we will be travelling for about six weeks and although we will be starting off with two full bottles of "Calor Light" I don't want to risk running out.

Anyway many thanks to everyone who has helped

Michael - Derbyshire