Totter electric ?

[Double K]

Wiring the box , can they be wired like a home ?

 

[asitool]

Yes, you can wire it like a house. The exception will be any 12v dc wiring you do. Some rv/marine inverters handle the ground differently and you would want to follow the manufacturer's instructions for your inverter for grounding. You will also probably want to install an transfer switch upstream of the main panel so you can switch between your inverter and shore/generator power.

Your system design will depend on where your power will come from:
--generator (ac)
--shore power (ac)
--coach alternator (dc)
--solar (dc)

you can use converters/inverters to get dc from ac and vice versa

Design will depend on whether you will spend most of the time on the road, camped with shore power, or relying on generator/solar.

After calculating your daily electrical needs you can size your storage, (batteries) and generator.

If you plan to wire for 30 amp rv service you will have a main that is 120v only. If you plan to use 50 amp service it will be a 240v main and you will have two 120v legs. If you end up in a campground with only 30 amp service you'll need an adapter and no 240v devices will work because your adapter will feed the same 120v leg to both sides of your panel.

 

[Double K]

Ok, I think I may only have a couple 12 v lights in it. The rest would be ac power (Gen/ shore ) I would say that the generator would need to handle it most of the time . We live in south east Texas , so it's hot . Would need the a/c blowing while traveling , I will be investing in a gen that can handle that .

 

[bushpilot-TC]

what refrigerator, heater & water heater will you use ? they are all 12v/Propane - unless you plan to use residential units.
what size generator are you planning ?

Is it possible (since you're still in the planning stages) to run cabling for solar panels & a charge controller ?

My recommendation (and I'm seeing this on boats now) - would be to use YELLOW as the 12vdc GROUND color (instead of the traditional black)....that way no one confuses it w/ the 120vac HOT wire.

 

[Double K]

You know , I'm just not sure yet , I would like to use a small house fridge , I've had motor homes in the past and was not happy with the cooling of the RV stuff , I have not bought the generator yet , but probably 10 kW diesel

 

[bushpilot-TC]

I'm very happy with our propane fridge - for me it means i can run on 12vdc/propane and sponge a 20a 120vac line and be happy as a pig in &$%#....when I'm staying curb side in front of my mother-in-laws.

12v lighting, the fridge, hot water heater & my basement beer cooler all on 12vdc and i can run the tv & and (1) air conditioner beats the hell outta having to run the QD10k at 1/2 a gallon per hour.

 

[Double K]

For how long ? And how many batteries ? And the alternator can handle that rolling down the road ?

 

[bushpilot-TC]

I've got 3 house batteries and 3 engine batteries...the alternator has no problem keeping the house batteries charge even at idle (i know because i monitor the charge level of the house batteries).

i only need to run the generator (going down the road) for the tv, microwave or my air conditioners....its not unusual for us to run the air conditioners while going down the road (we live in texas & the kids & old english sheep dog need the cool air).

when on my mother-in-laws curb, i run a cord to an outlet (hidden behind the bushes) that single 120vac/shore power line is enough for me to run 1 air conditioner (if we need it) but it also runs the converter/charger which keeps the (house) batteries charged.

you are planning to install a converter/charger aren't you ? the converter/charger takes 120vac current & converts it to 12vdc for both utility consumption & to keep the house batteries charged

heres a picture of some simple 2 function LCD panel meters (blue) i installed - to show my incoming 120vac voltage & the Amperage drawl - our coach is 50A (2 legs of 120vac each) so i have one meter to monitor each 120vac leg.

to the far right i have a VERY simple plug in DC voltmeter that displays the output voltage of converter/charger as well as the voltage level of my batteries (when not on shore power).