Sparkyprep calling Sparkyprep Hawg needs your vast electrical knowledge

[hawgrider]

Hey Sparky

That tempory power pole I built for deer camp has three 30amp RV hook ups.

We would like to be able to tell how many KW hours each camper uses to make splitting up the electric bill more fair between the 3 of us plugging in.

Is there a KW hour meter that would clamp on the RV power cord that would tell us how many KW hours we used while plugged in when camping running AC or electric heaters and general usage while plugged in camping?

Found this on Amazon not sure if it will do what Im asking.

AC Current Voltage Amperage Power Energy Panel Meter LCD Digital Display Ammeter Voltmeter Multimeter with Split Core Current Transformer CT AC 80-260V 100A Multi-Function Power Monitor https://a.co/d/fD7mRAO

[Slippy]

Hey Sparky

That tempory power pole I built for deer camp has three 30amp RV hook ups.

We would like to be able to tell how many KW hours each camper uses to make splitting up the electric bill more fair between the 3 of us plugging in.

Is there a KW hour meter that would clamp on the RV power cord that would tell us how many KW hours we used while plugged in when camping running AC or electric heaters and general usage while plugged in camping?

Found this on Amazon not sure if it will do what Im asking.

AC Current Voltage Amperage Power Energy Panel Meter LCD Digital Display Ammeter Voltmeter Multimeter with Split Core Current Transformer CT AC 80-260V 100A Multi-Function Power Monitor https://a.co/d/fD7mRAO

Good question Hawg, I'll see if I can get Son2's input.

My suggestion, split it equally 3 ways. The guy who uses it the most buys the other 2 a nice bottle of bourbon or a ribeye steak every so often.

[hawgrider]

We can rack up a couple of hefty bills for the end of October and November to December running ceramic heaters to help offset the cost and hassle of getting a 30lb propane tank every 3 days during cold weather hunting. (Just under $19.00 to fill a 30 lb propane tank) one of tbe biggest bills we had for November/December was nearing $400.00

1 of the bunch has a 30 ft camper I have a 26ft and the other guy has a 24ft. There is also an occasional 26ft camper which make 4 of us. So the cost to heat these campers is not the same.

[Inor]

Send the whole bill to each one of them and make a profit! What the hell is wrong with you?!? Ya some kind of pinko-commie?!?

[hawgrider]

Send the whole bill to each one of them and make a profit! What the hell is wrong with you?!? Ya some kind of pinko-commie?!?

I LIKE the way you think!:biglaugh:

[hawgrider]

It kinda looks like to me that meter device Iink I posted from shamazon I would have to wire that into the 30 amp hook up and clamp on to the hot wire only. It appears to work like an amp meter vs it clamps around the RV Cord. I don't think it will work unless you separate the hot and the neutral and only clamp over the hot wire. So clamping that over the RV cord is a no go.

[Dwight55]

Definitely have to clamp on only one lead at a time . . . the power lead.

Plus I read it carefully . . . did not find where it stored the "load" that has been used in the past.

Yes . . . it says what is going out right now . . . buy you need to accumulate the KWH for each . . . see if it is a 33/33/33 split or a 50/30/20 . . . and you can only get that if the meter stores the amount used in the last ??? time frame.

PLUS . . . someone messing with it . . . not knowing what he is doing . . . looking to see what is there today . . . might push the wrong button and delete any information that may have been stored.

I'd just get an electric heater for each room in my trailer . . . then make em split it 3 ways . . . lol . . . save messing with that propane

OR . . . if you feel ambitious . . . pull the 30 amp fuses . . . put in 10's . . . when one of them blows them . . . put in 15's . . . move on up to 20's . . . then 30's . . . . you will then know who's using more than the rest of you. Will not give you a "for sure" usage . . . but if your place runs on 10's . . . but the other two need 30's . . . you've got a pretty good idea . . .

May God bless,
Dwight

[hawgrider]

Definitely have to clamp on only one lead at a time . . . the power lead.

Plus I read it carefully . . . did not find where it stored the "load" that has been used in the past.

Yes . . . it says what is going out right now . . . buy you need to accumulate the KWH for each . . . see if it is a 33/33/33 split or a 50/30/20 . . . and you can only get that if the meter stores the amount used in the last ??? time frame.

PLUS . . . someone messing with it . . . not knowing what he is doing . . . looking to see what is there today . . . might push the wrong button and delete any information that may have been stored.

I'd just get an electric heater for each room in my trailer . . . then make em split it 3 ways . . . lol . . . save messing with that propane

OR . . . if you feel ambitious . . . pull the 30 amp fuses . . . put in 10's . . . when one of them blows them . . . put in 15's . . . move on up to 20's . . . then 30's . . . . you will then know who's using more than the rest of you. Will not give you a "for sure" usage . . . but if your place runs on 10's . . . but the other two need 30's . . . you've got a pretty good idea . . .

May God bless,
Dwight

Right not sure if it stores accumulation of KWH

And we would have to use 3 of those meters 1 on each 30 amp hook up.

[stevekozak]

Dang! Lettric is expensive up in those parts!!

[hawgrider]

Dang! Lettric is expensive up in those parts!!

Yes its a direct result of demoncrats and the massive push for the green agenda sham!

[TJC44]

Inor had his project for regulating the appliances at MT Acres. Even if it's just for monitoring & logging usage, Could that be used / modified to work here? Inor?

[Inor]

Inor had his project for regulating the appliances at MT Acres. Even if it's just for monitoring & logging usage, Could that be used / modified to work here? Inor?

Not really. My project is adjusting the settings on the devices based on usage and the time of day/day of the week. It is not measuring the precise energy used for each device; it only does an estimation of energy used based on past usage and adjusts accordingly.

It probably would not be too difficult to create such a device. But honestly, it would probably be cheaper to buy an off-the-shelf version if you can find one cheap.

[MountainGirl]

With all the solar stuff these days, I'm surprised there's not an inline meter that would go (like plugNplay) between each 30A hookup and each RV's plug.

[MoreAmmoOK]

Something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Alinan-AC40-300V-Frequency-Electric-Voltmeter/dp/B0B1HM3H1J/ref=sr_1_31?crid=71XCZ37O5D7R&keywords=30A+AC+Power+Meter&qid=1701877811&sprefix=30a+ac+power+meter%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-31

[hawgrider]

Something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Alinan-AC40-300V-Frequency-Electric-Voltmeter/dp/B0B1HM3H1J/ref=sr_1_31?crid=71XCZ37O5D7R&keywords=30A+AC+Power+Meter&qid=1701877811&sprefix=30a+ac+power+meter%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-31

Yes similar to the link I put up. Yours says it can be reset so it may be a better option.

[MoreAmmoOK]

And it shows kwh used.

[hawgrider]

And it shows kwh used.

And it looks like with a long press (5 seconds)of the reset button the KWH sould zero if I'm reading it correctly.

[MoreAmmoOK]

Only thing I see wrong with it is it's Chink made. I think finding one that's not would be a very long search.

[MountainGirl]

Something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Alinan-AC40-300V-Frequency-Electric-Voltmeter/dp/B0B1HM3H1J/ref=sr_1_31?crid=71XCZ37O5D7R&keywords=30A+AC+Power+Meter&qid=1701877811&sprefix=30a+ac+power+meter%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-31

Hmm... I had something else in my head. That ^^ might work IF it can be used in freezing temps, it's also battery powered which most probably are. Not sure how this would interface (connect up) with either the pole or the RV, but y'all likely do. :)

[MoreAmmoOK]

There are inline ones. Plug one end into the outlet and the other end into the RV cord, the ones I saw were kinda pricey. Looked like they were powered by the circuit.

[MountainGirl]

There are inline ones. Plug one end into the outlet and the other end into the RV cord, the ones I saw were kinda pricey. Looked like they were powered by the circuit.
Yep. That's what I had in my head; didn't know if they existed. :)
With those, each person could take theirs to deer camp with them each time so they dont get stolen.

[Slippy]

Hawg,

Why not just run propane heaters? Granted Michigan winters are in a different league than the southern winters that I mostly "camp".

Running an electric ceramic heater has got to be way more costly than a propane Mr. Heater/Buddy Heater. Using the Buddy heaters as a supplement to the LP Furnace in the camper should do the job. What am I missing?

I've got the older version of Buddy Heater that runs on 1lb LP tanks and it does a bang-up job of heating our campers. Of course you will need to supplement the portable heater with the camper's furnace.

https://www.mrheater.com/portable-buddy-heater.html

[Slippy]

Funny side story;

Son2 installed a 30amp RV outlet at his house for when we visit. It is 100% the best way to visit a young couple with a small house, +2 kids and 3 dogs!

Anyway, the first time we hooked up to the 30amp I purposely ran the AC in the camper, turned on all the lights, opened the refrigerator door as well as opened the camper door.

Son2 immediately noticed it and asked me what the hell I was doing?

"Just doing to you what you did to me for years!" I replied! :ditto:

I should throw a couple of baseballs thru his windows, tear up his lawn mower, knock out his side mirrors on his truck with a hockey puck, put holes in his drywall, leave his tools outside, break a few dishes, pull down his Christmas tree...I could go on and on...:nolove:

[MountainGirl]

Funny side story;

Son2 installed a 30amp RV outlet at his house for when we visit. It is 100% the best way to visit a young couple with a small house, +2 kids and 3 dogs!

Anyway, the first time we hooked up to the 30amp I purposely ran the AC in the camper, turned on all the lights, opened the refrigerator door as well as opened the camper door.

Son2 immediately noticed it and asked me what the hell I was doing?

"Just doing to you what you did to me for years!" I replied! :ditto:

I should throw a couple of baseballs thru his windows, tear up his lawn mower, knock out his side mirrors on his truck with a hockey puck, put holes in his drywall, leave his tools outside, break a few dishes, pull down his Christmas tree...I could go on and on...:nolove:

Sweet!! And I bet you wouldn't trade those memories for all the tequila in mehico. :)

[hawgrider]

Hawg,

Why not just run propane heaters? Granted Michigan winters are in a different league than the southern winters that I mostly "camp".

Running an electric ceramic heater has got to be way more costly than a propane Mr. Heater/Buddy Heater. Using the Buddy heaters as a supplement to the LP Furnace in the camper should do the job. What am I missing?

I've got the older version of Buddy Heater that runs on 1lb LP tanks and it does a bang-up job of heating our campers. Of course you will need to supplement the portable heater with the camper's furnace.

https://www.mrheater.com/portable-buddy-heater.html

We run buddy heaters in the deer blinds. Buddy heater put off too much mositure for the campers to use for long periods.
1lbs tank only run barely 4 hrs on my hunting buddy heater. We run those off 20lb tanks.

[Slippy]

We run buddy heaters in the deer blinds. Buddy heater put off too much mositure for the campers to use for long periods.
1lbs tank only run barely 4 hrs on my hunting buddy heater. We run those off 20lb tanks.

Makes sense. We are never in that cold of weather for that long to run the Buddy heater for too long. Usually to take the chill out and for a few minutes every couple of hours.

[hawgrider]

Makes sense. We are never in that cold of weather for that long to run the Buddy heater for too long. Usually to take the chill out and for a few minutes every couple of hours.

Yeah with our cold ass weather it rains on the inside of the camper windows. Prolly works pretty good for you southerners

[TJC44]

Yeah with our cold ass weather it rains on the inside of the camper windows. Prolly works pretty good for you southerners

That's cuz you warm it up too much & sweat & raise the humidity inside!:bounce:
Usually, winter has the air so dry you get nosebleeds.

This week was cold as space here. Single digits at night, had to get up at 3AM to feed the stove, then again at 6.

[hawgrider]

That's cuz you warm it up too much & sweat & raise the humidity inside!:bounce:
Usually, winter has the air so dry you get nosebleeds.

This week was cold as space here. Single digits at night, had to get up at 3AM to feed the stove, then again at 6.

Single pane windows in the camper sweat like crazy.

[Slippy]

Single pane windows in the camper sweat like crazy.

Ceiling vent/fan can help...but if its too cold probably not a good idea!