Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.Goodbar
AFIK, all-electric homes have 200 amp service.
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I used an all-electric house more as an example and not as a direct comparison, and I’m not sure what point your post is making or questioning, but I’d like to expand on it a bit for clarity. I hope I’m not taking it too much out of context.
My de facto second home in Florida is all electric, and has 150 Amp panel. I’m fairly certain that if I turned everything on simultaneously I’d blow the main breaker. As far as I know it’s never happened and I doubt it ever will. The odds of loading the range and oven 100%, along with heat, water heater, dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, clothes washer, and dryer, plus miscellaneous items we use daily like hair dryer and vacuum cleaner, etc. all at same time is highly improbable.
I understand that 50 Amp service is a lot less than 200A (in my case 150A), but the 26-ft Class A motorhome in question is just under 200 square feet, will have no oven, no dishwasher, and no clothes washer or dryer. Granted, it will use a lot more air conditioning and heat than a house per square foot, but it’s still a tiny space compared to a house. From my point of view, there are a lot of 26-foot motorhomes getting by with 30 Amp service, which is <1/3 as much power as the 50 Amp.
For what it’s worth, MODERN all-electric van campers seem to be the first motorhomes to be expanding into this no-propane segment (except maybe the few luxury DP buses), and most are around 100 square feet or less. No doubt it comes at a very high cost when they rely on lithium batteries, but a few buyers must think it’s worth the premium otherwise manufacturers wouldn’t be building them. Vans with Diesel engines makes heating space and hot water much easier, so propane is frequently eliminated.
The middle ground Sportsmobile recommends is what interests me the most — no propane “and” fairly low cost, which makes do without a $20,000 lithium-battery system. My request for opinions was to see if Sportmobile’s Class B design reasoning could also be applied to a small Class A that’s almost twice as large.
I appreciate all comments, and thank everyone for your feedback. You’ve given me much to think about in order to help my friend design his motorhome.
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