I KEEP TRIPPING MY 240V SAFETY SWITCH
If you ’ re at a caravan park and plugged into its 240V outlet , it will be via a 15A plug . Unlike the power at your home , this will limit the number of appliances you can run at any one time . How many is that exactly ? Well , it ’ s not so much a question of the number of appliances , but rather their collective power consumption in watts . I ’ ll explain a bit further .
There is only so much power you can draw through a single outlet and , in the case of a 15A outlet , that maxes out at 3600W ( 240Vx15A ). Exceeding this limit is the main cause of safety switch cut-outs .
Air fryers are a great appliance for caravanning but they are high-wattage .
These 12V cigarette lighter outlets are a popular choice for caravans but they need to be checked regularly to make sure the plugs are secure and not overheating .
You may notice this happens more in winter and summer . That ’ s because you likely have the airconditioner running , which could be chewing through 1000 to 1400W . That leaves you with as little as 2200W before you cut the power . If your RV has a battery charger , it will be running most of the time , topping out at about 700W . You ’ ll likely have the hot water system on and that will turn on and off as needed , drawing another 1000W .
A coffee machine will use about 1250W . An electric kettle could be as high as 2400W . And your microwave ? There ’ s another 1000W . Are you starting to see the issue here ? You could have three appliances running at the same time but then a fourth kicks in and , all of a sudden , you ’ ve gone over the 3600W limit .
The solution is simple . Just turn off one of the appliances or limit the ones you have going together . We turn off our hot water system in the morning when we ’ re making breakfast .
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