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Old 04-29-2018, 10:10 PM   #1
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Lightbulb staying at friends house, electric meter?

We are planning to park and stay at a friend of ours and will be installing a 30amp/120v junction box on their house and running about 100' ft of cable to our RV.

We don't want to be bad neighbors. Is there a way to attach a meter of some sort so we know how much electricity we are using? (not a separate meter you get from the power company). We want to make sure we pay our usage and not be a burden on their generosity.

If you have links to a specific product or something that will do that, please share.

Thanks for any input/wisdom you may have!

cheers!

James
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Old 04-29-2018, 11:28 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stormer View Post
We are planning to park and stay at a friend of ours and will be installing a 30amp/120v junction box on their house and running about 100' ft of cable to our RV.

We don't want to be bad neighbors. Is there a way to attach a meter of some sort so we know how much electricity we are using? (not a separate meter you get from the power company). We want to make sure we pay our usage and not be a burden on their generosity.

If you have links to a specific product or something that will do that, please share.

Thanks for any input/wisdom you may have!

cheers!

James
You might be better off figuring out what your average draw would be and calculating the cost from there. Assume a worst case of 30A and an average of ? Based on your usage depending on what you turn on.

Since you asked this is for a 30A system. You would have to install it maybe somewhere by the main breaker. They are about $100.

https://www.ekmmetering.com/120-volt...ekm-15ids.html

Best of luck!
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Old 04-30-2018, 12:55 AM   #3
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You remind me of my childhood. My Grandparents would stop by our house for a couple weeks on their way during their annual trek from the Florida Keys to Alaska (and back). Grandpa always plugged his motorhome into our house, and he always blew circuits until (as you are wisely planning on doing) Dad installed a circuit just for his visits. Grandad aways ran his AC and always had 2 freezers for all the fish he caught while in Alaska. To my knowledge, Dad never was compensated for power his father in law used. Dearly miss my Grandfather and all he taught me.

Anyway, didn't mean to hijack your thread. I'll be following this to see if there is a good way to measure power used. Hate to end up doing to someone else what my Granddad did to my dad all those years ago!
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Old 04-30-2018, 03:32 AM   #4
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Assuming you use a full 30 amps worth of draw (you won't).

30amps x 120 volts = 3600 watts

thats 3.6 KwH per hour.

My electricity is $0.12 per KwH

Thats $0.43 cents per hour.


Or somewhere around $10 a day at absolute max draw. Which there is no way you'll be using or you'd be blowing circuit breakers non-stop.

Buy your friends dinner one night and I think you'd be fine.
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Old 04-30-2018, 04:47 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by stormer View Post
We are planning to park and stay at a friend of ours and will be installing a 30amp/120v junction box on their house and running about 100' ft of cable to our RV.

We don't want to be bad neighbors. Is there a way to attach a meter of some sort so we know how much electricity we are using? (not a separate meter you get from the power company). We want to make sure we pay our usage and not be a burden on their generosity.

If you have links to a specific product or something that will do that, please share.

Thanks for any input/wisdom you may have!

cheers!

James
There is a Lot of Loop Holes here! Who is going to Pay for the Install? How long are you staying? How Good of Friends are you? In our case we Welcome "Friends" for Stays,and would never expect payment! We as well have stayed at Friends/Relatives,overnight/short term and always "Offer to Pay" and repay in some way or another! We have elect RV hookup and pull threw! Youroo!!
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Old 04-30-2018, 05:48 AM   #6
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doubtful there's any type of 'lectric meter for your situation, but many folks just include an extra $__.__ for their trouble. If you don't get an invite next time, you'll know it wasn't enough : )
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Old 04-30-2018, 06:36 AM   #7
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I'm with Youroo (wow that hurts to say) on this one. If it's a long term thing then I would just estimate usage or ask how much more their bill went up (either way I work that out in advance). If it is short term, then I would just take them out for a nice dinner. I know if I invited someone to stay, I would not expect payment.
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Old 04-30-2018, 06:45 AM   #8
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I'm with Youroo (wow that hurts to say) on this one. If it's a long term thing then I would just estimate usage or ask how much more their bill went up (either way I work that out in advance). If it is short term, then I would just take them out for a nice dinner. I know if I invited someone to stay, I would not expect payment.
Hi Jay and Maria! Wife and I would like to stay at your place for a month or two. OK if we hook up to your electric and water? You guys are too nice!!!
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Old 04-30-2018, 07:04 AM   #9
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Hi Jay and Maria! Wife and I would like to stay at your place for a month or two. OK if we hook up to your electric and water? You guys are too nice!!!
Notice I said if I INVITED someone! Now that being said, come on by, we are in the process of selling the house and going full time.
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Old 04-30-2018, 09:23 AM   #10
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If you are going to be staying longer than a week or two, I would take their bill from last year and see how much change there was between the two bills. Consider that to be the least you need to pay them. Check it for a few months so you get a good estimate and that would be what you pay.
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Old 04-30-2018, 09:37 AM   #11
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I'll just add... MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE... a QUALIFIED R/V ELECTRICIAN correctly wires the 30a outlet for 120v.

We have seen far too many get wired for 240v and fry the R/V's electrical system.

Then, who pays for that... you or your friend?
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Old 04-30-2018, 09:55 AM   #12
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If this is a short-term thing (1-2 weeks), I don't think I'd worry about it.

Start pushing a month and I'm on the other side of the fence. I've unfortunately read a handful of complaints of disagreements over electric usage between family and friends. I think adding a meter makes absolute sense.

They aren't cheap and this one is seemingly overkill but something like this from Home Depot would work:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-RV-Pa...32PS/300325196

I imagine if you talked to an electrician, they'd know how to setup a meter for just a 30amp receptacle.
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Old 04-30-2018, 10:24 AM   #13
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There are electric meters out there for the general public to pick up. "Kill A Watt" is one that I've seen at the local Home Depot, but those seem to only be for 15A. Looking around online though for alternatives to the Kill A Watt, I came across this: https://www.ekmmetering.com/ekm-mete...iABEgJfA_D_BwE

Also, if you're really worried about comping your friend for all your usage, you might want to also consider a water meter: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Wa...-205489792-_-N

Since you're worried about it though, I assume you're talking about some kind of long term arrangement? Hopefully a few measures like these will help you keep the friendship. Many years ago in my bachelor days, when I bought my first house, some friends needed a place to crash temporarily when their apartment was found to be infested with mold. 14 months later when I had to kick them out, the friendship didn't survive....

I'd hate to see it happen to anyone else, so hopefully learn from my mistakes and make sure you've got a good understanding with your friend about everything entailed with these plans.
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Old 04-30-2018, 10:29 AM   #14
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2 weeks ..give him a hundred bucks and I'm sure they would be tickled if they even accept the money .
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Old 04-30-2018, 10:29 AM   #15
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I applaud you for being concerned about your friendship.

The EKM meter that Dbledan linked would be a good unit. It'll tell you the KWH used and you can get your friends to figure out the cost per kwh including fees and taxes and use the reading to figure the cost.
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Old 04-30-2018, 10:50 AM   #16
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$50 per week should more than cover electric, water and sewer. Make sure you have a very heavy duty power cord as 100ft is a long run. As mentioned grab the 30A 120V wiring diagram from the library and provide it to the electrician.
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Old 04-30-2018, 01:24 PM   #17
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Here you go. https://www.ebay.com/i/190610750834?...51293dfffccdd2

Get a base at Lowe's and put two pigtails on it, one with a plug and one with a receptacle, and just plug it inline.

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Old 04-30-2018, 02:27 PM   #18
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You might call the electric company. They have temporary poles and whatnot....this won’t be their 1st rodeo.
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Old 04-30-2018, 03:41 PM   #19
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you all are awesome! Thanks a lot! I'd say order of business..

1. get an rv
2. subscribe to this forum.


haha!!

Thanks again!

James
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Old 04-30-2018, 04:03 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by merrykalia View Post
If you are going to be staying longer than a week or two, I would take their bill from last year and see how much change there was between the two bills. Consider that to be the least you need to pay them. Check it for a few months so you get a good estimate and that would be what you pay.
THIS^^^

Easy and simple.
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