max watts for ehu ? (1 Viewer)

greyman1

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Aug 7, 2011
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my van only has a gas hob [no grill] so i am looking to buy a couple of low wattage elec items to suppliment when i am on ehu. i have come across a 600 watt microwave and a 800 watt toaster and 900watt kettle they are all described as being suitable for camping etc . what concerns me, is that they may be ok for use on uk sites with 10 amp but the last time i was in france some of the ehus were only 6amp, [infact i think some sites here knock their supply down to stop people running heaters !] so would these wattages be ok on 6amp, can i only use one at a time? is there a max watt formula ? thanks.
 

scotjimland

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Divide the watts by the voltage (230) to give the amps..

for example.. an 800watt appliance will draw 3.5amps

or to keep it simple and as a rule of thumb, every 100watts draws ~ 0.5amp

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tonka

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The one item that you need to watch is the microwave...
Generally they take a larger current on start up, between an extra 50 -100%.
So a 600w may draw 900 - 1200 watts at start... This is usually fine and hence why you see 500 and 600 watt advertised as camping..

Whenever possible aim to be as close to 1000w per appliance as possible and you will be ok..
Worse case is you can run one at a time if you have low amps...
 
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greyman1

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thanks guys i now need to break it to my other half that her super turbo hair dryer wont be coming away with us [i better put my tin hat on !!!!!]
 

tonka

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PLEASE.... Dont start the hair dryer debate again,,,:Doh:

ps.. you can get some low wattage ones, just to keep the peace:thumb:

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Jaws

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PLEASE.... Dont start the hair dryer debate again,,,:Doh:

ps.. you can get some low wattage ones, just to keep the peace:thumb:

true, but 4 hours of hair drying can be a tad tiring !! ( I speak from bitter experience.. Woman has one hell of a mop of long, VERY thick hair :Doh: )
 
Feb 27, 2011
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true, but 4 hours of hair drying can be a tad tiring !! ( I speak from bitter experience.. Woman has one hell of a mop of long, VERY thick hair :Doh: )
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mr moo

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our ehu are 16 amp, but we do have problems, especially when the wether is cold / wet / horrid with people tripping fuses, main prob seems to be with water heaters / kettle / microwave being turned on at the same time. Have put up sign showing how many amps / watts are used by electrical appliancies so MH & caravanners can have a quick read whilst using the loo :Cool: nothing worse that going out in the rain reseting fuses & then trying to locate the source of the problem. a great question by the way, wish more people would ask.

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scotjimland

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Jul 25, 2007
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Timberland
our ehu are 16 amp, but we do have problems, especially when the wether is cold / wet / horrid with people tripping fuses, main prob seems to be with water heaters / kettle / microwave being turned on at the same time. Have put up sign showing how many amps / watts are used by electrical appliancies so MH & caravanners can have a quick read whilst using the loo :Cool: nothing worse that going out in the rain reseting fuses & then trying to locate the source of the problem. a great question by the way, wish more people would ask.

That was a problem I solved by installing an Owl power monitor.. it has an alarm which you can set to suit the available power... (on a 16A EHU I would set it to 3kw , that gives a bit of slack )... once installed, no more trips to the fuhrers bunker at silly o'clock ..

there are other makes, all easy to fit and they don't require any electrical wiring as the transmitter sensor clips around the incoming live or neutral .. from about £30

owl-wireless-electricity-monitor.jpg
 
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