Camper to use as a guesthouse.

Charlotte F
by Charlotte F
We have a large family and they are coming for a visit soon. We have a camper near the house, but we will need the air conditioner in the camper. It trips the breaker when an extension cord is used. What is the most sensible an easy way to set up something to use this. Please help.
  11 answers
  • Debbie Boltz Debbie Boltz on Apr 20, 2014
    Generator?
  • Charlotte F Charlotte F on Apr 20, 2014
    Generator sounded like a good idea to me, but my husband said it would have to set 10 feet from the trailer and would be as loud as a lawn mower. Thanks for your very kind suggestion.
    • Lisa Lisa on Apr 22, 2014
      @Charlotte F I should have mentioned this the other day: there are two types of generators that will work very quietly and which do not have to be set 10' away (but you don't want to set either directly under a window!) Yamaha and Honda Generators are extremely quiet. Many full-time RVers use Honda "inverters", usually the 3K. I doubt whether a 2k would run the AC, but it would run everything else. There would also be an option to run two 2k's, as the generator sellers carry an attachment to join the two 2k generators and make them become a 4k, but truthfully, you're starting to get into big bucks at this point and then you add the use of the gasoline on top of it.
  • Lisa Lisa on Apr 20, 2014
    There is an attachment to take the retailer's three prong cord and turn it into a two prong cord. Then you can plug that into any exterior or interior outlet. What you have to be sure of is that the plug can handle a 30 amp system, which is what mist trailers are. Check with a camping store near you or online such as camping world dot com.
  • Lisa Lisa on Apr 20, 2014
    And that should have said "trailer's" not retailer's. This Kindle has a mind of its own sometimes!
    • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Apr 21, 2014
      @Angie Martinez ?? Is there any kind of portable solar device strong enough to run an Air conditioner? A/Cs take so much power.
  • Karen Trochta Karen Trochta on Apr 20, 2014
    We have a travel trailer and my husband has wired a plug just for it and on it's own breaker. Check w/ an electrician about this. It can be done. Then they should be able to use all the appliances in the trailer.
  • Jeanette S Jeanette S on Apr 21, 2014
    There are small window units available that might fit in the window of the trailer that run on 110 volt. The extra open space in the open window around the unit would have to be filled in but a small frame can be easily fitted.
  • Charlotte F Charlotte F on Apr 21, 2014
    I want to thank each and everyone with these great solutions. I think Karen's comment and Lisa's comment might be a good answer. Thanks again.
  • The breaker will continue to trip regardless of the size of the extension cord used. Most campers use a 30 amp minimum breaker size. You will find that many have a different style plug on the end where most folks purchase an adaptor to use in the standard wall outlet. The issue is there is the wall outlet is not suitable for use on such a large load. It sounds as though you will need a electrical contractor to install a outlet on the outside of the home that will accept the style plug that the camper uses. If the AC is a window type, and you can run a separate power cord for just it, purchase a 20 amp extension cord which are expensive and use that alone for the ac by itself. But the best way is to get an electrical contractor in to wire it properly and safely for you.
  • Charlotte Farley Charlotte Farley on Apr 22, 2014
    The less expensive way it seems is to purchase an adapter to use in the standard wall outlet. But is this safe? The other option sounds expensive to use once or twice in the lifetime of our RV
    • Lisa Lisa on Apr 23, 2014
      @Charlotte Farley We used to visit a friend in Kansas for a couple of weeks every fall and spring and used the adapter to plug into her outlet, but we never used the A/C while there, so that is why I said you'd have to make certain the outlet could handle a 30 amp system. That is probably a question for an electrician. [By the way, if you have visitors that bring their own 'home', if it's a motorhome or some 5th wheels, those use a 50 amp system rather than a trailer's 30 amp.] When staying with my brother out in the desert in CA, he had a circuit that wasn't being used by anything else in his house. His circuit breaker box was outside. He had a great deal of experience with electrical work and so wired that unused breaker so that we could use it for our trailer. Because we were going to be there for several months, helping take care of his 3 kids while his wife was deployed to Kuwait, he hardwired the trailer into his system and we did use our A/C while we were there. I mention this because if you decide to use your trailer as a standard guest house, it might be cost effective to hire an electrician to set up a permanent plug for the trailer. It might not be as expensive as it sounds. Of course, you'll also need to consider water and waste disposal, but I'm sure you already took those factors into consideration.
  • Charlotte Farley Charlotte Farley on Apr 23, 2014
    I spoke to my nephew who knows his stuff about such things. He said I could get an adapter and plug it into an outlet from the house. I think that is what a couple of you had said. We can turn the camper around and the cord from the camper will reach a standard outlet with the adapter. I don't know why this thing took so long for me to understand, but I think I finally have it. I will talk to a friend tomorrow who sells campers and be sure all is kosher. Thanks for all your answers