Don’t you think it’s pretty impressive for RVers to camp every weekend and then coming back home to restock? You got all the RVing necessities in your house and garage. All these awesome things that a house can offer surely do miss for those full-time RVers.
If you’re fortunate enough, you’ll be able to park your RV at your garage. You can hook up your RV into your house’s electrical system free of charge. But after a long trip, how do you replenish all your RVs power systems?
So, let’s look at how to install a 50- amp RV outlet at home, and what are the factors that could affect when doing so?
What you need to know about your home electrical system
It’s most likely that your RV won’t be able to run every appliance due to power sustenance. But you can hook up your RV to your home’s electrical system. However, your home comes with a standard 3-prong plug, so you need to set up your RV’s electrical line. Since your RV requires 30 or 50 amp to power the vehicle, you are limited to your home’s 15 or 20 amp outlet.
But there are ways to hook up your RV to your home’s electrical system; you can install a 50 amp outlet at home. If you frequently visit a place, it may be worth firsthand to install a hookup for your RV before you travel. Or, you can connect a 20 amp adapter to your RV electrical hook up, but there’s a possibility of overheating if not correctly installed.
In safety requirements, we recommend thoroughly read your RV’s user manual to find out how much electricity your RV can take.
Things you need to install a 50 amp RV outlet at home
Installing a pedestal hookup is the safest and most straightforward way to hookup an RV or a motorhome. Pedestal electrical hookups are the same as the hookups you find in most campgrounds. Home pedestal hookups are equipped with a 50-amp outlet.
We listed the items you will need to install a pedestal hookups successfully.
- Electrical tools kit
- Voltage meter
- 50-amp fuse
- UF-rated six gauge four-conductor wire
- RV pedestal hookup
- Plastic zip ties
- 50-amp outlet (optional)
How to install a 50 amp RV outlet at home
This procedure will make it easier for RVers to install a 50 amp RV outlet at home. We take electrical safety seriously, so instead of doing a DIY installation, we decided to install an electrical pedestal hookup for your RV.
Step 1
First, you will need to locate and switch off the main breaker of your home. You can identify the main breaker with its mark as 100 or 200 amps. You can use a voltage meter to test all the electrical power is off.
Step 2
Using a Type UF-rated four-conductor six gauge wire, you can install a 50 amp circuit breaker in a vacant slot in the panel. Connect the two 120-volt hot wires to the fuse of the breaker, then connect the green cable in the ground bar, and the white wire to the neutral bus. Keep in mind to securely fix the wires in the circuit breaker to prevent any accidents.
Step 3
After connecting the wires to the location of the home electrical panel, use the zip ties to grip the lines of the cable to prevent trip hazards or damages.
Step 4
You have now connected your four-conductor wire to the 50 amp circuit breaker, and you have run the cables outside to your Hookup Pedestal. You should follow the instructions in the pedestal user manual correctly to connect the run of wire from the home’s general breaker.
Before attaching the wires to your pedestal hookup, make sure that you marked the terminals correctly. Connect each hot wires, black and red to its equivalent electrical position, attach one outlet to the neutral wire and the green wire for the ground. After you have installed the four-conductor cable to the pedestal, you need to close the pedestal hookup case firmly.
Switch on the main breaker. You can use a voltage meter to test that each outlet on the pedestal hook up is working. Now, you can connect your 50 amp RV plug to the pedestal hookup to recharge the battery of your RV.
Note: Never touch any thick wires at the top of the breaker box because it is a live wire that directly comes outside your home.
What wire size for a 50 amp service
Voltages and wattages are rated depending on how much the size of wires can handle. A larger diameter of wire can distribute more electricity than a smaller coil. As a result, using a smaller wire size can cause electrical overpower, burn, and overheat.
That’s why we decided to provide you valuable information about which wire you should use for a 50 amp outlet.
- 50-amp aluminum wires are counted differently compared to copper wires. This wiring type uses a #4 American Wire Gauge because it has a large diameter of the wire. The Thermoplastic Heat and Water-resistant Nylon are one of the most commonly used types of wire.
- 50-amp copper wires can carry 55 amp with 60-degree heat Celsius. The #6 copper wire is highly recommendable to most RVers practicing to install a 50-amp RV outlet. You can use a bigger wire size to accommodate such distribution of electricity to your RV.
Conclusion
There you go, in just four easy steps, you should have no problem with how to install a 50amp RV outlet at home. At Bayside RV, we always like to emphasize to take precautionary safety measures when it comes to electricity. Electrical power can cause severe damage to your home and human, so it’s better to be safe all the time.
Remember to read the user manual when dealing with technicalities of the electrical system of your home and RV. Find out more about RV power.