adding a 20 amp plug

Rodbuster

Well-known member
Hope I'm posting this in the right place.

I'd like to add some type of electrical portable heater to our Key Largo, but I have read in a few places that it should have it's "own" designated receptical (20 amp).

I would like to have a 20 amp receptical in the living area and also in the bedroom.
Is there a easy solution to this or am I asking for alot of trouble and work?

Thank you
Rodbuster
 

danemayer

Well-known member
We had a dedicated outlet and circuit breaker added in the living room, in between the stairs and the breaker box. It's a very short run and is pretty easy. Also had another outlet added behind the basement wall, overhead above the vacuum cleaner and water pump. It shares the bedroom A/C breaker. Since we only plan to use it in the winter, the A/C won't be in use at the same time. The wiring from the A/C breaker was probably a bit harder, mainly because it's a tight space, but it's still a fairly short run from the back of the breaker box to where the outlet is mounted. I'm guessing the tech wired the breaker box first and pushed the wire through toward where the outlet was to be mounted.

For the bedroom, I haven't done it, but on our Rushmore, I'd put the outlet on the doorside, near the washing machine corner. The wire could be run from the breaker box, through the back side of the basement, thru the housing for the level-up controls, and up to the bedroom. I don't think I'd want to tie it into the other A/C breaker, since it's more likely a bedroom outlet would get used for something during the summer.

Net, if you're experienced at working on electrical circuits yourself, it's not that big a deal.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
If your breaker box is like mine, it is pretty full already. We occasionally run a small elecric heater in the bedroom while the fireplace is running and haven't tripped any circuits yet. You have to "think ahead" a little before turning other things on like the microwave or a coffee pot (or worse yet, the dreaded hair dryer/curling iron). Our fireplace keeps the living area warm for the most part. We also have heat strips in our bedroom A/C unit that take the chill out of the air before we go to sleep.
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
I run a 1500W electric heater off the living room circuit and an 1100W heater off the bedroom circuit and never give it a second thought. Water heater and refer running on electric, use microwave, watch TV, no problem. I wouldn't bother adding another circuit until you proved to yourself that you needed it.
 

Rickhansen

Well-known member
I recently added 3) 15-amp circuits with one outlet on each for space heaters. A 1500-watt heater pulls less than 13-amps max, and these outlet are primarily dedicated for heaters.

One in the living room on the back side of the kitchen cabinet, one next to the steps adjacent the vacuum outlet, and one in the bedroom on the side of the dresser. I stayed away from the kitchen, as I didn't want to fool with GFCI breakers or outlets and didn't need additional power there. I had two open breaker slots available in the breaker panel. Each slot will accommodate a double-pole breaker. I found both double 15-amp, and double breakers with a 20-amp and 15-amp poles on eBay. The double 15"s were a lot less, about $8 each.

I had about 100' of 4 conductor #12 MC cable that was scrap off a job I was recently on. It also has a ground wire inside the flex. It is harder to work with than wire or Romex, but the price was right (free) and it offered protection to pull through the underbelly and basement, and is good for use on 20-amp circuits if I needed to up-size the breakers later. the additional 2 wires might come in handy in the future. I had to buy 3 metal cut-in boxes, and some MC cable box connectors (about $15) and 3) 20-amp outlets and cover plates. I ended up with about 40 feet of cable left over, better a little extra than a little short, I guess.

The project took most of a Saturday afternoon and evening. The outlet next to the vacuum outlet was easy, of course. The bedroom was pretty easy, as I came through utility area and through the pipe chase for the washer. The LR was the hardest. I had to take the belly skin loose in the area between the rear of the kitchen and entertainment slides and push a glow stick (a fiberglass rod for fishing wire) through into the utility room. It came through just behind the water heater. I used that to pull the MC cable through. The hardest part was coming up through the floor into the kitchen cupboard in a decent location.

My advice is to plan your wire paths carefully, and think about how you will have physical access to get at your work. You'll probably need a helper a few spots along the way. If you have to penetrate the floor, you'll need a longer drill bit. I also opted to clean-up and shift a lot of my neutral and ground wiring within the panel to eliminate the birds nest and make sure everything was tight while I was there.

I also did a little testing with a clamp-on amp meter to "balance" my loads on the two hot legs. I did this by shifting where my spare breaker ended up.

Hope this helps....
 

porthole

Retired
Something to consider when doing this, the panel balance.
On our Cyclone the main AC, water heater, galley outlets (coffee pot), microwave and GFI outlets were all on the same side of the panel. With multiple items on I had in excess of 35 amps on one leg and 5-10 on the other.

The panel also had sufficient empty spots that allowed several extra breakers. I have added one 20 amp outlet in the garage and living room for heater use. When doing this I was able to move breakers around to help balance the loads.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Something to consider when doing this, the panel balance.
On our Cyclone the main AC, water heater, galley outlets (coffee pot), microwave and GFI outlets were all on the same side of the panel. With multiple items on I had in excess of 35 amps on one leg and 5-10 on the other.

I'm not an electrician and haven't verified the following info, but if it's correct, panel balance would be based on adding the load of every other breaker. In our panel, each breaker is a double that has 2 switches. I would assume that both loads are on the same 50Amp leg. Given an alternating scheme, our 2 A/C units are on different 50Amp circuits - which makes sense.

Info on RV wiring http://www.dasplace.net/RVWiring/wiring.html
"The breaker for this service must be a dual (double) 50 amp 250V breaker. A dual 250V breaker means that the breaker must be of the type that actually connects to both bus bars in the panel, every other bus lug in the panel is on the opposite leg of the incoming power line. "
 

Rickhansen

Well-known member
In our panel, each breaker is a double that has 2 switches. I would assume that both loads are on the same 50Amp leg.

"The breaker for this service must be a dual (double) 50 amp 250V breaker. A dual 250V breaker means that the breaker must be of the type that actually connects to both bus bars in the panel, every other bus lug in the panel is on the opposite leg of the incoming power line. "

That is correct.
 

porthole

Retired
panel balance would be based on adding the load of every other breaker. In our panel, each breaker is a double that has 2 switches. I would assume that both loads are on the same 50Amp leg. Given an alternating scheme, our 2 A/C units are on different 50Amp circuits - which makes sense................................. "

Yes, mine is the same, but as I said, most of my heavy loads were on the same leg. If you are in the panel anyway may as well balance things out. Coffee pot, water heater AC and Bathroom all on the same leg doesn't cut it.
 

2psnapod2

Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
Rodbuster, I am not sure about in the bedroom. but in the livingroom, the outlet on the island in the kitchen can take a heater with no problem. We have one connected there and use it all the time.
 
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