Opinions on kitchen outlets for a 19?

[rvomaha]

Somewhere in this forum, somebody pined for an additional outlet in the kitchen area (and I think they were talking about their 19). At one point I figured out from various photos that there is an outlet under the fold-up counter extension near the floor, and another outlet on the bed side of the kitchen/bed divider wall. Yes?

This brings me to my question -- if you have a 19, do you find yourself having to use an extension cord to plug in appliances on the kitchen counter? Our toaster, coffee pot, and crock pot all have pretty short cords. In retrospect, would you ask Rease to add another outlet to your kitchen, and just where would you want it?

Thanks for your advice.

--Liz

 

[gbaglo]

I gather you plan to camp only where there is power or you wouldn't want to carry all those electric appliances with you.

We boil water for coffee on the propane stove and use a Melita filter and thermos.
When we make toast ( rarely ), we use one of those wire racks that sits over the flame. ( it folds flat and compact ).
Never occurred to me to bring a crock pot. We use the BBQ and a one burner propane stove outside most of the time, and occasionally use our three-burner stove inside.

All our entertainment systems run on 12V off the battery.

I can't think of a thing that we bring that runs on 110V only, except the oil filled heater that can only be used when we are plugged in to shore power.

baglo

 

[Jim Bennett]

We have a 19 with the two plugs you describe, and have never had a need for more, but like baglo alludes to, in the 3 years we have used it, none of the appliances you mentioned has ever come with us. Even if we did bring something, I doubt there would be an issue of not enough plugs. I did add one one a dinette bench from plugging in a laptop if needed.

We do carry an small electric kettle and small cube heater for when plugged in, but that is the extent of our appliances. We rely on the propane, as more often than not we are not hooked to 120V.

 

[rvomaha]

My impression from reading this forum for several months is that there is less shore power available in Canadian camping than in the U.S. In many years of camping with a pop-up throughout the U.S., I'd estimate we have had electric power about half the time, and I am not talking about private campgrounds, since we usually avoid them. My question was not about enough plugs, just the convenience/inconvenience of the standard plug locations to the kitchen counter with short appliance cords. --Liz

 

[davidww]

We wish there was an outlet above the counter between the sink and the stove. That eliminates having to run a cord either over the stove or the sink. We did attempt to have our local RVdealer add the outlet but they could not locate any power to tie into. They did add a two bulb LED lite above the wardrobe which considerably brightened the middle of the trailer. They were able to tie in to power running to the bath lite. Highly recommend having Reace make those changes. David

 

[gbaglo]

My impression from reading this forum for several months is that there is less shore power available in Canadian camping than in the U.S.

You got that right. In BC anyway, you won't find power in a provincial or forestry campground. You'll probably have a water pump or two on site. And, they still charge as much as Oregon.

In any event, I don't think you have enough counter space to leave appliances plugged in. Most electrical appliances take a lot of space, on the counter or stored. And, if you only have power half the time....

baglo

 

[gbaglo]

ps.

Speaking of waste of space, at home here I keep putting the microwave into storage, and the Old Bag keeps bringing back to cook broccoli.

baglo

 

[Jim Bennett]

Liz, I have camped in campgrounds as much in the US as Canada, and I think the ones with available power is close, maybe a few more in the US. I have also found lots of sites in the US that offer spots without power, which for a night or two is no problem at all. I would say at least half of my camping is not in campgrounds though, preferring to get away from the masses if possible.

David, I think that RV place you took your trailer to was either not wanting to put in the plug, or not knowledgeable enough to do it, because it would be no problem to access power from the other plugs, just so long as there was a place to place a new one.

 

[davidww]

Jim, They could have tied into the power running to the outlet by the door but couldn't hide the line they would add up to the cabinet. Also, the outlet box would have protruded into the cabinet so we opted out of that option. David

 

[Jim Bennett]

Ah, gotcha.

 

[rvomaha]

"Never occurred to me to bring a crock pot."

A crock pot is a wonderful appliance for our camping style, when we have electricity that is. Hubby loves to fill our days with touring (local sites, museums...) and it is a great convenience to return to the camper with supper 100% ready to consume. Depending on the day's plans, available power sources and the weather, we do cook indoors or out, using many options -- electric hot plate, portable propane stove, charcoal, wood fire, pie iron (love it!) and dutch oven. The dutch oven will stay home when we get our Escape because it will just be two of us, not a family of 7 as in the pop-up days. We're getting the microwave in the Escape, so that will add a new level of convenience. --Liz

 

[vermilye]

As a photographer I often find myself needing to run a bunch of battery chargers when I hit a campground with electricity. They are all low current devices, but need many outlets. I added a Multi outlet replacement cover to the receptacle on my 17B closet.

A plugging strip would do the same thing, but this is neater. Might save needing to add another outlet...

 

[Jim Bennett]

I use an inverter in my tow vehicle to charge my camera, and other, batteries. One of the reasons is to try to minimize the clutter in the trailer. The other is again that I am not hooked to the grid all the time either.

 

[vermilye]

I have the solar option, and although I have a 250watt inverter that I use when necessary, I also have a 12V charger for my camera batteries as well as my laptop & iPhone dock. That way I can charge in either place, the tow vehicle when traveling & the trailer when parked (and the sun is shining!)

 

[Jim Bennett]

I used to have all the 12V chargers for my electronic stuff, but ended up with way too many of them, that I never bothered with my more recent purchases. If I was on the road a lot more, I likely would.

 

[captmath]

Re: charging
I bought a ChargePod about 5 years ago. 1 plug and six adapters. We took it to China for 3 weeks in 2010 and it kept 2 ipods, 2 kindles and 2 cell phones charged the entire time. Runs on 120 or 240 and the standard plug fit every receptacle except in Hong Kong. I bought that adapter for 35 cents at the outdoor market next to the hotel. It works fine in the Fiver when we have power and does not seem to draw much so I would not expect the inverter to have a problem.

Dick

 

[sjnuss]

On our (soon to be built) 19 I added an additional outlet between the oven and sink. Much easier to do now than later.

 

[sjnuss]

Here's a photo.