Electrical
Shore power, batteries, solar and everything that draws from them.
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12V Wire Size Calculator: Gauge, Voltage Drop and Fuse Size
Size DC cable for an inverter, a DC-DC charger or any 12V circuit. Shows the gauge voltage drop needs, the gauge ampacity needs, which one binds — and whether it will fit your device's terminals.
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30 Amp vs 50 Amp RV: What the Difference Actually Means
A 50 amp RV gets more than three times the power of a 30 amp one, not 67% more. How to tell which you have, what each will run, and what adapters do and do not give you.
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Battle Born vs Dakota Lithium: Which 100Ah RV Battery?
The two best-known US lithium RV battery brands compared at 100Ah on published specifications. One includes heating as standard and fits a smaller tray; the other publishes what everything costs.
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Best RV Battery Monitors
Four monitors compared on published accuracy, and the one engineering trade-off the category never mentions — coulomb counters drift when you never reach a full charge, which is most of boondocking.
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The Best RV Converter for Lithium Batteries
Five RV converters compared on output voltage, lithium charge profile and fitment, plus how to tell whether your existing converter is quietly stopping your lithium bank at 80%.
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The Best RV Inverters for 12 Volt Systems
Seven RV inverters and inverter/chargers compared on continuous output, idle draw and warranty terms — and sized against the battery BMS limit every other roundup ignores.
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The Best RV Lithium Batteries for 12 Volt House Banks
Five 12V LiFePO4 RV batteries compared on charge temperature, continuous discharge current and warranty terms, using manufacturer datasheets rather than invented test scores.
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The Best RV Surge Protectors for 30 Amp and 50 Amp Hookups
Eight RV surge protectors and EMS units compared on joule rating, voltage protection and warranty, using manufacturer specifications rather than invented test scores.
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Do You Need a Pure Sine Wave Inverter for Your RV?
Usually yes — the price gap has collapsed. But the honest answer depends on your load list, and the published distortion figures show exactly what the modified sine discount buys.
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Do You Need a Shunt If Your Battery Has Bluetooth?
Depends entirely on which kind of Bluetooth battery you bought — and the word "smart" covers three products that answer this differently. Victron sells two of them, with opposite answers.
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Do I Need a DC to DC Charger for My RV?
The RV forums genuinely disagree about this one. The answer turns on four things you can check — your alternator type, your battery chemistry, your cable run and how long you drive.
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Do I Need a Surge Protector for My RV?
Probably — but first check whether your rig already has one, because a transfer switch is not the same thing. Plus the insurance gap that makes this decision cost more than it looks.
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EMS vs Surge Protector: Which Does Your RV Actually Need?
A surge protector stops spikes. An EMS also disconnects on bad voltage and miswired pedestals — which is what actually damages RVs. How to tell them apart and when the cheaper one is genuinely enough.
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Hardwired vs Portable RV Surge Protector: Which Should You Fit?
Portable units get stolen and rained on. Hardwired units have to be uninstalled to claim a warranty. The trade-offs nobody spells out, and how to decide.
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How Much Solar Do I Need for My RV? Sized for the Month You Camp In
Size an RV solar array on NASA's monthly sun figures for where you actually camp — flat to the roof, not tilted — and on the roof space you actually have.
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Hughes Power Watchdog Review: The Gen II 30 Amp Surge Protector
A documentation-based review of the Gen II Power Watchdog, including the warranty clause that catches second-hand buyers and the WiFi requirement behind most connection complaints.
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Inverter vs Inverter/Charger: Which Does Your RV Need?
One makes 120V from your batteries. The other also replaces your converter and switches automatically between shore and battery. Your existing converter decides which one you buy.
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Lithium vs AGM RV Batteries: Which Should You Actually Buy?
Most comparisons of these two are published by lithium manufacturers. Here is where lithium genuinely wins, where AGM still does, and what switching really costs once the charger is included.
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Progressive Industries EMS-PT30X Review: Still the Default 30 Amp EMS?
A documentation-based review of the EMS-PT30X, including the staged voltage response that sets it apart and the warranty conditions that have caused owners real trouble.
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Progressive Industries vs Hughes Power Watchdog: Which 30 Amp EMS?
The two leading 30 amp RV surge protectors compared on published specifications. One protects better per pound spent; the other tells you more about what the pedestal is doing.
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Renogy 3000W Inverter Review: The P2, on Paper and in Owners' Rigs
A documentation-based review of the Renogy 3000W P2 — the battery bank it actually requires, the cables not in the box, and a one-year warranty against what owners report.
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Can You Run an RV Air Conditioner on Batteries?
Yes — with a 3,000W inverter, a soft starter and more battery than most rigs carry. The arithmetic, the parts list, and when shore power remains the right answer.
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RV Battery Calculator: How Many Amp Hours, Batteries and Inverter Watts You Need
Tick your appliances and hours to get daily watt-hours, the amp-hour bank that covers it in lithium or AGM, the inverter that clears your biggest load, and the batteries that make that bank.
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RV Battery Charge Time Calculator: How Long to Full?
Work out how long your bank takes to charge from your own numbers — bulk and absorption separately, and whether your converter or your battery is the thing setting the pace.
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RV Battery State of Charge Calculator: What Your Voltage Reading Is Worth
Enter your voltage and what is running, and see how much of the reading is load sag rather than charge level. On lithium the answer is usually that the number cannot tell you.
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Why Does My RV Breaker Keep Tripping?
Most tripping RV breakers are a load problem, not a fault. How to tell an overload from a genuine fault, work out which breaker is actually tripping, and know when to stop and call an electrician.
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RV Extension Cord Calculator: How Long Can a 30 Amp Cord Be?
Work out the voltage your RV actually gets through its shore cord and an extension — counting the round trip, the coiled slack, and the drop a portable EMS at the pedestal never sees.
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Charging RV Lithium Batteries in Cold Weather
Every RV lithium battery refuses to charge below some temperature, and the threshold varies by 16 degrees between brands. What each manufacturer publishes, and what a heated battery costs you.
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RV Amp Draw Calculator: What Can You Run at Once on 30 or 50 Amp?
Tick what you run at once and see the amps against your service, the start-up spike that actually trips the breaker, and what to switch off — with the protection sized to your rig.
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9 Mistakes People Make Buying an RV Surge Protector
Joule ratings mislead, transfer switches are not protectors, and every major warranty in this category is narrower than its name. What we found reading the manufacturers' own documents.
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RV Surge Protector Error Codes Explained
What each EMS error code means, taken from the manufacturers' own charts — Progressive Industries E-codes and Surge Guard LCD messages — plus what to do about each one.
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Surge Guard vs Progressive Industries: Which 30 Amp EMS?
Surge Guard has more joules and a live display. Progressive cuts power sooner. And the connected-equipment warranty people buy Surge Guard for excludes the damage RVs actually suffer.
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Victron SmartShunt vs BMV-712 Smart
Same shunt, same accuracy, same resolution — Victron's own datasheet lists exactly two differences. Which means this is not a measurement decision at all, and the relay matters more than the display.
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Victron vs Renogy Inverters: The Real Difference
One sells you an inverter, the other sells you a power system. Compared on published output, idle draw, warranty structure and what each purchase actually commits you to.
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What Size Generator for an RV Air Conditioner? (Altitude and Heat Included)
Size a generator from Dometic's own published minimum, then derate it for altitude and heat — and see why a 4,500-watt unit is already short on a 95-degree day at sea level.
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What Size Inverter Do I Need for My RV?
Three numbers size an RV inverter — your biggest simultaneous load, its startup surge, and what your battery bank's BMS will actually pass. Most guides stop after the first one.
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What Size Lithium Battery Do I Need for My RV?
"Size" means two different things — the case that has to fit your tray, and the capacity that has to last the night. Published dimensions for real batteries, and the arithmetic for amp hours.
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What Size Shunt Do You Need for a Battery Monitor?
A shunt has two ratings, not one — full-scale amps and the millivolts it puts out at that current. Get the second wrong and every reading is quietly scaled by a fixed factor.
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What Size Solar Charge Controller? The Cold-Morning Voltage Nobody Checks
Size an MPPT controller on the two figures that can destroy it — cold open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current — not on watts, which Victron says it simply limits.