Imagine being on the road and missing your favorite TV show. It could be the much-awaited finale and yet because you’re on a camping trip, you’re going to miss it. Relax. You don’t have to worry.
One of the advantages of RVing is that you can install a television and watch on the go! You really don’t have to miss out! Before you purchase a television for your RV, there a few things you need to know; the most important being just how many amps does a TV use?
Why do you need an RV Television?
Televisions provide entertainment on those days you decide to stay in your RV. Maybe the weather wasn’t great for hiking or maybe you just didn’t feel like going out. Whatever your reason, the TV is a great way to pass the time.
Apart from entertainment, you can use a TV to get news updates or weather bulletins so you can plan future camping activities. You can probably do the same with a radio, but a TV adds a visual element.
Types of TV Displays
There are different types of televisions, based on the technologies for their display. Depending on the display, a TV’s power consumption can vary. CRT and plasma screens’ electricity consumption depends on the brightness of its display while LCD and micro display screens do not. LED TVs consume even less.
LCD and micro display screens steadily consume electricity regardless of the display. The prior two can consume almost double the power. That in mind, you should choose the most energy efficient TV model.
Nowadays, LED TVs are most recommended for their energy efficiency. Most of the TVs recommended by The RV Web Network are LED TVs. Depending on your installation, they can withstand the movement of a RV.
RV TV Considerations
Power Supply
For small motor homes, 12V TVs are perfect. Usually, if you purchase a television for your RV, you consider the power supply that you currently have. RVs typically have a regular AC plug and can run on 12V so you might want to consider units that require 12Vs. This way, you avoid all the hassle of thinking about the power source that will be perfect for running your TV.
Size and Mounting Options
If you have a smaller RV, then its logical for you to get a small TV set due to the space constraints of your motor home. However, if your RV is bigger, that is to say, the distance between a unit and possible viewers is wider, you might want to purchase an even larger television.
As for mounting options, the typical choice for RV users is mounting their TVs to the wall. If you don’t think that’s a good idea, you can opt for a flip down TV. The latter option will save you space as you can just adjust its position if you will not be using it anymore.
Amps Depending on TV Type
So how many amps does a TV use? This depends on the size and type of your television unit. Check the following information out:
Plasma TVs use the highest amount of power and micro displays use the lowest. A plasma TV with around 906 square inches display is around 2.64 amps. A 46-inch micro display usually takes 0.98 amps.
LEDs are seen to be more power-efficient than plasma televisions. There are also LCD television that vary in the power needed. They range from 1.2 to 3.1 amps for a 46-inch unit while a cathode-ray tube television consumes around 1.9 to 3.0 amps. If you are going to choose among those options, the micro display is the most power-efficient of all.
Different types of TV will have different energy consumption
Plasmas and LDC televisions tend to double or triple energy consumption depending on use. A 20-inch LCD TV usually uses 45 watts which is enough to charge a notebook laptop and a 55-inch plasma TV will take around 507 watts which is close to running a large refrigerator.
The power a television use also depends on the size of display. Here, the watts-per-square-inch rating are presented. The following has the computation of the power consumed per square inch: a micro display rear projector uses 0.11 to 0.15 watt per square inch; an LCD consumes 0.16 to 0.41 watt per square inch; a CRT, 0.25 to 0.40 watt per square inch; and a plasma at around 0.30 to 0.39 watt per square inch.
If you are looking for the most efficient type for your RV, the plasma TV is not the one for you. You should look for rear-projection technologies for efficiency. This device requires a high level of power to run which is not the best option if you are running your RV on a generator.
On CRTs and LCDs, although they are brighter, they do not have bigger displays. Units are usually around 36 to 40 inches in size only. Most of the new television designs nowadays are also built to be more power-efficient than the older designs.
Power Sources
If you have a budget and you want to invest on power sources, you may want to consider having solar panels. This can be especially useful if you are dry camping or staying at a campground without hookups. This also comes with different sizes depending on the size of your RV.
How great is that? You will not have power problems if you are planning on camping with your appliances on. You wouldn’t need to worry about what appliances can be turned on together and what can’t if you get enough power from the solar panels.
Choosing a Unit
There are a lot of considerations in bringing or purchasing a television for your RV. It is no doubt that answering the question “how many amps does a TV use?” is a vital step in planning your motor home camping trip.
Having an entertainment unit will help you get through the boring lulls of RVing. Although you may not have gone RVing to watch TV, it’s still a good option to have on hand.
