There’s something we can’t stop thinking about: RV electrical outlets. More specifically, RV outlet placement. Some RVs have plenty of outlets and a few may even have too many! But some RVs don’t have enough… or any, at least in the right places.
Last weekend, we attended the small Evergreen Spring RV Show in Monroe, Washington. We put our theory to the test and checked inside dozens of RVs, and we came to the conclusion: The placement of some plugs are in inconvenient locations, or missing entirely in important locations.
In the bedrooms, we noticed that RV outlets were often on only one side of the bed. So if you need to run a CPAP machine, you have to sleep on the plug side of the bed. And, if the other person also needs to plug in a CPAP machine (as nearly half of RVtravel.com readers do), ya got a problem!
And another place we noticed a lack of outlets: the kitchen. Many (and we mean many!) of the RVs we saw didn’t have a single outlet, or just one in an awkward position (like too close to the stovetop where a cord could get too close to a flame. Where are you supposed to plug in your coffee maker? Or your blender? Or your handheld mixer? Or… anything?!
In the photo above, there isn’t a single outlet in that kitchen. Even with all that extra counter space! No, they weren’t hiding on the sides, under the cabinets, or in any pop-up-outlet gadget either. We checked everywhere. Nothing. Maybe they were there somewhere but… we couldn’t find ’em.
Insider information
RV manufacturers are required to place a certain number of plugs based on the size of an RV. But if they want to save money on wiring, they can gang up plugs close to each other. Forget about all the wire it would take to stretch to the rear bedroom.
So now we want to hear from you…
Are you satisfied with the number of plugs in your RV and where they are positioned? Respond in the poll below and then please leave a comment. We may use it in a future story. Thanks a bunch.
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- RV Electricity: Important 30-amp outlet voltage reminder
- Why is my RV outlet not working after using a space heater?
##RVT1204
My 2024 Durango Gold 5th wheel has outlets mostly in logical places, however, as usual there are not enough of them and the wiring doesn’t make sense. Our rig has two outlets in the kitchen area which is fine except both outlets plus the dishwasher are on the same 15 amp GFI circuit so we can only operate one appliance at a time which doesn’t make any sense and is very inconvenient when preparing any meal. To make matters worse they put the kitchen circuit breaker in a bin under the coach instead of inside where all the other circuit breakers are so whenever the breaker needs to be reset I must go outside to reset it.
My Vibe has good placement of outlets. I’m not at all familiar with electrical stuff, but have always wondered if I could have just one outlet that would be powered by the solar panel, too. Only the lights are. I’d love to boondock more. Anyone know if that’s possible? Thank you
Most of the outlets in our RV are in fairly decent places – though the ones in the bedroom require a flashlight to plug something in. In our tiny kitchen, we have one outlet so the slow cooker goes in the bedroom on the counter. My problem is manufacturers who place 2 ft of cord on an appliance when clearly you need more.
Electrical appliances that are generally used in the kitchen are required to have 2 ft cords, to eliminate the clutter on the counters, and for other reasons. In homes, the outlets are required to be no more than 4 ft apart in the kitchen, so that those appliances are never more than 2 ft from an outlet. I suppose you could have someone change the cord over to a longer one, maybe even an exact length that suits your needs, but that might be considered illegal.
Our ordered Hoosier Custom Cruiser has CPAP outlets in the overhead cabinets over the head of the twin beds. Perfect placement.
All electrical outlets will be easier to find white.
Nice when you can start from scratch.
I answered yes, but only because I had them placed where I wanted them. When I ordered our New Horizons 5th wheel in 2008, They put extra outlets in places I asked them to. Then a few years later, I added 2 more outlets myself. Later, when we ordered our 2023 triple slide truck camper, I had outlets added in the rear slide-out, next to our theater seating. They never thought to offer outlets near where you spend most of your time in the camper.
Generally yes, but because we aren’t the usual RVers, there are some annoyances. For example, the USB ports to charge our phones are by the sides of the bed, but we refuse to have our phones by our bed – bad habit we don’t want to get into. Likewise, there are jacks and outlets for TVs, but we don’t have TVs, so those are just clutter for us.
The other annoyance is that all the outlets and covers are black, even the ones on the white ceiling. Fixing that is a small job I want to do to clean up the look of the place.
One of my pet peeves: under the dinette blocked by the table top, too close to the cook top, on the ceiling (?!) NONE in the bathroom. What were they thinking? And why didn’t we check?
Our Class C has one plug in the kitchen counter area! And, it’s inconveniently located under the upper cupboard – the cord for the coffee maker doesn’t even reach it! Hubby put a four-outlet strip down the side of the window and now I’ve got all the electrical plugs I need!
That sounds like a good idea, but using 4 outlet strip will tempt you to plug in and use more appliances.
Most power strips are made to handle 15 amps MAX, as is the original outlet.
There are a lot of reports and pictures of those power strips melting and causing fires.
We noticed right away that our 2020 Jayco Precept 31UL motorhome has great plug placement. The only place it’s lacking is having one near the driver’s captain’s chair/sofa.
We have 2 in the bedroom, 1 bathroom, 2 kitchen (actually 3, it’s in the cupboard for the microwave), 1 sofa, 1 passenger captain’s chair, 1 dinette plus 1 USB plug.
The only place it’s lacking is having one near the driver’s captain’s chair/sofa.
YES !!
This is us too!
Our Entegra has 13 usable receptacles. By “usable” I mean ones that we can get to and, well, use. Not the one behind the refrigerator, under the kitchen sink (for the dishwasher), behind the bed (for the Sleep Number mattress), or behind the washer.
Our current TT had adequate locations but not enough circuits or receptacles. I’ve added four additional circuits and a multitude of additional receptacles.
In our MicroLite from Forest River, we originally thought we had only one outlet next to the bed. Imagine our surprise to find an outlet on the other side of the bed facing the mattress. To use it we have to pull the mattress out, plug in the 120 volt cord, then push the mattress back into place being careful not to damage the cord.
You might look at an extension cord for that outlet. Many now come with a flat plug, allowing you to move items (furniture, Mattress) close to the outlet/wall. Could allow you access to the plug w/o rearranging the bed each time.
“Yes, but could be better” … We have two very different sized TTs and can say for both kitchen & bath are good. In our larger TT, there is only one outlet near the floor in the 6″ wide space at the middle of the bed. I’ve installed extension cords to both sides of the head. Sort of the same deal with the living room area; awkward locations. The little TT is actually much better, with outlets on both sides and at the head of the bed. The only awkward location is the dinette outlet is under the top of the table, so for frequently plugged devices (e.g., laptop) I have an extension cord.
We don’t spend a lot of time hooked to power, so outlets aren’t a big issue.
I’m much more concerned that our new 5th wheel didn’t have any simple USB. They are all 120v receptacles with converters. 12V USB is efficient, cheap, and useable anytime.
Emily,
I’ve generally noticed that the lower priced rv’s have this issue. We had a Fleetwood Tioga once that had the outlets mounted on cabinet bottoms. -Not practical at all. Plus I have arthritis in my shoulders which makes reaching them tough. Besides, You have to look at cords running in front of windows.- Very poor.
I prefer outlets in the wall, not under the overhead kitchen cabinets like in my Outdoors RV. On campers with adzel the need to make the walls thicker so they can put them in the walls in the kitchen. They need to also put the kitchen area on different circuits. Had a Jayco with 50 amp service and they had the all kitchen, exterior and even the fridge on one circuit. Didn’t know it till I had the coffee brewing inside, griddle turned on outside an fridge kick the circuit breaker. RV manufactures should also provide schematics of the A/C and D/C circuits. Did you ever see how they have the wiring hooked to the outlets. Wires even seem to be on the thin side. All RV’s should be 50 amp .
We have a 2024 Forest River sandpiper destination, RV. The outlets on both sides of the bed are not in the right spot. When we replaced the mattress from a king size because it was too hard to make the bed and we couldn’t use the outlets! we switched to a queen size which is a thicker one. so now we’re able to reach them! no logic at all!
We bought a Lance travel trailer for our first/last hard side after having Jayco pop ups for over 25 years. We spent over 2 years attending shows, visiting dealerships to choose what we felt best suited our needs for retirement and travel. We chose Lance because we found their attention to the little things (outlet placement as one!) to be better than most other brands. We have outlets on both sides of the bed, three in the galley, two under the dinette and a well placed outlet in the bathroom. There are also outlets outside as well as one in the outdoor kitchen.
Go Lance!!
2013 Dutch Star, plenty of outlets, some in odd places like inside medicine cabinets (also outside under them) and in kitchen on the bottom of cabinets.
In our 2020 Newmar Ventana, the sockets are mostly in good locations but they need more sockets for each plug, especially more USB sockets. Very often, a device has a huge transformer plug which makes other sockets in the same assembly impossible to use. We have added socket multipliers, some of which include USB sockets, to compensate. We also purchased some very long USB-C to USB-C cables with multiple end adapters for USB-A, etc. which gives us improved flexibility. CPAP is OK with sockets on both sides of the bed. There are even sockets in the basement for outdoor use. But we keep in mind that when adding plugged in devices, even our 50A service could become the final limit.
Thank you for the question, Emily! Yes, we have numerous electric and USB outlets and they are well-placed in our RV. We have a 2022 Newmar New Aire. Have a great day and safe travels!
Except for two outlets by our back window and one on a bedroom cabinet…all our outlets are horizontal and one is under (like on the underside) of a cabinet next to the sink, plus one in the ceiling above the cabinet in the bedroom. Our rig is a 2010 and I like to think that newer rigs MUST be more practical in their placement. I LOVE seeing the pop up outlets on some rigs. Brilliant!!