Is there such a thing as a 100-amp pedestal?

I think it’s a version of the name game, nothing more!

From a reader…

We just arrived in Georgia on our latest trip and was poking around on the Georgia State Parks website looking for future campgrounds when I noticed this:

“Upgraded Campsites: Check out our FULL hook-up 100 AMP service campsites”

What on earth does a 100-amp outlet look like? Or maybe they give you two 50-amp ones? I’ll report back if I see one. —Jim

My answer

Dear Jim, Jim, bo-bim
Banana-fana fo-fim
Fee-fi-mo-mim
Jim! Hey Jim! 

Well, it’s sort of the Name Game, I think…. (Sorry, but I couldn’t resist.)

There’s really no such thing as a 100-amp campground outlet, even though a 50/30/20-amp pedestal should be able to supply a total of 100 amps of current at 120 volts. But it depends how you measure it!

Scenario #1

That is, there’s 50 amperes of current available on each of the two hot legs, which we’ll call L1 (Leg 1) and L2 (Leg 2). And if you add 50 + 50 you get 100 amps of combined current at 120 volts, but it has to be divided so neither leg draws more than 50 amperes of current.

Scenario #2

Or it’s possible that they put in a single pedestal box with a pair of 50-amp outlets for two campsites. So you could say that 50 + 50 = 100 amperes.

Scenario #3

But there’s another possible reason for this name game as well. You could also say that this pedestal has a 50-amp outlet, plus a 30-amp outlet, plus a 20-amp outlet. If it was wired as part of a 200-amp electrical service loop (pretty common), then in theory you could plug in a 50-amp shore power cord, a 30-amp shore power cord and a 20-amp extension cord ALL AT THE SAME TIME. So you could think of this as 50 + 30 + 20 = 100-amp service.

I did find a few catalogs that listed a 20/30/50-amp pedestal as a 100-amp service, so maybe this is where they got the description for their website. But that’s a bit confusing for most RV owners, I think.

It’s all in the name!

So, it’s likely this is just a standard 50/30/20-amp pedestal, and there’s nothing special about this campground, it’s only some name confusion. But I’ll be on the lookout for 100-amp pedestals in the wild! 😁

OK, everyone. Remember that electricity is a useful and powerful force, so we all need to pay attention to safety precautions while using it.

Let’s play safe out there…. Mike