Filling a fixed MH Propane tank

[WILDEBILL308]

Rv furnaces are big users of propane. Somethin you can do is add a "extend a stay" adapter so you can run off a extra/external tank. That way you don't have to move your RV to get propane in cold weather.
Bill

 

[Tiercel]

That translates to one grill tank every 3 days.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

That’s encouraging. That clearly makes my battery for the blower the weakest link in that chain.

 

[darsben]

A 20 lb tank holds 20 lbs. that is 80% of the total capacity of the tank

 

[NY_Dutch]

Question is did the last guy fill it correctly? Did he open the bleed valve when filling? If not that may be the reason for the short fill

The "bleed valve" is actually the "Fixed Liquid Level Gauge" and is only used to indicate an 80% fill. The tank can be filled to that level even with the valve closed, but that means depending only on the overfill prevention device on the fill port to stop the fill at the proper point instead of it acting only as a safety device.

 

[Charlie 5320]

My 313 Challenger has a 20 gallon tank on it. I stopped the FS gas supplier earlier this summer and had my MT tank filled. Cost me $57.00. I don't know if I left the furnace on or the refrigerator, but my tank was MT when I was getting ready to go visit my friend in Murfreesboro,Tn. Didn't end up going because of the Covid. My Dr says I should refrain going for a while.

 

[Isaac-1]

Telling how long propane will last given vague conditions is hard to answer. I will tell you that on a trip to Arizona in October of 2019 that we burned through almost 20 gallons of propane in 7 days, though use was variable with night time lows ranging from the low 40's down to 12F from before sunset until about 10am the next morning one night. Given how much the furnace ran, I suspect that one 12F night with wind blowing accounted for a large fraction of the propane used. This also included propane for cooking, running the absorption refrigerator, and the propane water heater with 5 of those 7 nights being off grid camping.

p.s. may have been 8 days from propane fill up to fill up

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

LP tank and cylinder water capacities are always stated in gallons since water weighs about twice as much as liquid propane and would be confusing.

Right, Dutch, though we are talking about an RV brochure and not a DOT-approved tank label. But I agree that must be LP weight. As an aside, WC is used as the gallonage spec because water isn't compressible while LP is. Originally it was a tax thing - (WC x water-weight) + Tare Wt (TW) = the total tank weight.

 

[Lou Schneider]

The writing on the tag seemed near invisible. I tried to do rub on a sheet of paper but got nothing. I finally photographed with a bright light at a sharp angle.

The tank does have a WC of 12.1 gal.

I have close to 3/4 of a tank. What would be your guess on how long that would run a MH furnace I. 28 -30 degrees with some wind Not sure of the btu rating right now. It is a 29’ class C.

It's easy to figure out how much propane any gas appliance uses. All appliances have a tag giving their BTU consumption, it's just a matter of dividing that into the 90,000 BTUs contained in a gallon of propane.

For example, RV furnaces are sized between 20,000 - 30,000 BTUs. Dividing the BTU rating into 90,000 BTUs means it will use 1/4 to 1/3 gallon of propane per hour of operation.

 

[Kirk]

it will use 1/4 to 1/3 gallon of propane per hour of operation.

Outside temperature and quality of RV insulation will determine the amount of actual operation. How often will the furnace turn on and how long will it stay on?