How long does propane last?

[jymbee]

I realize there's just way too many variables to come to any conclusion, but we'll be departing shortly for our first long trip in our Class A and expect to be living in areas the first few days (winterized) with temps in the low 30s or so. Wondering if anyone has a ballpark idea, perhaps based on their similar experiences, of how long our 25# propane tank will keep us warm starting with a full tank before we need to refill? Assumption is that we'll be pretty conservative with the temps probably keeping the thermostat in the low/mid sixties at most.

 

[PJ Stough]

After our experience in leaving Iowa on November 3, and spending some cold nights, down to about 19 a couple of nights in Oklahoma, your propane should last at a minimum a couple of weeks.

 

[Jim Godward]

First of all with the temp in the low 30s, you should not have a freezing problem if you have heat in the coach.  Secondly, your dash air will do fine and if you have an auxiliary heater on the engine in the back under the bed you will have more heat than you need.  Finally, with the engine heat for dash etc. you should not need the furnace while traveling so your propane should last a relatively long time.

 

[jymbee]

After our experience in leaving Iowa on November 3, and spending some cold nights, down to about 19 a couple of nights in Oklahoma, your propane should last at a minimum a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the input. That's encouraging as I've read a few comments about how much propane the furnace consumes and wanted some idea of what to expect. Of course we'll monitor everything and try to plan any needed refills to accommodate our travel plans.

 

[jymbee]

First of all with the temp in the low 30s, you should not have a freezing problem if you have heat in the coach.  Secondly, your dash air will do fine and if you have an auxiliary heater on the engine in the back under the bed you will have more heat than you need.  Finally, with the engine heat for dash etc. you should not need the furnace while traveling so your propane should last a relatively long time.

As it's below freezing at home presently, what we plan to do is to heat up coach to a comfortable temp before departing then yes, as you point out the dash heat should be sufficient while traveling until we're at the campsite. It wasn't so much the heat while traveling I was wondering about but rather the heat when parked at the campsite. We'll probably be at the first cold site for just a few days before heading south to more moderate temps.

 

[Rene T]

If you can keep your slide outs closed when you stop for the night, that will make a huge difference. Less square footage to heat.

 

[HappyWanderer]

Pick up an inexpensive ceramic heater, and you'll slash your propane use. We rarely use the furnace, and we're already paying for electricity at the campground.

 

[SLOweather]

You don't really indicate if this is dry camping or not. In any case, we always take at least one electric space heater with us. It will do OK on hookup AC for keeping our 31' moho warm most of the time, we run it whenever the generator is running, especially at shower time. It saved our bacon at the North Rim in October when the (tested before we left) furnace wouldn't run.

Speaking of which, if you are at all handy, and have a Suburban furncae, consider carrying a spare module/control board. Even if you don't know how to install it when you need it, someone else in camp might. I would have paid $100% markup for one that trip. I've replaced at least 3 in different coaches in the last 30 years.

Also, at least at night, we put up a piece of Reflectix inside the windshield to keep the heat in. I have enough to do the rest of the windows, too. We did that in our 88 Suncruiser when dry camping and skiing.

You should look into the upholstered foam plugs (look like a seat cushion) for the roof vents too.

 

[SpencerPJ]

We travel and camp with a portable 1500W electric heater.  Does pretty good supplementing the propane. If you paid for electricity already for your overnight stay at a campground, why not use it.    I understand there might be a different opinion when you stay extended stay and get charged by the kilowatt.


This is similar to mine.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/PELONIS-1500-Watt-Infrared-Quartz-Electric-Space-Heater/1000108033

 

[ziplock]

When using a portable heater in your motorhome, do you have any other appliances,  such as  fridge,  lights, tv running  at the  same time?

I was wondering how many things you can run at one time  with 30 or 50 amps? Shore electric, or generator, and is that part different also?

Perhaps there is a link I can  look at that tells what all you  can plug in while the electric heater is  plugged in?

I love this forum!

 

[Lou Schneider]

I realize there's just way too many variables to come to any conclusion, but we'll be departing shortly for our first long trip in our Class A and expect to be living in areas the first few days (winterized) with temps in the low 30s or so. Wondering if anyone has a ballpark idea, perhaps based on their similar experiences, of how long our 25# propane tank will keep us warm starting with a full tank before we need to refill? Assumption is that we'll be pretty conservative with the temps probably keeping the thermostat in the low/mid sixties at most.

To estimate how much propane you're using, it's just a matter of doing an energy audit.  What appliances do you have on, for how long, and how much gas do they use?

Gas appliances are rated by their input BTUs, how many British Thermal Units they consume.  A 30,000 BTU furnace consumes 30,000 BTUs per hour, a 6000 BTU stove burner uses 6,000 BTUs per hour, etc.  You can find the BTU rating on the appliance's nameplate or in the instruction manual.

A gallon of propane contains about 91,000 BTUs per gallon, so it's just a matter of dividing the BTUs consumed by the appliance into 91,000 to get it's consumption rate.

A 30,000 BTU furnace will consume about 1/3 gallon of propane for each hour it's flame is on, a 6,000 BTU stove burner will use about 1/15th gallon per hour, etc.

 

[jymbee]

If you can keep your slide outs closed when you stop for the night, that will make a huge difference. Less square footage to heat.

Good point. And yep, that's what we do on a quick stopover at Walmart e.g.

 

[jymbee]

You don't really indicate if this is dry camping or not. In any case, we always take at least one electric space heater with us. It will do OK on hookup AC for keeping our 31' moho warm most of the time, we run it whenever the generator is running, especially at shower time. It saved our bacon at the North Rim in October when the (tested before we left) furnace wouldn't run.

Speaking of which, if you are at all handy, and have a Suburban furncae, consider carrying a spare module/control board. Even if you don't know how to install it when you need it, someone else in camp might. I would have paid $100% markup for one that trip. I've replaced at least 3 in different coaches in the last 30 years.

Also, at least at night, we put up a piece of Reflectix inside the windshield to keep the heat in. I have enough to do the rest of the windows, too. We did that in our 88 Suncruiser when dry camping and skiing.

You should look into the upholstered foam plugs (look like a seat cushion) for the roof vents too.

After reading about the foam plugs you mention-- on this forum if I remember correctly-- we did just that. It does make a BIG difference!

 

[jymbee]

A 30,000 BTU furnace will consume about 1/3 gallon of propane for each hour it's flame is on, a 6,000 BTU stove burner will use about 1/15th gallon per hour, etc.

Thanks-- that's very helpful info and gives me some idea of what to expect when running our 34K BTU furnace

 

[Larry N.]

Jymbee, are you sure that's 25 lbs rather than 25 gallons? Looking at your avatar pic (and the fact you say class A) that's not much, about the size of the propane bottle on a BBQ grill. Most coaches I've seen similar to yours would be closer to 25 gallons. Since propane weighs around 4 1/4 per gallon that would give you around 106 lbs, a more reasonable figure for a class A.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Larry beat me to it - the LP tank in that coach is surely rated in gallons, not lbs.  20-25 gallons would be a typical LP tank for a Class A.

 

[grashley]

ZIPLOCK:

A 30A power supply gives you exactly that - 30 A.  Typical electric heaters draw about 12 A, or over ⅓ of the available power.  If you are using an electric water heater, the microwave and a hair dryer at the same time, you will trip the breaker!  Use any two, and you should be okay.

A 50 A power supply is actually 50A at 240V, or TWO  50 A at 120V lines, or 100A at 120V.  While certainly not unlimited, you can pretty much use what you want!

 

[WILDEBILL308]

Thanks-- that's very helpful info and gives me some idea of what to expect when running our 34K BTU furnace

This is a good time to keep a record of how long it will last. I am feeding 2 propane furnaces and could easily go 3 weeks of below freezing weather. Just keep an eye on your gage (don't trust it to much as they are notoriously inaccurate) when it gets down around 1/4 tank you might start looking to fill it up.
Run your dash heat on recirculate and if it isn't warm enough turn the furnace on and be warm.
One thing to consider when using a ceramic heater and not your furnace. You don't get any heat to the whet bay/storage bays if the furnace isn't working and blowing warm air.
I am also betting you have a 25 gal propane tank.
Looking forward to your report on the trip.
Bill

 

[jymbee]

Jymbee, are you sure that's 25 lbs rather than 25 gallons? Looking at your avatar pic (and the fact you say class A) that's not much, about the size of the propane bottle on a BBQ grill. Most coaches I've seen similar to yours would be closer to 25 gallons. Since propane weighs around 4 1/4 per gallon that would give you around 106 lbs, a more reasonable figure for a class A.

Well... uh-- would you believe that the symbol "#" is understood to mean gallons here in Upstate NY. No? Not buyin' that??  :-\

Ok, ok... you caught me. Confusing my gallons with lbs.  Thanks for straightening me out as I wouldn't want to hear any snide comments from the person topping off our tank at the next refill.

 

[jymbee]

This is a good time to keep a record of how long it will last. I am feeding 2 propane furnaces and could easily go 3 weeks of below freezing weather. Just keep an eye on your gage (don't trust it to much as they are notoriously inaccurate) when it gets down around 1/4 tank you might start looking to fill it up.
Run your dash heat on recirculate and if it isn't warm enough turn the furnace on and be warm.
One thing to consider when using a ceramic heater and not your furnace. You don't get any heat to the whet bay/storage bays if the furnace isn't working and blowing warm air.
I am also betting you have a 25 gal propane tank.
Looking forward to your report on the trip.
Bill

Yep, as you can see I've been caught w/ my # vs. gallons mixup.  Good point re. the bay/storage not benefiting from a heat source such as a ceramic. Also I do plan to keep pretty detailed records of all expenses in order to understand just what costs are involved and what to expect with regard to propane usage and such.

Looks like the overnight lows by the end of this week and beginning of next at our first destination (Columbus, OH) will be as low as 23 one night-- IF you can believe the weather forecast. Headed south after that so just trying to decide whether it would be safe to de-winterize in OH, or wait until we get further south with somewhat warmer temps. Next stop Nashville and even there they're saying overnight lows will be upper 20s for the first part of that stay.