Living in a 5th Wheel in Kentucky

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
M

mauiboosue

Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2021
Posts
11
Location
Ky
Hi Everyone ,l bought a 5th wheel to live in,l am a widow,and retired,l was tired of living in Apartments and wanted my own space,but now a month later l am having second thoughts ,l love every bit of it but finding out propane runs out to fast,l am going to have a 100 gal tank connected but am afraid it will cost a lot in the winter,l am putting skirting around the bottom,and insulation the windows,it is just me and my dog Ms Lilly ,does anyone knows how much it will take to heat for the winter? my camper is a 30 amp,it is comfortable and roomy enough just worry the propane will break me,thanks for any advice
 
Welcome to the forum.
Are you on your own land or in a campground? If in a campground is the electricity part of the monthly rent?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You should use an electric blanket while sleeping and don't use propane to heat the entire fiver.

Are you taking navy showers? If not then you should since a long shower just uses a lot of propane. I live in central Florida and I use a small Rhino exchange tank, which is 15 gallons, and it lasts me 6 weeks.
 
They call those 20lb bottles, although you only get 15 from an exchange. There was a discussion of exchange vs. refill a while back. I think it's like 4.7 gallons.
I carry 3 30lb bottles for use with the stay a while setup on my coach. The 30lb bottle holds 7 gallons.

Anyone ever rear ends my Jeep while I'm traveling is going to die. I carry the 3 propane bottles and a 6 gallon gas can on a hitch rack on the back of the Jeep.
 
Hi mauiboosue and welcome. RVs are notoriously hard to heat & cool - they aren't well insulated and have lots of air leaks. Skirting around the outside and extra insulation where practical is a must to reduce energy expenses. Definitely put insulation on the skylights (they make 14x14 insulation pillows just for that) and maybe some of the windows too.

Depending on electricity pricing in your area, it may well be more cost effective to heat with electric space heater than the propane furnace. Your 30A power limits that choice somewhat (a typical electric space heater uses 12-13 amps), but maybe you could run a second power cord from your external electric panel and plug a heater into that.

Propane is usually cheaper in bulk, so a big (100-300 lb) tank may help your costs.

You didn't mention where you are located, so we can't even guess what winter heating demand will be like.

Plan on wearing a sweater during the day and using flannel sheets and an electric blanket at night rather than setting the thermostat to a warm & comfy temperature.
 
Agreed with the others, you might need to think differently about staying warm when needed -- rather than constantly running the furnace at 70+ on propane. You'll need to keep track of your monthly propane cost (currently) and compare to what electricity would cost (assuming you are hooked up to a power source) for substituting or supplementing with space heaters. "How much will it cost to heat for winter" will depend largely on all those factors, and the insulating methods you can put in place.
 
Winter is only part of the problem,, summer will bring hot and humid conditions that you will have to deal with and it will also be expensive .. RVs ARE NOT CHEAP TO LIVE IN.! They were not designed or intended to be lived in 100% of the time,, that's why they can be built to a different building code and designed to be moved often and not hooked to permanent utilities as a house is.. Out of necessity, they have to be lighter, smaller,, and built for different reasons of sale and use.. Many many have learned what you will and we hear and see it all the time..>>>:confused:Dan
 
Last edited:
Rene T said:
Welcome to the forum.
Are you on your own land or in a campground? If in a campground is the electricity part of the monthly rent?
Click to expand...
l am at a mobile home park ,they also rent out camper lots
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Hi mauiboosue and welcome. RVs are notoriously hard to heat & cool - they aren't well insulated and have lots of air leaks. Skirting around the outside and extra insulation where practical is a must to reduce energy expenses. Definitely put insulation on the skylights (they make 14x14 insulation pillows just for that) and maybe some of the windows too.

Depending on electricity pricing in your area, it may well be more cost effective to heat with electric space heater than the propane furnace. Your 30A power limits that choice somewhat (a typical electric space heater uses 12-13 amps), but maybe you could run a second power cord from your external electric panel and plug a heater into that.

Propane is usually cheaper in bulk, so a big (100-300 lb) tank may help your costs.

You didn't mention where you are located, so we can't even guess what winter heating demand will be like.

Plan on wearing a sweater during the day and using flannel sheets and an electric blanket at night rather than setting the thermostat to a warm & comfy temperature.
Click to expand...
l live in Kentucky,
Utclmjmpr said:
Winter is only part of the problem,, summer will bring hot and humid conditions that you will have to deal with and it will also be expensive .. RVs ARE NOT CHEAP TO LIVE IN.! They were not designed or intended to be lived in 100% of the time,, that's why they can be built to a different building code and designed to be move often and not hooked to permanent utilities as a house is.. Out of necessity, they have to be lighter, smaller,, and built for different reasons of sale and use.. Many many have learned what you will and we hear and see it all the time..>>>:confused:Dan
Click to expand...
thank you
 
scottydl said:
Agreed with the others, you might need to think differently about staying warm when needed -- rather than constantly running the furnace at 70+ on propane. You'll need to keep track of your monthly propane cost (currently) and compare to what electricity would cost (assuming you are hooked up to a power source) for substituting or supplementing with space heaters. "How much will it cost to heat for winter" will depend largely on all those factors, and the insulating methods you can put in place.
Click to expand...
thank you,
 
Spent a winter in ours once. We used as much as 25 gallons a week. RVs are not cheap to own, maintain or heat/cool. Their insulation values are usually about half what you will find in a house. Sadly you did not come here and ask first. Oh well, live and learn. You would have been much better off with an older used mfg home or a park model. Both use better appliances, way more insulation and a ton more space for the $$ you spent.
 
If you are not moving around any, just staying in one spot, why not purchase a mobile home instead. They are better insulated and set up better for fulltiming.
 
Mauiboosue,

Have you been to the Noah's Ark display or Mammoth caves?

If so, any opinions on either place? Maybe campground opinions near those two spots?
 
Mammoth caves is nice,going to see Noah,s Ark this summer,l have found seen some nice camp grounds ,my brother has a place in the county he has offer to let me park the camper,there is a real nice camping spot in Boonesborough Kentucky l been there a lot ,it has beautiful trails
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 1,053 (members: 27, guests: 1,026)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,924
Posts
1,387,522
Members
137,674
Latest member
SPK550
Back
Top Bottom