Quote:
Originally Posted by ctwebb
We have the Onan 5500 on propane, We dry camp two or three times a year. We replaced the 30lbs bottles with 40lbs. We can get about 14 hours on one bottle. That costs about 25 dollars each to fill. We also take two extra bottles that we swap out during the stay. We can get three to four days with four bottles . Propane here in Tennessee is right around $3.00 per gallon. a 40lbs bottle holds just over 9 gallons. Long story short, Its very convenient and we really enjoy ours.
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Can't argue with your logic, but any prolonged use, just not practical . Three or four days , and four large bottles of propane kind of confirms what I said in my post. Beyond four days, then you have to be chasing down a propane source , and unlike gas, its not on every corner. So as you say if you are planning a three or four day dry camping trip ,great beyond that, well now the convience just isn't there
IMO having both the Onan ,and a single Honda 2000 is the best of both worlds, but there is the expense of both.
I think the OP just needs to know that they burn propane pretty fast, and he is hauling 14 gals of propane, thats approximately 14 hours of generator use, nothing else ,no cooking, no furnace ,no water heater . Unless like you hauling around a bunch of propane bottles, just not the answer for most.
I think the onboard is great for that two or three hour emergency, beyond that I think is pretty impratical for any amount of prolonged dry camping.
OP mentioned convince of use, well it doesn't take much to start a Honda 2000, and at 4-6 hours run time on .9 gallons of fuel, pretty tough to beat. Extended run time on a 6 gallon tank of fuel, well now you are looking at about 30 hours of use. My wife has no problem pouring gasoline ,nor starting a Honda generator. I just think the OP needs to know ALL the options.