Propane usage - Montana Owners Club

JimnJulie · 05-09-2006, 03:22 PM

We took delivery of our 3400RL last month and took it right out for a six day five night trip. This past weekend we went out for the second time and ran out of propane in one of the tanks. 6 nights and a whole tank of propane seems quite out of the ordinary. Is this a usual usage or should I look deeper?

Searchers · 05-09-2006, 03:32 PM

That seems excessive to me unless your furnace was running a lot of the time. I'm curious about your truck. I can't quite tell from the picture whether it's an extended cab or crew cab short box. Also do you have a slider hitch or have you found the new cap on the Montana negated the need for one?

Don

JH Sechelt · 05-09-2006, 03:50 PM

In December we used a 30 lb bottle in 3 nights. In April we used 21lbs in 3 nights 4 days.
If you use the furnace much, you can watch the gas gage go down right in front of your eyes.
These units have a very high out put furnace and they use a lot of propane.

Don, I blew thier piture up & it is a supercab short box, I like the colors
J&D

Lstierw · 05-09-2006, 04:38 PM

Hi Jim and Julie...depending on the temperature at night, propane can be very expensive and we do live in our Monty full time. Important when you can to use 50 amp service and use electric heaters to offset the propane use. When we have been in colder weather (nights 20-30 degrees) we can replace a tank every 3-4 days.......Les

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by JimnJulie

We took delivery of our 3400RL last month and took it right out for a six day five night trip. This past weekend we went out for the second time and ran out of propane in one of the tanks. 6 nights and a whole tank of propane seems quite out of the ordinary. Is this a usual usage or should I look deeper?

mallardjusted · 05-09-2006, 07:35 PM

Five nights for one tank isn't too bad if you've had some cool nights, or if you've used a lot of hot water along with the heat.

Another possibility is that the dealer didn't have the tanks completely filled ....

ols1932 · 05-09-2006, 07:56 PM

If you picked up your rig from the dealer, the tanks aren't necessarily full. So, it could be a combination of things: tank not full, cold weather, thermostat set fairly high at night, etc. You are probably experiencing the norm. In cold weather, we set our thermostat for about 58° at night and we run about 6 days on a tank. Prices vary across the country. We paid $18.30 for 7 gal in Chico, CA about 2 weeks ago and just spent $12.32 for 7 gal in Sutherlin, OR. Go figure!

Orv

HamRad · 05-10-2006, 04:11 AM

JimnJulie,
I agree with most of the others..... If you ran your furnace much at all then you got a pretty good rate out of your tank. Especially if you were also using it for HWH and or refrig. Let us know what you think it ends up being. Good luck and happy camping.

HamRad

Gene Chaltry · 05-10-2006, 05:52 AM

If your running your furnace and or hot water heater on propane, you will run out a tank in about four or five days. Propane is $23.50 for 7 gal in Florida a couple of months ago.

Parrothead · 05-10-2006, 05:59 AM

If you used the oven and stove that would also use the propane. We use electric heaters and the fireplace to save on propane. Also an electric blanket can keep you comfortable without having the heater set at a higher temperature.
Happy trails.........................

cmp-shooter · 05-10-2006, 07:31 AM

Last month at OCEAN LAKES SC., WE USED A 30LB EVERY 3 DAYS= $25.00 each fill.. AND THAT TRANSLATES TO $15.00 WE PAID AT HOME IN MASSACHUSETTS........MUST HAVE BEEN A DELV CHG

sorry bout caps to lazy to retype.

JimnJulie · 05-10-2006, 09:08 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Searchers

That seems excessive to me unless your furnace was running a lot of the time. I'm curious about your truck. I can't quite tell from the picture whether it's an extended cab or crew cab short box. Also do you have a slider hitch or have you found the new cap on the Montana negated the need for one?

Don

JimnJulie · 05-10-2006, 09:12 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Searchers

That seems excessive to me unless your furnace was running a lot of the time. I'm curious about your truck. I can't quite tell from the picture whether it's an extended cab or crew cab short box. Also do you have a slider hitch or have you found the new cap on the Montana negated the need for one?

Don

Thanks, that is what I am thinking. The furnace ranquite a bit (I thought) (Julie didn't). Anyway, it is an xtended cab with the short box. I went with a slider, but have found that I really don't need to extend it. The new front of the trailer is cut away just enough. I just had to try it out, so when I backed into the driveway one time, I had Julie hold her hand (now that was smart) between the cab and the trailer. It had about two inches of clearance. Love it.

JimnJulie · 05-10-2006, 09:15 AM

Thanks to all of you. I could not find any leak and with all of your experience being about what we experienced I am happy now. Love, Love, Love the trailer.
jnj

Army Guy · 05-10-2006, 09:43 AM

Has anyone put an "extend a stay" and used an external source? I am planning on doing this and was wondering what the thoughts are.

JH Sechelt · 05-10-2006, 09:46 AM

Good looking rig Don,

As you can see We have a crew cab short box. I've never had to slide my hitch back either, with this trailer or the last trailer, and I mounted the center of the hitch 4" ahead of the rear axle.

J&D

dsprik · 05-10-2006, 12:41 PM

Rick, I believe most use a 100# tank for extended stays. Many CGs have propane companys that regularly service "long time" RVers that stay in these parks this way. Especially in the early spring and late fall.

mobilrvn · 05-10-2006, 01:12 PM

If you are going to be using your furnace quite a bit, install a catalytic heater. They are extremely efficient and don't make any noise. Also might think about turning off your hot water heater at night (makes you a nice neighbor, too).

Montana Sky · 05-10-2006, 02:21 PM

I ran through one full tank in 6 days from using the furnace, hot water heater, and stove last month. I have found that electric space heaters work much better. The problem was trying to find some, nobody seems to carry them during the summer time. Between the fireplace heater and the heat strip in my bedroom a/c I was able to keep the coach warm enough to survive until I found a space heater. Now I am looking for another one...

sreigle · 05-10-2006, 04:55 PM

Jnj, I agree with the others that if the furnace ran a lot then 3 days is about right. But this time of year, even in Ohio, I wouldn't think the furnace runs that much. That rate is about what we get in Kansas City in December when the high is never out of the teens for a week or two.

Army Guy, yes, we do. In winter we connect to a 100lb bottle. We have the five foot hose. I used to have the 12 foot hose but it sprung a leak where it connects to a connector and I replaced it with the cheaper 5 foot hose. It is just barely long enough. I route the hose out the bottom of the propane locker. We have a connector with one outlet for the external bottle and another to connect a hose for the grille.

If you do this, turn off the 30 lb bottle on the side where the extend-a-stay is connected. Otherwise it will use the contents of both the large bottle and the 30 pounder before it declares itself empty and switches to the bottle on the other side. I like to keep this one bottle as a reserve, especially in frigid weather.

Be sure you get the extend-a-stay that connects to the old type valves as that seems to be what all the larger bottles are. At least those we've used in the past three winters.

Army Guy · 05-11-2006, 07:58 AM

Thanks for the info. It is about what I figured but wanted to hear other thoughts. We will be wintering in Kansas and will be going through propane. We even use elect. heaters and they do help.

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