Propane (How much do you use ? )

[Dano]

I was just wondering how long does a tank last. As you see I have the 3000RK and use two tanks a week min. Weve been living in ours working on the house. Temps. at mid 20's at night & 50 at high.

[Montana_4221]

Dano,
I don't full-time but I would think that the length of time for propane to last would be in direct porportion to usage. Of course usage would be determined by temperature, t/stat setting and a number of other factors. I'm sure some full-time people will be along with more info. One thing I've noticed that some do is use a larger tank. That probably won't reduce consumption but would reduce the number of trips to refill. You could also suppliment with electric heat. Just use caution to keep enough heat in the underbelly to avoid freezing.

[Dano]

OK Serenity, Lets get more Specific, We love to cook, Water heater on gas(were only hooked to 15amp.) And I keep the heat around 65-67. And do not use a space heater.

[ols1932]

We full time and use a 30# bottle every 4 days when dry camping. If parked with full hookups, we use a bottle about ever 6-7 days. But this is not in real severe weather. Coldest we've been in is +5 °F.

[HamRad]

Dano,
We do not fulltime but that usage sounds about right according to what I've seen. Steve and Vicki ---- sreigle---- should be along shortly and they can probably give you a better idea. They fulltime and do so in some weather similar to what you describe.

A larger tank on a temp basis as suggested would probably save a lot of fill-ups! Good luck.

HamRad

[adelmoll]

We full time and so far we have stayed mostly in places that have electricity. We only use about one 30 gal a month. But remember, we are following the sun and out of the cold. FINALLY. We turn our fireplace on early in the morning for awhile, use propane for the hot water and electric for the rest. The coldest we have been in our Monty is 25 degrees and that was only for a short time so.... To answer your question, it depends on a lot of factors.

[Northstar]

We used both tanks in seven days during cold weather in Alaska. The temps were in the teens. We were on 30 amps and hadn't started using space heaters until later. So your consumption sounds about right--6 or 7 days. If staying a month or more a larger tank would be better.

[Montana_1424]

I am doing the same thing, fulltimeing while my house is being built. With the hot water on Gas, and we dont cook in there a lot at all, heat at 68-70 degrees, we go through the two 30# tanks and one 20# in a week. tomorroww, we are having a 100# delivered so we dont have to fill as much. It is cold here too, 20 and 30 degrees.
We also use aour fireplave during the day to help, as we are hooked to 30 AMP, but we turn it off at night. The heater seems to cycle enough to keep the underbelly warm.

[dsprik]

Can you get a gauge for the 100# tanks, as switching to the larger tank, which we also plan to do, negates the indicators?

[Montana_4221]

Dano,
If there is any way to get 30 amp service hooked up a small electric heater or fireplace if you have one may cut your consumption some.

[drifus]

Here in KS we are using about 50/55 gals a month, water heater on Ele. temps at that time were 0-50 average 30. Thermo is set at 68.

[Dano]

I'm looking into getting more power down there (on my dock about 100yds frome the house) I did'nt dream I was gonna buy a rv when I ran #12 wire down there. I guess I'll have to rent that trencher again and run larger wire to get 30amp power.

[Lstierw]

There is no doubt that it can be expensive. We try to keep a small heater in our bedroom and keep the heat turned down in the living room unless it is super cold and then you have to make sure that you warm up the basement enough to keep the water pipes from freezing................

[sreigle]

That seems a bit high usage to me. The fastest we've ever used one 30 lb. tank is 3 days and we had lows in the mid to upper teens and highs in the upper 20's with no space heater. I'd expect a tank under Dano's situation to last a week, or close to it. However, a lot of cooking might be causing the heavier usage.

That said, we were going through a 100lb tank in a little over a week when we had lows in single digits and highs ranging from 11 to 23 or so.

By the way, I found out recently the basement storage area does get heat from the furnace and the pipes there don't freeze. When we had the frozen pipes recently and ran the furnace at 72 24x7 for a couple of days it got very warm in the basement storage area, enough the aluminum frame in that area was very warm to the touch. Before then I assumed there was no heat there but I was once again wrong. I had already insulated the pipes in the basement before discovering this.

[dsprik]

Steve, but at least your covered if something unexpected ever happened to the propane situation, and you suddenly lost your ability to heat the basement - especially if you and Vicki are out at the time. Oh yeah, I forgot... nothing like that EVER happens to us MOC campers...

In the meantime... I guess your pipes won't overheat now either?

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by dsprik

Can you get a gauge for the 100# tanks, as switching to the larger tank, which we also plan to do, negates the indicators?

Dave, you will want the 100 pounder to go through your regulator so the red flag will work the same as for the smaller tanks. Also, I've found that in cold weather the outside of the tank will have frost on the part that still has propane. It's a very good indicator how much remains. I didn't see it every day but did in subfreezing weather.

You can get a kit with the hose and fittings you need from many RV dealers and from Camping World. Many 100 lb tanks are the old type, not with the opd. They have the left-hand thread, so be sure that's the fittings you get. All of the ones we've used were the old type.

[sreigle]

quote:Originally posted by dsprik

Steve, but at least your covered if something unexpected ever happened to the propane situation, and you suddenly lost your ability to heat the basement - especially if you and Vicki are out at the time. Oh yeah, I forgot... nothing like that EVER happens to us MOC campers...

In the meantime... I guess your pipes won't overheat now either?

No, they probably won't overheat but I did find a very nice side benefit, at least during cold weather. On our model the water heater is at the extreme rear of the coach. In subfreezing weather by the time hot water gets to the shower and vanity in the bathroom it is hot but not **real** hot. More like luke-hot. Ok for shaving and showering but not as hot as I'd like. Since I insulated those pipes the water is **very** hot when it arrives upstairs. I want my hot water hot!

[dsprik]

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Dave, you will want the 100 pounder to go through your regulator so the red flag will work the same as for the smaller tanks. Also, I've found that in cold weather the outside of the tank will have frost on the part that still has propane. It's a very good indicator how much remains. I didn't see it every day but did in subfreezing weather.

You can get a kit with the hose and fittings you need from many RV dealers and from Camping World. Many 100 lb tanks are the old type, not with the opd. They have the left-hand thread, so be sure that's the fittings you get. All of the ones we've used were the old type.

Steve, are you also filling both your, 30# tanks and running them concurrently with the 100#? I can't visualize that indicator. That will work on any size tank?

That is a great side benefit, with the ability to keep that water hot. I really hate lukewarm water. This may also have been why your basement was so warm before you insulated... extra heat from your hot water lines.

[sreigle]

The regulator flag works on pressure so it doesn't matter the size of tank. I have it attached to the hose for the starboard (right) side tank, the one where the regulator is. But my 30 pounder on that side is turned off. The 30 pounder on the port side is turned on and is used as backup to the 100 pounder. If I had the 30 pounder on the right side turned on then the flag wouldn't go up until both are empty on that side, I think. Hope that helps.

[dsprik]

OK, I think I got a picture of that in my mind,Steve. Thanks.