L P gas consumption?

Hi! I'm not sure where to put this. We used the Elkridge this weekend and 6 AM Sunday Morning my wife wakes me up as said that its 55 degrees in the trailer. I go out and turn on the other LP tank. We have the auto change over but I like to know when a tank is empty so I dont use it until I see that a tank is low ( I have those little magnet gauges that stick on the bottom of the tank). Now this tank was just turned on during the last day of our last weekend trip, and we used on Friday night Saturday and it ran out on Sunday AM. So I guess what I'm getting at is, is this normal for this high of consumption? I do use the LP for thee fridge during transport to and from the campground. The fridge is plugged in to AC at home and we do use the LP and electric for hot water. Thanks in advance.

Brian

Re: L P gas cunsumption?

We just got through a 40lb tank in two weeks. The furnace has been on a lot lately and really drinks propane quickly. The furnace is not that efficient, and if you have campground electrical hookups and are not metered, then use the fireplace if you have one, or a small box heater if not, to save on propane.

Re: L P gas cunsumption?

we made it about 10 days in colorado. it was 25 at night and 60s during the day. since our furnace wouldnt work with the genny on we would leave everything off and wake up to about 44 in the trailer. when id wake up at 6 i would get the furnace going, wife would get up about 8 and then wed start the genny and run the rest of the morning off space heaters.

still have 1/4 tank of propane. frig was on auto, but ran mostly on gas. cooked several meals and even baked lasagna

brett

as mentioned, the furnance likes the gas. one of the perks is that in our trailer, there is a register that blows the hot air in the basement to help keep the tanks for freezing

Re: L P gas cunsumption?

Thanks for the replies. However I used a 30# tank in 2 1/2 days. I know that the efficiency is low in the furnace but... Should I maybe look for a leak or something?

Brian

Brian, Have you had this RV long? Have you had the tanks filled or are they on the dealer fill from when you picked up the rig? I've heard of situations where the dealer either doesn't fill the tanks or only fills them partially. I don't know how much LP is in the tanks from the factory. So maybe you weren't starting out with full tanks???

Ray LeTourneau said:

Brian, Have you had this RV long? Have you had the tanks filled or are they on the dealer fill from when you picked up the rig? I've heard of situations where the dealer either doesn't fill the tanks or only fills them partially. I don't know how much LP is in the tanks from the factory. So maybe you weren't starting out with full tanks???

Click to expand...

That would be my guess, as well. The first time we used our rig it got cold and I thought the tanks were full from the dealer. Wrong. Fortunately, it was daylight and a propane dealer was only a couple of miles away. First mistake, though, is relying on a magnetic indicator. The only thing I've found them capable of was transferring money from my wallet to a cash register. If he has an auto-transfer regulator with an indicator, he would be better served using it like it's designed. He has to look at the magnet periodically, so looking at the indicator should not be a problem.

Much of how fast a propane tank empties depends on the temperature the thermostat is set on. If you try to warm the rig to 75 degrees you will go through propane much quicker than if you have it set on 68. Also if the outside temp is 30 versus 50 makes a big difference. Several years ago while spending some time in New Jersey in March we would go through a 30 pound tank in 2 1/2 days. Then we bought a Pelonis ceramic space heater (at Camping World) and used it to supplement the furnace and the 30 pound tank would last a week and half. So find you a good ceramic space heater (I recommend that Pelonis heater) and you can stop using so much propane.

i do most of my camping during hunting season, and since in montana it gets below freezing during this time. for some reason my regulator freezes up and well lets just say what a pain (almost frost bitten)ant suggestions other than dont camp in winter???

A short heat tape with a thermostat would fix the problem of a freezing regulator. Be sure the bottles arn't over filled as well.

We use the campground electric for everything we can including electric heaters to assist in the heating with the furnace turned on to where it will call for heat if needed in the morning. We switch the W.H. on electric either the night before or any time we get up early in the morning. Usually we get enough hot water for a couple of showers and let it heat some before doing dishes. Didn't somebody say once that running the furnace flat out for 11 hours will go through a tank of fuel? The only time our fridge is on gas is when we're on the road traveling. If your not sure if the tank is empty you might light a kitchen burner and see how long it burns.

I am thinking that you could do a rough estimate of
How long a 20 lb bottle of propane might last. Just takes a little math. Assume there are about 20,000'btu's in a pound of
Propane. That would mean About 400,000 btus in a 20 lb tank. Now if you have a 40,000 btu furnace my simple mind says about 10 hOurs of non stop run time. 20,000 btu furnace would give you bOut 20 hours. Or simPly one hour per pound. Does that make sense?

Re: L P gas cunsumption?

If you want to check for a leak, close the valve on the propane tank. Switch off all propane users in the RV. Water heater, furnace, refrigerator, etc. The selector valve that points toward one or the other propane tanks has an indicator window that will show green or red. When you have pressure in the system, the indicator will be green. If you close the propane tank valve, the indicator will remain green for quite some time unless there is a leak in the system. If you are not using any propane and the indicator goes to red, you have a leak somewhere in the system. If the indicator remains green, that indicates you still have pressure in the system and therefore no leak. Ken

Re: L P gas cunsumption?

Brian_in_PA, we have the same challange with a high usage of propane. Pretty certain we were going through 1 30-lb bottle in 2 1/2 to 3 days after which it switches over to the 2nd 30-lb bottle. Our most recent outing at Thanksgiving, was in 40-46 degree weather, where we ran the propane furnace and thermostat at 68-degrees, while grandkids ran in and out the door. We also had the fireplace heater running full time. Since then, to temper this high flow, I'm following the advice of other members by suplementing this problem by 1) keeping the thermostat turned down to where we are comfortable in sweatshirts, 2) using the fireplace along with 2 more electric heaters. Seems like the ceramic and oil filled options are working well; and 3) blocking 2 of the 3 cieling vents with 4" thick foam blocks. We are going out over NewYear's for 4 days in southern Washington State; no grandkids going this time. I'm hoping for something better, and I'm sure we will see better.

Re: L P gas cunsumption?

Brian_in_PA said:

Thanks for the replies. However I used a 30# tank in 2 1/2 days. I know that the efficiency is low in the furnace but... Should I maybe look for a leak or something?

Brian

Click to expand...

The Elk Ridge has less insulation than some of the other Heartland 5th wheels. 1-30# tank in 2-3 days is not really excessive. I go through about the same with Our Big Country during real cold weather...Don