Propane usage outrageous

southernlady5464

Well-known member
We’re full timing, heading south this next week. But been in western NC where the temps are finally typical for Nov. Most nights in the low 40’s, daytime until this week has been in the mid 60’s to 70’s. But we are going through propane like crazy.

We have 3 zones. The bedroom is on the heat pump. And we only use one zone in the living area. We also keep our fireplace running. Only using propane for the furnace on one zone. We had it set at 67, dropped it to 62. Yet we’ve gone thru 2 40 lb tanks in 4 to 5 days. Bedroom is set on 63. We don’t mind layering clothes but 62 is a bit much. Upping it to 66, our two tanks last about three days.

Our rig is almost all electric and hooked to shore power. We have our water heater on electric. Fridge is residential. No stove top, have an induction cooktop.

What can we check to see why we are going through so much propane so quickly.
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/69091-Propane-use

There are some suggestions here. Unlike your house, your trailer does not have the insulation to keep your inside temps that high and not use a goodly amount of propane. Most supplement with ceramic heaters.

You will find that your length of time with two bottles is about normal for most. If it gets into the 30s you could be looking at 3 days with supplemental heat.
 

southernlady5464

Well-known member
https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/69091-Propane-use

There are some suggestions here. Unlike your house, your trailer does not have the insulation to keep your inside temps that high and not use a goodly amount of propane. Most supplement with ceramic heaters.

You will find that your length of time with two bottles is about normal for most. If it gets into the 30s you could be looking at 3 days with supplemental heat.
Hard to believe that 80 lbs of propane for just one furnace would only last 2-3 days.

I read that thread but since ours only uses one furnace and nothing else, I was hoping for other things to check.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
I am confused by the zone comment. The furnace heats by blowing warm air through all ducts in the rig, it's not zoned. It's either on, or off.

40lb tanks means you have a Landmark? That rate seems about right.

We use a few electric heaters throughout the rig and keep our Big Country at about 64 at night, 67 during the day.

If you skirt the rig and and try to fill gaps around the slide seals, add insulating reflective bubblewrap insulation over the windows, that might help.

Also look into a system called "Cheapheat", an add on to your furnace that runs on electric only.


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sengli

Well-known member
What little camping we do in the late fall, we have found the 4 season hype about any of these new coaches is just that, its hype. Those slide seals dont seal up all the way. They are more a of barrier than a seal. When the wind kicks up and its cold out. trying to keep the rig warm and toasty is tuff. We do the same we run two space heaters, and the fireplace. The furnace still runs quite a bit.
 

southernlady5464

Well-known member
I am confused by the zone comment. The furnace heats by blowing warm air through all ducts in the rig, it's not zoned. It's either on, or off.

40lb tanks means you have a Landmark? That rate seems about right.

We use a few electric heaters throughout the rig and keep our Big Country at about 64 at night, 67 during the day.

Also look into a system called "Cheapheat", an add on to your furnace that runs on electric
Yeap, Landmark Charleston

It has three controls. Two in the living area and one in the bedroom. The bedroom is the only one with a heat pump setting.

The two controls in the living area led me to believe they controlled different areas of the living area. If it doesn’t matter, why have so many?

What brand electric heaters are you using? And thanks for the cheapheat suggestion.
 

Oregon_Camper

Well-known member
Fridge use is about 1.5 pounds per day.

Furnace use is about 1.5 pounds per hour, it does not matter what temperature it is set on it matters how long it runs.

Water Heater is about .5 pounds per hour.

Stove/oven not sure but it is in the range of .25 pounds per hour.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Yeap, Landmark Charleston

It has three controls. Two in the living area and one in the bedroom. The bedroom is the only one with a heat pump setting.

The two controls in the living area led me to believe they controlled different areas of the living area. If it doesn’t matter, why have so many?

What brand electric heaters are you using? And thanks for the cheapheat suggestion.

We have Vornado heaters. They do a very good job of circulating the heat in the room. In our case there is one heat vent in living room, one in kitchen, one in stairs. I have a Vornado on the island that helps circulate warm air in the largest "open space". We also use our fireplace.

We have another Vornado in the bedroom. It keeps the bedroom warm so we can lower the furnace setting overnight.

I don't know of any furnace capable of "zones" unless you have more than one furnace, which Heartland doesn't do.

BTW, our bedroom thermostat has a setting for "FURN" but for not do anything. Dometic does not have specific thermostats for various areas.


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southernlady5464

Well-known member
Fridge use is about 1.5 pounds per day.

Furnace use is about 1.5 pounds per hour, it does not matter what temperature it is set on it matters how long it runs.

Water Heater is about .5 pounds per hour.

Stove/oven not sure but it is in the range of .25 pounds per hour.
Fridge is residential
Water heater set on electric
No oven as we have microwave convection oven
Cooktop is induction

So total use is about 1.5 lbs an hour. So 36 lbs a day for just the furnace.
 

Oregon_Camper

Well-known member
.... So 36 lbs a day for just the furnace.

Yes...assuming it runs 24hrs a day.

In our Bighorn the furnace is only on when we come back to the RV after being gone a while. The furnace heats up the Bighorn quickly, then the fireplace and portable heater in the bedroom (electric) keep the RV warm.
 

southernlady5464

Well-known member
Yes...assuming it runs 24hrs a day.

In our Bighorn the furnace is only on when we come back to the RV after being gone a while. The furnace heats up the Bighorn quickly, then the fireplace and portable heater in the bedroom (electric) keep the RV warm.
Considering we have cats who are in the rig even if we aren’t (except for travel days), turning it off isn’t an option.
 

Mrsfish

Well-known member
Someone on the forum (I think it was Dan) turned us on to the Little Brown Box heater. Ceramic heater with temp control, turns itself off if knocked over(makes it safe around animals). We use 1 in the living room only and it keeps our total rig very comfortable. If the nights are especially cold we might place it on the landing which distributes it very well. I have a fear of co2 poisoning if we're running the furnace A LOT - so while we sleep I would rather run the ceramic heater. Or a combo of both
 

mlpeloquin

Well-known member
Use a ceramic heater for over night and then turn on the fire place in the morning unless we are stuck with 30 amp service. With 30 amp service we use the propane for warming up the fifth wheel in the morning and hot water. If we did a lot of cold weather camping we would get the Cheep Heat system and stick with 50 amp parks. With your size fifth wheel you might want to use two ceramic heaters. Do look at the cheep heat option.
 

BigGuy82

Well-known member
We have Vornado heaters. They do a very good job of circulating the heat in the room. In our case there is one heat vent in living room, one in kitchen, one in stairs. I have a Vornado on the island that helps circulate warm air in the largest "open space". We also use our fireplace.

We have another Vornado in the bedroom. It keeps the bedroom warm so we can lower the furnace setting overnight.

I don't know of any furnace capable of "zones" unless you have more than one furnace, which Heartland doesn't do.

BTW, our bedroom thermostat has a setting for "FURN" but for not do anything. Dometic does not have specific thermostats for various areas.


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The campsite I stay at in Alabama during the winter seems to have caught on to electric heater use. During the winter months, they now read the meter monthly and charge for actual electric use. I wonder if anyone has done the $$$ comparison between a propane furnace and a couple of electric heaters?
 
B

BouseBill

Guest
We don't have a Landmark, but we do have a 3570 Bighorn which is 38; (?) In Prescott Valley AZ the nights are getting down to the low 40's, 4 pm the temp is now 67. We go through one bottle a week with the temp set at 64 at night.

Seems like excessive propane use to be going through two bottles in such a short amount of time.
 

franks1

Retired Alabama Chapter Leaders
We have the cheap heat in our Landmark and love it.It is hooked up to your furnace but runs on electric.You can use it on either electric or propane.We used it on electric all last winter and it worked great.It does blow thru your vents in the floor. Do not remember how much it cost but the dealer where we bought our 5th wheel at recommended it and installed it. We got it at RVS For Less in Knoxville,Tenn. The cheap heat part works only on electric.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
We don't have a Landmark, but we do have a 3570 Bighorn which is 38; (?) In Prescott Valley AZ the nights are getting down to the low 40's, 4 pm the temp is now 67. We go through one bottle a week with the temp set at 64 at night.

Seems like excessive propane use to be going through two bottles in such a short amount of time.[/

Our experience: when the outside temp is below 50, the furnace is likely needed to keep the inside comfortable. Above that temp, you can probably manage it with other heat sources and run the furnace more sparingly. If you have temps dipping in the low 30s lower, you must run the furnace to keep the underbelly warm to keep pipes from freezing.

In our case we are semi permanent, and we must pay for our electric usage. It's advantageous to us to spend the money for Cheapheat at this time, but I sat through the presentation in Goshen and think it's a terrific option.

I found this quote for comparison:

Propane contains 91,547 Btu per gallon. A typical furnace will convert about 85% of that to heat, which means that 1 gallon of propane provides about as much heat as 23 kilowatt-hours of electricity.


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Mrsfish

Well-known member
The campsite I stay at in Alabama during the winter seems to have caught on to electric heater use. During the winter months, they now read the meter monthly and charge for actual electric use. I wonder if anyone has done the $$$ comparison between a propane furnace and a couple of electric heaters?

i wonder if the argument is cost vs convenience. I would hate to be filling propane tanks every week
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
I would hate to be filling propane tanks every week

In some RV locations the local propane dealers will bring larger tanks for the season and come fill them when needed.

You should come elk hunt with us. I keep it at about 55, and supplement with electric heaters when the generator is running and Big Buddy heater at other times. Temps into the 20s or lower at night, We can go through both tanks in about 4 days. I have an extra set of 30's but it still means a run to town to fill the empties. Hopefully we can link that with a trip to the processor with an elk or two.

There is no way to have 70 degree temps in the trailer and not use a bunch of propane without some major mods to hold in heat and when people are in and out during hunts it become impossible to keep temps that high.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
i wonder if the argument is cost vs convenience. I would hate to be filling propane tanks every week

In our RV park, there are 4 other fulltimers and us. 3 of the 4 have large tanks brought in during the winter. They pay a one time fee for setup, and then pay each month for the propane used to fill the tank to full again. The other fulltimer in a TT chooses to cycle through 4 20# tanks throughout the year. Who comes out better? Idk.

We have three 30# tanks. When one is empty, take it in and fill it up. That way we always have 2 full.

Even though we are basically fulltime residents at this park, we still travel with our rig, so having a large tank is more problematic and inconvenient for being mobile.


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