Cold night without propane

[ILH]

My wife and I were camping at Wellesley Island at the top of New York State on the weekend. We were enjoying the daytime warm temperatures and cool nights - however, last night I woke up and found that the furnace wasn't working. The inside temperature was pretty chilly. After putting on some clothes any going outside to check the LP tanks, I found both of them empty. Fortunately I had my 10lb BBQ tank - and swapped it out. It was good enough to last until morning!

New rule..no cold temperature camping without checking the tanks first!

 

[DesertThumper]

My wife and I were camping at Wellesley Island at the top of New York State on the weekend. We were enjoying the daytime warm temperatures and cool nights - however, last night I woke up and found that the furnace wasn't working. The inside temperature was pretty chilly. After putting on some clothes any going outside to check the LP tanks, I found both of them empty. Fortunately I had my 10lb BBQ tank - and swapped it out. It was good enough to last until morning!

New rule..no cold temperature camping without checking the tanks first!

Good thing you had a spare. I've never ran out but I'm sure one of these days we will. Take care.

 

[jmgratz]

The way I do ours is I only open one tank at a time, then I know for sure when one runs out. The I will go fill the empty one. That way if it runs out in the middle of the night you can open the full one and fill the empty one in the morning.

 

[ILH]

The way I do ours is I only open one tank at a time, then I know for sure when one runs out. The I will go fill the empty one. That way if it runs out in the middle of the night you can open the full one and fill the empty one in the morning.

Do you ever leave the fridge running when the trailer is in storage (between trips for few days - or a few days ahead of a trip) - if so, you'd better be confident the single tank has enough - or else your food will spoil.

Regardless, it would be nice if there was a more reliable metering system for propane from inside the trailer.

 

[Sumo]

The way I do ours is I only open one tank at a time, then I know for sure when one runs out. The I will go fill the empty one. That way if it runs out in the middle of the night you can open the full one and fill the empty one in the morning.

Me 2.

 

[cookie]

The way I do ours is I only open one tank at a time, then I know for sure when one runs out. The I will go fill the empty one. That way if it runs out in the middle of the night you can open the full one and fill the empty one in the morning.

Why would you want to go out in the middle of the night to open the tank valve? I prefer staying warm and snug in my bed at night.
The tool is in place to avoid that. Auto change over.
You just need to keep in mind your LP usage based on temperatures and check the change over valve indicator. It will tell you when one tank is empty.
JMHO.

Peace
Dave

 

[JohnDar]

During the "heating" season (beginning and end of our summer), I make it a habit to check the tanks each morning if the furnace has been running. Look at the condensation level on the side of the tank in use, as well. At our CG, I drop the tank off at the office and the owner delivers it back to our site if he can't fill it immediately.

 

[jmgratz]

Why would you want to go out in the middle of the night to open the tank valve? I prefer staying warm and snug in my bed at night.
The tool is in place to avoid that. Auto change over.
You just need to keep in mind your LP usage based on temperatures and check the change over valve indicator. It will tell you when one tank is empty.
JMHO.

Peace
Dave

I do keep a check on the level of the tank in use and rarely have to get up to open the other tank. My point was if you always have a full tank as a 'backup' you don't have to worry about running out. By keeping both tanks open you sometimes forget to keep a check on them. We know from experience. But whatever system works for you is the one you should use.

 

[traveler44]

If it is a long time between camping trips I get the bathroom scale out and weigh both of them just to be sure I know how much is in them. I always leave the change over switch on the right side first and then if the indicator is red I know that it switched to the other tank. This way I have one tank that is nearly full all of the time. Tom

 

[JohnD]

Cold night without propane . . . get a small electric heater for backup!

We keep a small electric heater in our trailer.

I use it to keep the trailer warm when it is not very cold (but just cold enough to kick on the furnace) to preserve the LP gas for when it really gets cold!

And for the water heater and stove, of course.

We got it for our old trailer as the furnace made so much noise that it would wake everyone up every time it fired up.

 

[Wharton]

Re: Cold night without propane . . . get a small electric heater for backup!

We have made it a policy to fill up the propane at the last campground we stop at coming home. That way there is no question in our minds about the propane. We also check frequently to see if the tank has switched over. Once a tank has switched over we fill the other. If you can't get into the habit of checking your tanks on a regular basis, turn one off. When you don't have heat or can't cook you know one is empty and still have one in reserve.

 

[JeremyN]

We have a small electric heater in our trailer. This heater will keep our entire trailer heated very easily. We just use the gas to get the trailer up to temp and let the electric heater do the rest. It really saves on gas usage.

 

[Nabo]

Re: Cold night without propane . . . get a small electric heater for backup!

We have run out of gas once or twice in your years of rv'n. We have used portable heaters in the past with the fireplace but just had Cheat Heat Rv Comfort system installed. Ain't winter yet so not sure how its going to do but having the ability to switch from gas to full electric on the unit's furnace intrigued us. Lippert is in the process of buying the system from the inventor and will be selling it thru MobileOutfitters. The website is www.rvcomfortsystems.com. Our dealer RVs For Less installed our.

 

[whp4262]

I have two extra 30 lbs tanks so I can put one or both in the back of the truck depending on what I think I might need. I also use the extra tank to power my 3 burner camp chef stove.


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[Toy1Ton]

lippert needs to focus more on building better frames not heaters

 

[priorguy]

I have a friend that installed an old school base board electric heater in his SOB trailer. Heats it nicely with absolutely no noise. Thinking of using a more modern type myself that has a fan and runs lower current. Commercial style unit you see in many store vestibules.

First trip with our new trailer this year was May long weekend in Canada (Victoria Day). It was very cold at night and we were learning everything about the new rig. The heater tried and tried to start and wouldn't fire. I checked the propane and both tanks were full. The stove put out propane and the furnace worked during the walk through that morning. The next morning I found that DW had stacked canvas lawn chairs in front of the furnace fresh air/exhaust port and the safety wouldn't allow the furnace to light. Simple fix in the daylight and lesson learned as all our other trailers had the furnace ports on the back side not the front.

 

[JohnDar]

Re: Cold night without propane . . . get a small electric heater for backup!

We have run out of gas once or twice in your years of rv'n. We have used portable heaters in the past with the fireplace but just had Cheat Heat Rv Comfort system installed. Ain't winter yet so not sure how its going to do but having the ability to switch from gas to full electric on the unit's furnace intrigued us. Lippert is in the process of buying the system from the inventor and will be selling it thru MobileOutfitters. The website is www.rvcomfortsystems.com. Our dealer RVs For Less installed our.

Interesting idea, but on a seasonal site with metered electricity, that might get pricey. We probably run the furnace more than the
AC over the May - September season we stay. Checking the propane autochanger indicator and looking at the frost line on the operating tank each day isn't all that difficult.

 

[mobilcastle]

We have a small electric heater in our trailer. This heater will keep our entire trailer heated very easily. We just use the gas to get the trailer up to temp and let the electric heater do the rest. It really saves on gas usage.

X2. We use propane when it gets really cold-when it gets that cold camping season is nearly over.