Tips for Better RV'ing Experiences - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tips for Better RV'ing Experiences

TDCDintheRV · RV-Dreams Family Member

Terry
Thanks for your comparison of LP to electric.
The LP price where we are staying in Flordia is $3.10 a gallon and the electric is $.135/kwh. We paid $36.00 to fill a 30# cylinder at a gas supplier in Jacksonville, FL the most i have ever paid to fill a tank! With the efficency of the the typical RV heater (Appx 50%) and electric heater (Appx 100%) will this be an accutate comparsion? Just asking?
Tom

Bill Adams · RV-Dreams Family Member

I was going to say "Where can you find $2.50/gallon propane?" but that's an interesting formula. Now, how do we do the diesel heat calculations. I use both but usually the diesel to get toasty and the electric to keep it that way.

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well, Guys. Considering I got this formula from someone else, you surely don't expect me to have all the answers, do you? When I thanked him for the "formula" he told me that he had gotten it from someone else on the same forums.

With that in mind, that is probably why LPG was $2.50 a gallon. In my case, I have to now figure out the required KWhours for our electric heaters and for the fireplace. I can get to the power information on the heaters, but the fireplace will be a whole 'nother story.

In our case here in Oklahoma City, we are on a metered site as we are in a mobile home park instead of a RV park. So, we are leasing and having a 100 gallon LPG tank delivered on Monday, so that should last us all winter (at least from what others have told me.) While it is convenient to fill our coach's 40 lb LPG cylinders at the RV park next door, it is a wee bit of a pain to haul that bottle over and back on my 2-wheeled cart.

Bill, I do have a printout somewhere, possibly at work, that gives me the btu's for the different types of fuels. However, I'm not sure if the knowledge of btu's would be helpful in calculating the cost of heating with each. Math is NOT my forte.

I'll look for that and get back to you, just in case it would be helpful.

Terry

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

The normal formula is 22 times the cost of a kilowatt-hour of electricity to compare to a gallon of propane. This is based on the effective BTUs in propane and electric water heating, which are both about 100% efficient. 26.85 is high. The comparisons for heating the inside air have to deal with lots of complications since the usable BTUs per kilo-watt hour of electricity and gallon of propane are not as straightforward as water heating. Your propane furnace is only about 60% efficient, 40% of the heat goes outside, and uses some electricity while a space heater is much closer to 100% efficient, favoring electricity. Those of us with heat pump air conditioners get more like 11,000BTUs instead of about 5,000BTUs for a space heater above about 40 degrees, making electricity even better. But you can use a catalytic, blue flame or ceramic propane heater for about 100% efficiency and even things back out.

Your propane cost might be higher if you have to add vehicle mileage to the cost of getting the propane. If the campground charges 25 cents a gallon more than a place 10 miles away it still might be cheaper to get it at the campground.

I know I messed up people relying on a simple formula but it is really not as simple as people would like.

(My Bachelor's degree is in Mathematics.)

Alie and Jims Carrilite · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill, you just made my head hurt on a Sunday morning.....But it does come down to individual location, economy, etc. If I have to go the extra mile for LP in my diesel truck for a very effecient blue flame heater, vs, turning on the electric for 2 hrs in the morning, its a toss up. (Hows that for a run on sentence!) If you track several winters cost and variables we could make better decisions about this.
Now in my personal opinion, a gas heater that you can back up to "feels" alot warmer than a heat pump set at 70*.

Waggin Tails · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ouch, my brain hurts.
I think I will just turn on my electric fireplace and watch the roaring fire. The illusion of a roaring fire will keep my keep my warm.

Now to complicate the issue even more, if my site cost includes electricity, why would I want to consume my propane? (No answer required)

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Jerry/Carol

You wouldn't necessarily. As I mentioned in the last sentence of my original post, if one is in a site with electricity, it wouldn't matter. If I were in such a situation, I would use the electricity.

With portable electric heaters, moving your electric heaters (not fireplace, of course) to any place in the room/coach that you wanted would be a big advantage..

The tip that I posted would mostly be for those on metered electric like ourselves who are set up in a mobile home park.

I was hoping for more "tips" from others, but I guess most people just want to comment on my original tip.

Terry

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Based on my experiences and those I've read about in the RV forums, here is what I consider the 5 most important tips:

Tires and Air
Make sure your tires are always properly inflated.

Batteries and Water
Make sure your batteries have the correct amount of water

Hitch and Latch
Make sure the hitch on whatever you tow (5th wheel, TT, Towd or other) is latched completely

Speed and Safety Cushion
Watch your speed and maintain a good safe distance from the vehicle in front.

Weight and (Couldn't think of anything else to put with it)
Do not overload.

It seems the majority of ruined trips points to one or more of these as probable cause if ignored.

KLJ · RV-Dreams Community Member

The Bear II - Great tips! How about "weight and suspension"? Thanks,

NorCal Dan · RV-Dreams Family Member

Go slow coming down long steep slopes. Manage your speed at the top before starting down.

On the flats, save fuel, drive between 55 and 60 mph. Who's is a hurry anyways?

Don't believe everything CG's put on their website, call and ask specific questions.

If the gas station looks too small for maneuvering your rig, it is.

DorisandDave · RV-Dreams Family Member

America the Beautiful pass. If you are 62 you are eligible to purchase one at $10. If you are receiving any sort of federal disability you are eligible at any age for free.
This pass gets you a 50% discount at federal campgrounds, monuments, COE and some state parks honor it too. After getting ours (Dave receives 20% disability from the military) we have saved well over 1/3 of our camping budget. Some Military FamCamps honor it also.
Here is the link:
http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html

-- Edited by DorisandDave on Friday 9th of December 2011 02:21:34 PM