Log In | Register
Skip to main content
Topic: Weekly/monthly propane usage? (Read 12 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Weekly/monthly propane usage?
Yahoo Message Number: 150693
When we first started full-timing last summer, we immediately began work at a campground, with the perk of free electric.  So, we did almost everything with electric (hot plate for cooking, electric water heater, portable electric heater, etc.)  The only time we used the propane was about once a week to make a casserole in the oven.  Over the course of the 5 months we were there, we only used about 30% of our propane from the onboard tank.
 We've been boondocking lately, and it seems like our propane usage has skyrocketed, above what I would expect.  Of course, there were a couple very cold weeks, and I know the furnace uses a decent amount, but we are still using more than I think we should even with the warmer weather.  We cook several meals daily on the stovetop, run the refrigerator on a medium setting, and heat the hot water heater a couple times a week for showers.  We refill an external 20 pound tank about once a week, averaging about 3 gallons each time.

Can anyone speak to their usage in similar conditions?

Rayn and Jonathan 2002 26.5 MB
Re: Weekly/monthly propane usage?
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 150695
We've been boondocking lately, and it seems like our propane usage has  skyrocketed, above what I would expect.  Of course, there were a couple  very cold weeks, and I know the furnace uses a decent amount, but we are  still using more than I think we should even with the warmer weather.   We cook several meals daily on the stovetop, run the refrigerator on a  medium setting, and heat the hot water heater a couple times a week for  showers.  We refill an external 20 pound tank about once a week,  averaging about 3 gallons each time.

Can anyone speak to their usage in similar conditions?

Rayn and Jonathan 2002 26.5 MB


24' LD FD

Can speak mainly for the summer.  Do not track colder weather.

Boondocking:

frig 100%

Stove 2 burner cooking most days 2 meals
 HWT once a day 20/30 minutes. In the morn will boil some water for dishes and hot co-co
 Furnace 15/30 minutes in morn if cold. At 9/10 feet altitude most morn are cold.
 A 20 # tank will be used 3 or 4 weeks and use 10 # at the very most.

George

Retired plumber
Re: Weekly/monthly propane usage?
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 150713
If you're exchanging tanks then they only fill them to 15lbs.  Your consumption may not be so bad after all...
Re: Weekly/monthly propane usage?
Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 150715
We are staying in Longs sc. It gets down to 20° at night and up to high 50's during the day. I love to bake and cook. We have an 11# propane tank. We supplement our heat with a small ceramic space heater. I cook hot breakfast and lunch and supper. Coffee in the morning from a coffee press. We go through our propane every 10 to 14 days. It is still cheaper than the electricity which is metered.   In the summer our tank lasts a couple of months. Hope that this is helpful.
Sandy '96 TK KalleAnka
 
Re: Weekly/monthly propane usage?
Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 150725
How cold is very cold? My guess is your furnace (I'm assuming you mean the original furnace with a fan) is using most of the propane. Our experience is cooking and hot water use very little (cooking adds heat to the interior very efficiently, more effciently than the furnace; in cold weather the frig use is negligible; but if the outside temperature goes from 40's to 20's, we'll consume a lot more propane (like double).
3 gallons a week seems too small to be concerned about, even if you are running on the LD built-in tank. Isn't it about 10-12 gallons?
 If you like a techncial challenge, you could spend some time thinking about "super-insulating" the motorhome, so that the furnace would not run, even at, say, 30 degrees. Also, life-style changes: wear more clothes and lower the thermostat :-)

Eric Greenwell
 John Mc  [lifewithalazydazerv] wrote on 2/1/2015 7:51 AM:
2005 Jayco 24SS