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Topic: First time outin the cool weather in my 87 (Read 1 time) previous topic - next topic
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First time outin the cool weather in my 87
Yahoo Message Number: 98357
Thinking about going to Borrego Springs next weekend. Extended forecast says it's going down to 40 at night. I started up the heat last week, & it seemed to work fine. Smelled a little wierd, but I think it got better after a little while. I don't think it had been run for years, so I was expecting worse.
I've been reading here that it uses a lot of lpg. How much is that? I have 3/4 of a tank. Is that good for a night or 2? Te other thing I noticed when I ran the heat was that there was some freezing around thetank. Is this normal?

Thanks, Joe
Re: First time outin the cool weather in my 87
Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98364
Quote
I've been reading here that it uses a lot of lpg. How much is that? I have 3/4 of a tank. Is that good for a night or 2? Te other thing I noticed when I ran the heat was that there was some freezing around thetank. Is this normal?
The furnace is not a very efficient method for providing daytime heating, but output is high and it's effective for rapid warm-up. The biggest problem is electricity consumption, however. If you try to keep it inside at 65F overnight while it is 40F or below outside, you may deplete your batteries in one night. If you set the temp at 50F, and/or bundle up appropriately - AND you start off fully charged, you'll probably be fine.
 Many of us use a cat heater - with appropriate ventilation - to keep warm in the daytime. It uses no electricity, and efficiency is in the 90+% range. At night, I modified our furnace to cycle on as low as 40F, and if it won't drop below freezing, we rely solely on preserving body heat as the way to stay warm.

When calculating resource management, your biggest asset is propane energy. A full tank will provide a lot of energy for a long time. Even with upgraded 12V electrical systems, the energy storage capacity in the batteries is relatively puny.

Steve
2004 FL
2013 Honda Fit
First time outin the cool weather in my 87
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 98360
Hello Joe. We just came back from another short trip and I had some time to look over some of the info that came with our oder rig. One item that caught my eye was the lpg tank spec sheet. We have the 10 gallon tank, which will allow us to use over 800 thousand BTU'S in our appliances. That tells me you can go a decent amount of time before running out. In my opinion you will be fine with your furnace. Also the frosty look is normal when drawing off the propane from your on board storage tank. Have a ball in the cold!