how long should two propane tanks last

[sclarson]

On our way to Florida from Michigan in late December. We plan on staying at flying J truck stops three nights on the way down. We have never done this before but most campgrounds are closed till we get to Alabama. If we set the furnace to 45 F how much propane can I expect to use for these three nights

Thanks

[BabyBober]

While this isn't exactly the answer you are looking for you will run out of battery to run the furnace well before you run out of propane to burn. If I remember correctly they burn about a lb or so an hour while running. R u setup with dual batteries?

[livinthelife]

On our way to Florida from Michigan in late December. We plan on staying at flying J truck stops three nights on the way down. We have never done this before but most campgrounds are closed till we get to Alabama. If we set the furnace to 45 F how much propane can I expect to use for these three nights

Thanks

You have enough to last 3 nights. We've done 4 & 5 nights dry camping on two tanks. We keep the furnace at 78 in the daytime and 70 at night. As well as the fridge runs on propane the whole time. We also use the stove/oven. 45 degrees? Are you sure?

[Cate&Rob]

sclarson - there is an easier way to do this . . . there are open campgrounds catering to snowbirds along the I75 route.
Sometimes they have hydrant water and sometimes the campsite water is shut off, but they have electricity and campground washrooms that are open. If you are interested in this, I can give you the list of campgrounds we stay at. We travel at a leisurely pace . . . driving about 6 hrs per day.

Rob

[Barbara & Dave]

sclarson - there is an easier way to do this . . . there are open campgrounds catering to snowbirds along the I75 route.
Sometimes they have hydrant water and sometimes the campsite water is shut off, but they have electricity and campground washrooms that are open. If you are interested in this, I can give you the list of campgrounds we stay at. We travel at a leisurely pace . . . driving about 6 hrs per day.

Rob

I seem to recall someone posting that in sub-freezing weather, their 30 lb tank would last 3 days. This was while camped, not traveling, where you could set the furnace for something like 50 while you're driving.

And as Rob says, you should be able to find open campgrounds with at least electric available. Not that it helps you, but we just stayed 2 nights at Pocahontas SP near Richmond VA, with E/W hookups.

Dave


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[carnolddsm]

With temperatures around 30 to the mid 40s we’ve been running about four days per 30 pound tank. At around zero last winter we were running about one day per tank.

[JCZhome]

A lot of variables....how cold is it outside, do you have dual pane windows, what model you have, etc. etc.

If you run the generator for a couple of hours each night will help. The fireplace helps to heat up the trailer. DO NOT USE THE STOVE OR OVEN FOR HEAT!

With the 376TH we have to put slides out just to get to the bathroom or bedroom and sometimes there's no room at truck stops but we have found room wally docking (Walmart).

Are you going to be able to pull a trailer out of Michigan in late Dec.....no ice issues?

[Cate&Rob]

Are you going to be able to pull a trailer out of Michigan in late Dec.....no ice issues?

JCZhome - you wouldn't believe the bumper-to-bumper convoy of RVs of every shape and size heading south to Florida on I75 from Ontario/Michigan/Ohio just after Christmas .

Rob

[Second Chance]

I seem to recall someone posting that in sub-freezing weather, their 30 lb tank would last 3 days. This was while camped, not traveling, where you could set the furnace for something like 50 while you're driving.

And as Rob says, you should be able to find open campgrounds with at least electric available. Not that it helps you, but we just stayed 2 nights at Pocahontas SP near Richmond VA, with E/W hookups.

Dave


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Dave - you may be thinking of a post of mine after an Arctic front in Maryland last Christmas (30 lb. tank in 3 - 4 days was the rate I quoted). That was, however, with single-digit lows at night and highs in the low 20s with 40 MPH winds. We were on 50-amp power, used the electric fireplace and a portable heater, and set the thermostat to 58 at night and 68 during the day to make sure the main furnace cycled to keep the basement thawed out. In New Mexico the Christmas before that, we filled a 30 lb. tank every 5 - 8 days (lows in the upper 20s and highs in the upper 40s to low 50s and snow the day after Christmas). Propane usage has as much to do with where you set the thermostat as it does the outside temperatures. In my opinion, mid- to upper-70s is not reasonable in an RV. We have never run the furnace while in motion. Traveling down the highway just sucks heat out of the rig and needlessly uses propane. Of course, we've only had two travel days in two years where it didn't get above freezing until noon.

OP - BabyBober is right about the battery. Boondocking, you will run out of 12V power to run the furnace fan and controls before you run out of propane. Especially during cold weather we look for RV parks convenient to our route with 50 amp electric - even for the overnighters en-route.

Rob

[WhittleBurner]

On our way to Florida from Michigan in late December. We plan on staying at flying J truck stops three nights on the way down. We have never done this before but most campgrounds are closed till we get to Alabama. If we set the furnace to 45 F how much propane can I expect to use for these three nights

Thanks

sclarson- Check out the I75 exit guide. It will give you every kind of information you could want along I75 from Mich. to Florida. We're leaving right after Thanksgiving, getting too cold around here for our liking anymore. Especially looking at the weather forecast for Bradenton FL. Low 80's daytime to low to mid 60's for low's at night. Made that trip after Christmas once it looked like a traffic jam of RV's. We always time our travel's so we are going through Atlanta on sunday mornings to avoid the traffic jams that are known to happen.