Propane heat help

**nnhblair** · 12-03-2020, 07:14 PM

We are using our heat for the first time since temps are now in the 30’s in our area. We are using propane fast and we’re having trouble gauging how long a full tank will last. We ran out of propane in the middle of the night and thankfully we had some back up tanks. Right now, we are averaging 3-4 days per tank. Is there anything we can do to make our propane last longer or is there something else we should be doing? Any info or tips to help would be appreciated.

**Cannon07** · 12-03-2020, 07:31 PM

If your at a park where electric is included add a couple electric heaters. If your at a park where you pay for power than propane is probably cheaper.

**D2Reid** · 12-03-2020, 07:36 PM

It would help to know what RV you are in and what the night time lows have been and will be. We supplement our propane heat with electric heaters. But in our RV, we must run the propane heat because that is how our underbelly parts are heated so water tanks and pipes do not freeze.

We are big, so I will burn through a 40# tank in 2 days when the temps are in the teens or lower. You can do some stuff to help insulate. RV skirt helps a lot. Window insulation is important, lots of lost energy there. I like the heat shrink window raps, but others have used some bubble rap stuff stuffed in the window. Pillows made for the upper vents. Checking slide and door seals for leaks/gaps. Painters tape is adequate for short term seal, just need to stop the airflow.

Other than that you are not too far off the mark for Rv'ing in the winter. These things don't handle the cold as well as a house does.

**jkwilson** · 12-03-2020, 07:55 PM

If you are in a long-term site, you can probably get a large tank delivered and have them fill it as needed.

**nnhblair** · 12-03-2020, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by D2Reid

It would help to know what RV you are in and what the night time lows have been and will be. We supplement our propane heat with electric heaters. But in our RV, we must run the propane heat because that is how our underbelly parts are heated so water tanks and pipes do not freeze.

We are big, so I will burn through a 40# tank in 2 days when the temps are in the teens or lower. You can do some stuff to help insulate. RV skirt helps a lot. Window insulation is important, lots of lost energy there. I like the heat shrink window raps, but others have used some bubble rap stuff stuffed in the window. Pillows made for the upper vents. Checking slide and door seals for leaks/gaps. Painters tape is adequate for short term seal, just need to stop the airflow.

Other than that you are not too far off the mark for Rv'ing in the winter. These things don't handle the cold as well as a house does.

We actually just moved into our RV and will be living in it on our property while we build a house, and we do have electric hooked up. We have the Grand Design Imagine (37ft) and are first time RV owners. We’re wishing now that we had electric heat. We have everything underneath our camper insulated so we wouldn’t have to worry about anything freezing. Next week, the temperature is supposed to be warmer (we’re in TN), and we usually only get down in the low 20’s/teens for a little in the winter months. I think my husband is going to buy a few bigger tanks, but it’s going to take some trial and error until we figure out how long they will last. Thank you so much for the suggestions!

**FT4NOW** · 12-03-2020, 09:02 PM

Bigger tanks will help for sure. When we lived in our Momentum we would go through a 30# tank in about 2.5 days when temps got to low 20s or high teens.

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**SolarPoweredRV** · 12-03-2020, 11:09 PM

First thing to realize is that the RV furnaces are not exactly Energy Star rated for efficiency, nor are the RVs super insulated.

In your case, you might look into getting a 100 lb Propane tank for the Winter. You can probably rent one from the local Propane Dealer for the Winter and they will bring a truck around bi-weekly to fill it. I do remember that there is an issue with running a 100 lb tank and a long hose in the winter time. I believe that the pressure needs to be regulated out of the tank, but not to the same low pressure as your appliances use. Check with your Propane Dealer about that. You can also look up an old YouTube Video of the RVGeeks about this subject, I am pretty sure they did a video four or five years ago about the 100 lb Propane tank and Winter temperatures.

We usually keep ourselves warm with a small space heater in the Evenings and only use the Propane Furnace at night when we go to sleep (we NEVER run the space heater while we sleep).

**debernsen** · 12-04-2020, 06:53 AM

Originally Posted by D2Reid

It would help to know what RV you are in and what the night time lows have been and will be. We supplement our propane heat with electric heaters. But in our RV, we must run the propane heat because that is how our underbelly parts are heated so water tanks and pipes do not freeze.

We are big, so I will burn through a 40# tank in 2 days when the temps are in the teens or lower. You can do some stuff to help insulate. RV skirt helps a lot. Window insulation is important, lots of lost energy there. I like the heat shrink window raps, but others have used some bubble rap stuff stuffed in the window. Pillows made for the upper vents. Checking slide and door seals for leaks/gaps. Painters tape is adequate for short term seal, just need to stop the airflow.

Other than that you are not too far off the mark for Rv'ing in the winter. These things don't handle the cold as well as a house does.

You said you run the furnace to heat the underbelly. When camping where electricity is included , can you use electric heaters and run the AC fan to push heat into the underbelly?

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**huntindog** · 12-04-2020, 07:03 AM

Originally Posted by debernsen

You said you run the furnace to heat the underbelly. When camping where electricity is included , can you use electric heaters and run the AC fan to push heat into the underbelly?

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No.
First, very little airflow, if any would go into the underbelly. The AC system has no direct path to it. Second, even if it had some airflow into the underbelly, it would be room temperture air. When it is cold enough to be concerned about the plumbing, that tiny amount of heat wouldn't do enough to matter. Your furnace has a dedicated vent to FORCE HOT air into the underbelly.

Cold weather camping can be done with our units, but it isn't easy or cheap..... And there is just no way around it...... But having cut my teeth on cold weather camping tenting..... That wasn't nearly a liveable as the RV type.

**Steven@147** · 12-04-2020, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by nnhblair

We are using our heat for the first time since temps are now in the 30’s in our area. We are using propane fast and we’re having trouble gauging how long a full tank will last. We ran out of propane in the middle of the night and thankfully we had some back up tanks. Right now, we are averaging 3-4 days per tank. Is there anything we can do to make our propane last longer or is there something else we should be doing? Any info or tips to help would be appreciated.

What everyone else has said, thats about it. We run the same propane usage about every 3-4 days on a 30# tank depending on the temperature. During the day when temps are above freezing we run the electric fireplace and a freestanding oscillating electric heater and keep the furnace set very low to keep it from coming on. If below freezing during the day we run all the heaters. If the sun is out we open the blinds for radiant heat otherwise the blinds are closed. We can keep the coach between 73-75* easily. At night we set the furnace thermostat at 69* and use nice warm quilts on the bed. Now during windy cold days we struggle to keep the coach in the 72-73* range and cold air seeps through the slide and window seals. The window and door metal frames are very cold to the touch. We've had temps down into the teens, wind and snow, still we have managed to stay comfortable. The fastest we have used a 30# tank was three days. Running the furnace is the only way to get warm air into the underbelly and storage compartments. We turn on our tank heaters anytime the temp is below freezing.

For connecting a 100# tank you can use something like the Sturges Stay https://mbsturgis.com/products/sturgi-stay-kit-deluxe/ kit to connect the external tank to the RV propane system. There were a few u-tubes on connecting, just search for them.